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Deeper Down

You probably know the song Waltzing Matilda, but do you know who wrote the words? It was the Australian poet A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson, who in 1896 also wrote the words used in this song. Deeper Down tells the story of a squatter desperately drilling for water during a drought.

The Great Artesian Basin is a vast body of underground water covering more than 1/5 of Australia. The water it contains is almost 2 million years old! In places it rises to the surface to produce desert springs that allowed Aboriginal people to survive in this harsh environment.

The song begins mysteriously, suggesting the ‘hidden treasure’ below the earth. The music changes to a pulsing, bluesy feel as the squatter’s crew sweat and strain to reach the water. You will feel their struggle and then their excitement as the ‘treasure’ comes gushing to the surface.

mostly unison, with some 2 part singing - for ages 7 and up

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Deeper Down

Download includes:
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vocal recording
instrumental backing track
piano only backing track
piano/vocal score
lyrics
 
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SONG DETAILS
Age:

ages 7 and up
Subject:
Environment
Great Artesian Basin
Banjo Patterson
History
Genre:
modern choral
Performer:
mostly unison, some 2 part
Musical Range:
A4 to C5
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vocal recording - preview
Vocal performance by children from the South Australian Public Primary Schools' Music Festival.
Deeper Down
music by Glyn Lehmann
words adapted from 'The Song of the Artesian Water' by A.B. (Banjo) Paterson 1896


Intro

Silent places, hidden treasure;
Where the old earth hides her treasures deeper down.

Chorus 1
Sinking down, deeper down,
Oh, we're going deeper down:
If we fail to get the water, then it's ruin to the squatter,
For the drought is on the station and the weather's growing hotter,
But we're bound to get the water deeper down.

Verse 1
But there's no artesian water, though we've passed three thousand feet,
And the contract price is growing, and the boss is nearly beat.
But it must be down beneath us, and it's down we've got to go,
Though she's bumping on the solid rock four thousand feet below.

Chorus 2

Verse 2

But it's hark! the whistle's blowing with a wild, exultant blast,
And the boys are madly cheering, for they've struck the flow at last;
And it's rushing up the tubing from four thousand feet below,
Till it spouts above the casing in a million-gallon flow.

Chorus 3
Sinking down, deeper down,
Oh, we're going deeper down:
It is flowing, ever flowing, in a free, unstinted measure
From the silent hidden places where the old earth hides her treasure --
Where the old earth hides her treasures deeper down.

Outro
Silent places, hidden treasure;
Where the old earth hides here treasures deeper down.



© 2019 Glyn Lehmann. All rights reserved
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