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IN MY LITTLE WHARE

Paul Bond 1985

   Capo: 3

  Intro; C  Em  Am  Dm  G

  C     Em     Am               Dm            G
  In my little whare there's no lock upon the door,
          C       Em     Am            Dm                  G
  There's sacking on the windows and a hard packed earthen floor,
      F                 C            Dm              G
  The table's rough and rickety, the chair's a lager crate,
           C     Em     Am             Dm       G        C ...(intro)
  But it's all a little messy for it's not been swept of late.


  There's whitebait in the river and some pigs out in the bush,
  And if you want to start my truck you must get out and push.
  The trip to town is bumpy where I go to buy my grub:
  I call in at the general store and end up at the Pub, 
  and in my little whare there's...

  I get up when the sun does, and the smouldering fire I stoke.
  The corrugated chimney's good enough to lift the smoke.
  I crack some eggs and toast some bread and make a pot of tea,
  And sit out in the sunshine to enjoy the scenery, .
  and in my little whare there's...

  I'm far away from busy streets, my 'phone will never ring.
  I haven't got shoelaces so I use old bits of string.
  My kuri lies out in the dust and wags his flipping tail,
  Or tags along beneath my feet as we go along the trail,
  and in my little whare there's...

  I'm seldom home to visitors unless my mates call in.
  We sit around and yarn a bit, and someone tries to sing.
  They stay a while and drink some grog and then go on their way -
  Apart from working now and then, that's how I spend my day,
  and in my little whare there's...


The Ballad Writers' Toolbox

Idomatic Words

Barry Crump introduced NZ to stories with lots of ideomatic phrases, "Gidday, mate!" and Peter Cape put these words into popular song, although they were generally overdone, to get a laugh (Taumarunui).

But Paul uses them more unobtrusively in "Little Whare". How many vernacular words can you find here ? Would non-New Zealanders need to have all these terms explained to them (whare, whitebait) ?

Collect unique words of your own local culture Chur, Bro ! that you can use to add color to your own ballads.

Mail me with your effort.



In My Little Whare On Record

Recorded by Paul Bond 1985


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