'Happy', Still Walks With Us!

Spoken Intro We didn’t grow up knowing his name… No stories, no photos… nothing passed down. I found him years later… written on a stone. This song is for Private Percival Dawson… “Happy.” Verse 1 We didn’t know your name growing up back then No stories told round the table or friends Just a line in the stone in a quiet old town Till we found you there and we wrote you down Now we’re walking that road where the hot wind blows Tracing steps only history knows Through the years that were left unsaid We found your life… and we found that thread Chorus Hey “Happy”, we’re calling your name Across all the years, it still sounds the same From the red dirt roads back home to the sea You’re still walking right here with me Eight kids, and a love left behind A whole life written deep in time We don’t lose you, we carry you on In every voice when we sing this song Verse 2 We can see you now through the stories we’ve learned In the southern heat where the roadways burned Through the rubber trees and the fading line Just holding the ground, buying a little more time You were laughing, saying “we’ll be alright” Even when you were deep in the fight Now that voice carries clear and strong In every word when we pass it on Chorus Hey “Happy”, we’re calling your name Across all the years, it still sounds the same From the red dirt roads back home to the sea You’re still walking right here with me Eight kids, and a love left behind A whole life written deep in time We don’t lose you, we carry you on In every voice when we sing this song Verse 3 Near the strait where the tide runs thin And the last of the road was closing in Through the green where the silence lay Came a single shot that took you away No big battle, no grand parade Just a moment lost in the shade But the life you lived is the part we keep In the roots that run and the ties that seep Bridge We found your name, now we say it loud Not just a line in a distant crowd From the past to the ones right here You’re part of us, and you’re staying near Final Chorus Hey “Happy”, we’re calling your name Through every child that carries your flame From Australia’s heart to the far-off shore You’re not gone ... you’re just ahead once more Eight kids, and a love still alive In every one of us, you survive We don’t lose you, we carry you on In every voice when we sing this song Outro We carry you on… we carry you on We carry you on… we carry you on [music outro/fade]