C5 F5 Big galvanised roofs and monster pipes black G5 C5 Pink and white clouds from a chimney stack C5 F5 Red dust and hawks in the wind out back G5 C5 And here I am at the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 What do you do in a town like the Isa G5 C5 Retrenched at 50 become an old miser C5 F5 Drink yourself blind so you're none the wiser G5 C5 Sit at home with the race form and whinge C5 F5 Just over the hill in his own backyard G5 C5 The landscape becomes a picture postcard C5 F5 Where the colours are soft but the life is hard G5 C5 On the stations here at the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5 Tonight's the night of the rodeo ball Before riders and bull and horses stand tall While out in the park some black people sprawl And share their money on flagons There's so much more to be understood Before coming out here like Robin Hood The do-gooders do more harm than good Without really knowing the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5 Through the Leichhardt East Where fools gold flashes Fossick around for Maltese Crosses Flog them off to the tourist buses See ghost gums under the moon Some really battle some make do The luckier ones make a quid and pull through Some perch at the bar like a caged cockatoo But that's nothing new at the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5 And it takes a special kind of girl To stay out here in this rugged world Keep your dignity when the oathes are hurled I pay my respects to you And I'll raise my glass to an outback town To that weathered spirit that won't back down It takes the courage of a rodeo clown To stick it out at the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5 Big galvanised roofs and monster pipes black Pink and white clouds from a chimney stack Red dust and hawks in the wind out back And here I am at the Isa C5 F5 Never thought I'd return to this lonely track G5 C5 And here I am back at the Isa C5 F5 G5 C5 C5 F5 G5 C5
