The stone works mentioned in this song were crafted by a returned World War One soldier named William Shirley. They are in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park New South Wales.
Along a dusty, bushland track When we were only kids We came upon a sandstone sphinx And some pyramids On a Sunday outing We couldn’t believe our eyes A little piece of Egypt, Under Australian skies. Fashioned in remembrance Where the wild flowers grow By a broken soldier All those years ago His efforts kept their memory The years could not condemn Those poppy clouded soldiers Who won’t return again. He suffered in the trenches The western front of fears The heavy German shelling Rang loudly in his ears He saw the cost of battle The sacrificial bones Then damaged and disabled Begrudgingly sent home. Did he ever wonder Why he didn’t die And so become a hero In his country’s eyes? © Jim Low
Read the article Remembering Private Shirley
Available on the CD Journey’s End