There's a statue of a donkey
on South Shield's seafront
He's a decorated donkey
and with him stands a man
And the man's name is Jackie,
he has no decorations
Though he was a hero down
on the Siles
On South Shield's seafront,
Jackie sold donkey rides
His favourite was Murphy,
an d he waited on the tide
To give rides to little children,
to flirt with the pretty girls
Then he's joined the Merchant Navy
And he's off to see the world
He's sailed the wide world
all over Jackie
Till he come to Newcastle
in New South Wales
It had more than enough
stoking coal
For rolling seas and heavy gales
So you changed your name
to plain John Simpson
You jumped ship
and you rambled all down on the shore
A shearing, drawing, larrikin,
and a new recruit for war.
Give a dog a bad name, Jackie
Some things never change
A hun dred years are almost gone,
not a medal to your name
Some things never change, Jackie,
and perhaps they never will
They give a dog a bad name,
but you're a hero still
When I signed up for this Army,
Murphy,
Thought I might catch a
troopship home,
Maybe change me name
just one more time,
And never more to roam.
But we didn't sail to England, Murphy,
No, we sailed right into Hell.
Now I'm a stretcher -bearer
in the bloody Dardanelles.
You know I don't like taking orders
Murphy, that's not the way I am
But now we've got this job to do
and I'll do the best I can
Oh you and me are muckers
Murphy, down here on the sand
I'll whistle and I'll sing my songs
and we'll march to beat the band
Jesus, you know I'm tired, Murphy
Breakfast wasn't ready today
They said they'd keep my dinner hot
Come on, lad, we're on our way
Down to Shrapnel Gully again,
to the land of blood and
flesh and bone
We've done it now so many times,
you could damn near fetch them on your own
Did you hear the machine gun rattle,
Jackie?
Did you feel the bullets tearing through?
I pray that peace and quiet and dark
are the last things that you knew.
You saved 300 wounded men,
you and Murphy on your own
And you died to save the very last,
and Murphy fetched him back alone
Give a dog a bad name, Jackie
Some things never change
A hundred years are almost gone
Not a medal to your name
Some things never change, Jackie,
and perhaps they never will
While the blood less fools in Whitehall,
they sit in judgement still