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MRS ALEXIS FALKENHAGEN Home Hill, Queensland. Collected 1995 TUNE: Dinki Di SITE SOURCE: Folklore Unit - People LAND ARMY DINKI DIWe joined the Land Army the enemy to lick,We came to Home Hill some cotton to pick, We got off the train and marched up the street, Just to give the poor locals a bit of a treat. Chorus: Dinki di, dinki di, And I hope you don't think we are telling a lie, Our bunks made of canvas have all fallen flat, Of course we don't moan about small things like that, But when Matron's sure we 're asleep peacefully, She blows that dam whistle at 05 23. So we 're up before daylight and doing our chores, Making beds, cutting lunches and sweeping the floors, Then bolting our breakfast and catching the bus, There's no other army works harder than us. We pick all the cotton into big sacks, And feel at least sixty pounds on our backs, And the man when he weights them first gives us a look, And says 'ten on the scales', but puts eight in our book. All weary and sunburnt we come home at night, You just can't tell whether we 're red, blue or white, And we stand there in line for a bath or a shower, Hoping it won't take us more than an hour. The whistle blows shrill and we grab mug and plate, And fall into lines that are more or less straight, And Cookie will give us a change now and then, Boiled pumpkin, her favourite rates nothing to ten. So after light's out at the end of the day, We 're into our 'jamas and hitting the hay, It's a job that we 're doing that has to be done, If the war we are fighting is gonna be won. |