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Woolloomooloo Lair 
Woolloomooloo Lair 
On the day that I was born, it was a cold & a frosty morn, In the famous suburb known as Woolloomooloo. It was down in Riley Street my folks first heard me bleat 'Cause at the time I'd nothing else to do. Oh me mother died of fright when she saw me in the light And my father thought he'd send me to the zoo, But I owe a lot to him, 'cause he taught me how to swim, When he heaved me off the pier at Woolloomooloo 
cho: Oh my name it is McCarty & I'm a rorty party I'm rough & tough as an old man kangaroo Some people say I'm crazy, I don't work because I'm lazy And I tag along in the boozing throng, the Push from Woolloomooloo. 
And when I was just a lad I went straight'way to the bad A larrikin so hard, you'd strike me blue But the government was kind and they didn't seem to mind And in Darlinghurst I spent a night or two. Now the judge gave me a stare and he said, "You're a lair" They heaved me into Darlinghurst gaol - you understand They gave me clothes, they cut my hair, I didn't seem to care And every night you'd find me in the van. 
And I spent some years in gaol till I began to quail I resolved to live upon a different lay And enlisted in the ranks of the Salvation Army 'cranks' You can bet I made the bloody business pay! Well hallelujah! I'm a lout I knows me way about I kids the mugs that I'm converted too All the lassies there I mash and I'm never short of cash 'Cause I beats me drum all over Woolloomooloo. 
Note: In the early days in Sydney a "push" was a street gang. The term has not been in use much this century. The word derives from the German Putsch which roughly means riot, unruly crowd etc.
 The Bushwackers recorded this song twice. If you have the first version from "A Shearer's Dream" have a listen to the percussion lagerphone & spoons. One of the things I play in a bush band is a lagerphone & seeing me name's Foster it's the only genuine Fosters's Lagerphone in existence. Sorry, the joke probably falls flat outside Oz. AF 
AF Apr98