A big wind came and blew the town away
Dec. 16th, 2007 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisyOn Christmas Eve, 1974, Cyclone Tracy hit the northern Australian city of Darwin. The city was almost completely destroyed and the population (about 44,000 people) was evacuated, though not before 71 people had died (49 on land, 22 at sea).
This, of course, motivated the rest of the country to band together and support the good citizens of Darwin with a charity single. What better way to show you care?* Despite its silly name, "Santa Never Made It Into Darwin" by then-popular duo Bill & Boyd was a huge hit, and lo! the city was rebuilt. (Although I shouldn't be so flippant. It took ten years for the population to get back to pre-Tracy levels; that it is now over 100,000 is a huge achievement.)
Perhaps not surprisingly, I couldn't find the music to this anywhere online. If you really want to know what it sounds like, I'll come to your house and sing it to you. :-) Actually,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tree knows it too; we could do a tour.
SANTA NEVER MADE IT INTO DARWIN
(words & music: Bill Cate)
On Christmas Eve of seventy-four
The warning sounded out
For all the broadcast stations
A great storm was near about
The girls and boys asleep in bed
Tomorrow was the day
Their mums and dads all prayed
The mighty storm would turn away
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Christmas morning was a nightmare
As Cyclone Tracy struck
It ripped apart the buildings
Like an atom bomb had struck
It twisted iron girders
And it flattened all the trees
The might of such a cyclone
Must be seen to be believed
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Many boats put out to sea
Very few returned
Most were foundered on the rocks
Or in deep seas overturned
Australia was shocked and saddened
As the news came through
The devastated city
Must be built anew
That suffering and heartbreak
Could happen in this way
A natural disaster
Could come on on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
A big wind came and blew the town away
* My least favourite charity single is a song called "Sixty-Five Roses", an appalling country ballad about a young boy who can't understand why his family is upset about his cousin having sixty-five roses. Well done to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for that gem. At the Evil Accounting Firm, we had a radio station filtered through our phones; I didn't listen to it, but I could hear it from other desks. They played "Sixty-Five Roses" every day for six weeks. It was a most cruel and unusual punishment.
This, of course, motivated the rest of the country to band together and support the good citizens of Darwin with a charity single. What better way to show you care?* Despite its silly name, "Santa Never Made It Into Darwin" by then-popular duo Bill & Boyd was a huge hit, and lo! the city was rebuilt. (Although I shouldn't be so flippant. It took ten years for the population to get back to pre-Tracy levels; that it is now over 100,000 is a huge achievement.)
Perhaps not surprisingly, I couldn't find the music to this anywhere online. If you really want to know what it sounds like, I'll come to your house and sing it to you. :-) Actually,
tree knows it too; we could do a tour.SANTA NEVER MADE IT INTO DARWIN
(words & music: Bill Cate)
On Christmas Eve of seventy-four
The warning sounded out
For all the broadcast stations
A great storm was near about
The girls and boys asleep in bed
Tomorrow was the day
Their mums and dads all prayed
The mighty storm would turn away
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Christmas morning was a nightmare
As Cyclone Tracy struck
It ripped apart the buildings
Like an atom bomb had struck
It twisted iron girders
And it flattened all the trees
The might of such a cyclone
Must be seen to be believed
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Many boats put out to sea
Very few returned
Most were foundered on the rocks
Or in deep seas overturned
Australia was shocked and saddened
As the news came through
The devastated city
Must be built anew
That suffering and heartbreak
Could happen in this way
A natural disaster
Could come on on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas Day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
A big wind came and blew the town away
* My least favourite charity single is a song called "Sixty-Five Roses", an appalling country ballad about a young boy who can't understand why his family is upset about his cousin having sixty-five roses. Well done to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for that gem. At the Evil Accounting Firm, we had a radio station filtered through our phones; I didn't listen to it, but I could hear it from other desks. They played "Sixty-Five Roses" every day for six weeks. It was a most cruel and unusual punishment.