Shining River Eric Bogle

Outside m y door when I was young there fIowed a shining river
GIeam ing in the sum m er sun it used to shine Iike siIver
The banks were Iined with wiIIow trees and taII green waving rushes
Song birds sang on sum m er breeze, and nested in the bushes

Chorus:
Don't you think it's tim e we got together
To save our shining river?
It wiII soon be gone forever
Don't you think it's tim e?

The wiIIow trees have Iong since gone the birds are getting fewer
And where m y river used to run there's just an open sewer
The banks are Iined with factories, grey towers of brick and m ortar
There's sm og and dust on sum m er breeze and poison in the water

And where the siIver gum did stand, where bIoom ed the yeIIow wattIe
Now there's onIy oId tin cans and piIes of broken bottIes
The banks are Iined with m ud and siIt, the river's thick with sIim e
You ask m e who m ust bear the guiIt when the fauIt is yours and m ine