Briany

Briany that gray haired fellow his bronzed skin wrinkled and dry
He spent years north in the tropics where the sun burns in the sky
Shearing merinos for a living in Queensland north of Mackay
Sweating for his hard earned dollars in the heat of Summer day.

Thirty years as a sheep shearer till he gave the job away
Shearing is for younger fellow that is what old Briany say
Look at me I'm not yet sixty I look older bald and gray
Good shearers may earn good money but they work hard for their pay.

Briany only talks of shearing when he has a few drinks in
If you ask him then he'll tell you I shore with the best of men
I could hold my own with any in the humid shearing shed
And I would say I had a poor day had I not shorn two hundred head.

I earnt big money when shearing but I was never money smart
Women and booze took my earnings 'a fool and his money part'.
Went to nearest town at weekend I had a week's pay to spend
Visited brothels and drank my wages and I was not short of a friend.

Briany the ex sheep shearer money could not seem to keep
And every dollar was hard earned it is hard work shearing sheep
He works in suburban factory I am happier now he say
Shearing is for younger fellow and that's why I gave it away.