All Swans Are White

Based on a historical event, this song expresses the idea that things are not always as they seem and that absolute truth may not be the truth at all!

Until the mid 17th century Europeans believed so strongly that 'All swans are white' that this became a saying used to prove that something was beyond doubt.

When Willem de Vlamingh sailed to New Holland (Australia) in 1696 he discovered a river on the south-west coast of the continent where the swans were...black.

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All Swans Are White

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Age:
8 to adult
Subject:
Swan River, Western Australia
Australian history
The Black Swan
Genre:
world/pop
Performer:
2-part choir
Musical Range:
choir: D4 to D5
soloist: D4 to F5

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vocal recording - preview

LYRICS - free download

All Swans Are White
(The Voyage of Willem de Vlamingh)

CHORUS
All swans are white
I used to believe they were right
But it just goes to show, you never really know
'Cos I've just seen one black as the night
All swans are white

VERSE 1
Sixteen-ninety-six we set sail
New Holland our goal
In search of lost souls
Eight months at sea we arrive
To an island of rats as big as cats*

With skin so pale like spirits you came to our land

VERSE 2
Onto the mainland we sail
A river we see
What more could there be?
Lower the boats and we’ll row
Follow its course right to the source

BRIDGE
Do my eyes deceive me
Am I going mad?
This mythical creature, impossible bird
Floating by, so serene, floating by

repeat CHORUS

VERSE 3
All swans are white we would say
To prove something true
No point to argue
Now it appears all this time
We believed in a lie
There’s more than meets the eye

We watched you come and we watched you sail away

VERSE 4
Nobody there did we see
I named the river Swan
And then we were gone
Now ev'ry night in my dreams
Together in flight, the black and the white

repeat BRIDGE

CHORUS
All swans are white
I used to believe they were right
But it just goes to show, you never really know
'Cos I've just seen one black as the night
Black as the night

All swans are white
I used to believe they were right
But it just goes to show, you never really know
'Cos I've just seen one black as the night
All swans are white

*the quokka – a marsupial

© 2009 Glyn Lehmann
www.glynlehmann.com

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