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She'll Be Right

Peter Cape 1955

Just like Davy Lowston, By the Dry Cardrona and other sung-from-memory NZ ballads, this is a changing, living song with variations creeping in. But the original was something like this, with the most commonly sung verses being those two which celebrate the pig-hunting and rugby rituals of young Kiwi males.
             C                                 F              C
 When you're huntin' in the mountains and your dogs put up a chase,
          F               C             G
 And this porker's comin' at you and he doesn't like your face
            C                                   F               C
 And you're runnin', and he's runnin', and he's crowdin' on the pace,
      C           G               C
 Well don't worry mate, she'll be right, 
          C                      G
 She'll be right, mate, she'll be right.
  G                           C
 Don't worry mate, she'll be right.
         C                             F               C
 You c'n get y' feed of pork when he slows down to a walk,
    C           G               C
 So(And) don't worry mate, she'll be right.


 Now you're loggin' on the saddle and you're drivin' down the bluff
 With a thousand feet of timber bouncin' right behind your chuff,
 And the clutch has started slippin', and the brakes are worse than rough,
 Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
 Give 'er all you can give 'er, she'll just fly into the river,
 So don't worry mate, she'll be right.
  
 Well they've finished off yer forwards, and yer backs are wearin' thin,
 And the second spell's half over and you've forty points to win,
 And this hulkin' wing-three-quarter's got his teeth stuck in your shin,
 Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
 You won't worry who's the loser when you meet down at the boozer,
 So don't worry mate, she'll be right.

 When you've had yer copper goin', and you've boiled a ton'a hops,
 And you've brewed your brew and bottled 'er and hammered on the tops,
 And your missus keeps on askin' where y' left your footie socks,
 Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
 Shove a shot o' metho in and you'll swear you're drinkin' gin...
 And don't worry mate, she'll be right.

 Now you've slipped out on the missus, and you've gone to watch the race,
 And you've spent her shoppin' money, and you didn't get a place,
 And you're comin' home flat stoney, and she sees it on your face,
 Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
 You can save a lot of trouble if you say you won the double,
 So don't worry mate, she'll be right.

.
Additions
This song has continued to reflect our social attitudes.
These were written by Sam Sampson, (now, March 2000, living in the Stewart Island) in Wellington in the mid 60's.

The 'Unit' is the electric railway to the Wellington suburbs.

Sadly, young NZ women no longer wear a 'mass of lace.'


Now you're breasted up against the bar a supping on yer beer
And this burly bloody copper comes and whispers in yer ear
You're under 21 me lad! You shouldn' be in here!
Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
Slug anotha juga beer, sock the bugger in the ear,
(Or a 1970s version)"Just kiss him on the ear as you tell him you're a queer" 
An' don't worry mate, she'll be right.

Now you've been down at the boozer since round half-past three,
And you stopped off at the pie-cart for to get yourself some tea.
Now you're sitting in the "Unit" just a busting for a pee
DWMSBR
If you stand down by the door you can piddle on the floor
DWMSBR

      Or if you did Zoology at VUW

Now you're sitting in the lecture and you're sick of taking notes
And he's waffling on with spinal chords and intercourse in goats
Then he speaks of fornication and it raises all your hopes
DWMSBR etc
Take your sheila out tonight, you can prove his theories right
DWMSBR
DWMSBR
Julie and Murray Kilpatrick wrote some protesters' verses during the violence of the 1981 Springbok tour. These are their most evocative verses.
When you're marching in the protest and you're heading for the game
And in front of you's the Red Squad not looking very tame
And behind you are the Blue Squad and you're wondering why you came 
Well don't worry mate, she'll be right. She'll be right mate...
Just duck and run for cover, they'll do battle with each other
So don't worry mate, she'll be right.

The coppers swing their batons just like a bloody mace.
So I went and bought a helmet for protection for me face.
Now I have the feeling I'm protecting the wrong place.
Don't worry etc.
Take your helmet off your head, put it lower down instead.
And don't worry etc.


And I wrote this around 1990.(JA)
You've been in the fishing contest at the beach from dawn 'til dark
An'now yer skinny-dipping in the breakers for a lark
When this big thing bumps yer shoulder and yer know you've met a shark
Well don't worry etc.
Jus'punch it hard between the eyes, and you'll win the fishing prize
And don't worry etc.


She'll Be Right at Tahora, 1992-93.

By Holly De Ket, Diana Balham, Ruth Birnie, Peter Bayliss, Murray and Julie Kilpatrick.

The Tahora folk festival is an annual camp of dedicated folkies on Kerry Turner's farm in inland Taranaki. During the 92-93 festival, the heavens opened up for almost the entire duration. There was lots of talk about building an ark. In the end Kerry got the group to erect three sheets of ply up on the redoubt, paint it as an ark, and it was set alight at midnight.

The pirate was Robin Brew who entertained the kids young and old, Freda was Ron Craig, Annie was Annie Lang ( the camp mother), Link was Link Mail.

The song draws from incidents spanning a few years plus a little fantasy.

1.    Well we pitched camp at Tahora,  in the pouring bloody rain. 
      We prayed for warmth and sunshine,  but the rain came down again. 
      The river starts arising and the tents sail down the drain. 
        Well don't worry mate, ...
      The camps awash with ooze, but still there's lots of booze. 
        Don't worry ...

2.    The rain won't last for very long,  so Kerry understands. 
      But still he's built an ark to preserve our happy land. 
      And two by two we carry it up to the promised land. 
        Well don't worry mate...
      With Captain Kerry Noah Turner, we'll sail to terra firma. 
        Don't worry...

3.    Some years ago our Annie,  made up a water slide. 
      Used all the camp's detergent, to give the kids a ride. 
      And then it was the big kids turn, to massage their backsides. 
      When Wayne Morris made his leap, he took a whole tent in one sweep. 

4.    A rope was tied onto a branch,  high in an old gum tree. 
      You watch the kids climb up the hill,  to get a buzz for free. 
      Then your daughter says "You're next Dad!"  and you really want to flee. 
      To clear the stump you hauls, or you'll catch it in the ...end! 

5.    The woodshed stinks appalling,  but the lads don't give a jot. 
      With guitars and songs and whistles,  they entertain us lot. 
      Till a marinated pirate ties them all up in a knot. 
      If life gets a little queer, go to Freda for a beer. 

6.    The countdown's up for midnight,  and your standing on the grass. 
      Sing Auld Lang Syne then hugging,  and the kisses start to pass. 
      But one step in the mud, and you'll wind up on your ...own! 
      You'll be sitting in the goo,  and a friend will drop in to. 

7.    We're hung up and hung over,  all drip dried and wrung out. 
      Foods gone off, the lads are tired,  and of booze we now have nought. 
      There's mud from here to glory, from the gateway to redoubt. 
      Let Kerry have no fear, for Tahora next New Year. 
      DON'T WORRY MATE WE'LL BE BACK. 
 
And this verse was written and sung by Mike Moroney in the mid-1990s in response to Jenny Shipley's proposed national identity card, the Kiwi Card, now known as the Community Servics Card.
	When you're standing in the dole queue with the other	people there
	There's a hippie and a yuppie and a punk with spiky hair
	And the girl behind the counter just doesn't seem to care
	Well don't worry mate, she'll be right.........
	If you think that times are hard,
	Then just flash your Kiwi Card
 And don't worry mate, she'll be right.


In 2001, Green activists tried to stop genetically engineered plants and animals experiments from being carried out in NZ.
So you've bought some G-E porkers and you locked them in your sty
But piles of pungent pig-pats are now raining from the sky;
With genetic engineering, those pigs can really fly!
But don't worry mate, G-E's right.
G-E's right mate, G-E's right; don't worry mate, G-E's right.
With a little bit of luck, you'll get your bacon from a duck!
So don't worry mate, G-E's right.


Brian NcNamara of Marlborough wrote-
Well the flamin world's gone crazy and there's GE everywhere
They've engineered a new hop to put into the beer
The quinine gene for bitterness has made it taste all queer
But don't worry mate G-E's right
She'll be right mate, she'll be right
Don't worry mate G-E's right
Just fix a rimu gene in good old NZ green (cannabis)
And don't worry mate she'll be right


Hilary from Hamilton wrote-
Out into my veggie garden, I wandered one fine morn 
To check out all the lettuces, potatoes and my corn 
But standing in the middle was a cow with one big horn - 
Still don't worry mate GEs right, 
She'll be right mate, she'll be right 
Don't worry mate GE's right 
I get milk now from my peas and the caulis grow self-cheesed, 
So dont worry mate, GE's right
   


I wrote this after Arab activists demolished the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. It exemplifies the eternally optimistic Kiwi trait of being able to improvise with whatever is at hand in order to survive in a difficult envirnment. (JA)
   So you've carried up your back-pack to the top of this great tower
   When a jet plane slams in to it at four hundred miles an hour
   And you hear the girders creaking -they'll give way in half an hour
   Don't worry mate, she'll be right
          A tent-fly works real beaut
          As a Kiwi parachute
   So don't worry mate, she'll be right.
   


The Ballad Writers' Toolbox

We'll Be Right

The Round Table fantasies of the New Right could be exposed nicely with some new verses of this song; "...We'll be Right, mate, we'll be Right."

Not heavy sarcasm, more in the style of that song about the radiation leak at Three Mile Island ("You can go back to your homes now citizens, everything is quite OK...")

Mail me your effort.



She'll Be Right on Record
Peter Cape 1975.

Song List - Copyright - Home

Revised 17 November 2001