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Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House Lyrics by Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet

Signs of Life

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We killed them all when we came here
The people came and burned their land
The forests where they used to feed
We burned the trees that gave them shade
And burned to bush, to scrub, to heath
We made it easier to hunt
We changed the land, and they were gone
Today our beasts and dreams are small
As species fall to time and us
But back before the black folk came
Before the white folk's fleet arrived
Before we built our cities here
Before the casual genocide
This was the land where nightmares loped
And hopped and ran and crawled and slid
And then we did the things we did
And thus we died the things we died
We have not seen Diprotodon
A wombat bigger than a room
Or run from Dromornithidae
Gigantic demon ducks of doom
All motor legs and ripping beaks
A flock of geese from hell's dark maw
We've lost carnivorous kangaroo
A bouncy furrier T-Rex
And Thylacoleo Carnifex
The rat-king-devil-lion-thing
The dropbear fantasy made flesh
Quinkana, the land crocodile
Five metres long and fast as fright
Wonambi, the enormous snake
Who waited by the water-holes
And took the ones who came to drink
Who were not watchful, clever, bright
Our Thylacines were tiger-wolves
Until we drove them off the map
Then Megalania: seven meters
Of venomous enormous lizard
And more, and more
The ones whose bones we've never seen
The megafauna haunt our dreams
This was their land before mankind
Just fifty thousand years ago
Time is a beast that eats and eats
Gives nothing back but ash and bones
And one day someone else will come
To excavate a heap of stones
And wonder, "What were people like?"
Their teeth weren't sharp
Their feet were slow
They walked Australia long ago
Before Time took them into tales
We're transients. The land remains
Until its outlines wash away
While night falls down like dropbears don't
To swallow up Australia Day
Credits
Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman

FourPlay String Quartet

FourPlay String Quartet

About “Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House” by Neil Gaiman

Read the complete lyrics to "Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House" by Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet from the album "Signs of Life". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Pop.

"Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House" is performed by Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet. from the album "Signs of Life" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House", explore more songs by Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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"Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House" is credited to Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Poem first read on January 26th 2011 at the Sydney Opera House" appears on "Signs of Life".

Visit the Neil Gaiman, FourPlay String Quartet artist page at /artist/neil-gaiman for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.