You Wouldn’t Believe What Happened

Remember when you’re young And you reckon you know it all Road map on the dashboard Foot pressed flat to floor Queensland rain was falling Highway going under fast But we just laughed and followed Every fool that drove on past Chorus You wouldn’t believe what happened Out on those Queensland roads Five packed carloads drifting Where the brown floodwater flowed We thought we were immortal Thought nothing could go wrong Young enough to fear nothing And dumb enough to carry on Verse The Marlborough stretch was flooded So we followed down the track Dust road running coastal Too young to question that Till we hit a raging river Couldn’t cross, couldn’t stay And by the time we turned around The floods had blocked our way We sat between two rivers On the only patch still dry Living off sugar by the spoonful Watching black clouds fill the sky Someone had tins of pineapple Someone shared baked beans And a bunch of wild young fellas Had survival butcher dreams Chorus You wouldn’t believe what happened Out on those Queensland roads Five packed carloads stranded Where the floodwater rose Snakes drifting right beside us Men pushing cars along Young enough to fear nothing And dumb enough to carry on Verse The blokes pushed through the floodwaters While I sat there at the wheel Cars floating more than driving None of it felt real One impatient combi driver Hit the causeway way too fast Van went bobbing down the river Like a bottle drifting past Took us near four days to make it Back to somewhere safe and dry I washed downstream on a creek edge Under open northern sky Till the publican said laughing After hearing where I’d been “Girl, the crocs there take the cattle…” I won’t do that again Final Chorus You wouldn’t believe what happened Out on those Queensland roads But that’s the way we travelled Back when young hearts ruled the soul No phones, no rescue choppers Just stubbornness and hope And the best pie I ever tasted At the end of that long road.