Something In The Pilliga

(album: Makin' A Mile - 1997)

I was driving through the Pilliga, getting tired of the road
Pulled over for a breather, stretched my legs and checked the load
It was getting close to sundown, been away near on a week
When I pulled into this campsite on the banks of Toolie Creek

Well, I walked around the trail and the bush was pretty still
Checking ropes and kicking tires, in the night there had a chill
I was climbing in the cabin when I thought I heard a moan
And I got this sudden feeling that I wasn't on my own

Oh, there's something in the Pilliga, I've heard old timers say
That some won't even camp there, some never go that way
And if you listen to their stories, they'll make your skin just crawl
Some may offer their opinion and some never talk at all

Well, I put her down to maybe, the wind blowing in the trees
Completely disregarding shaky feelings in my knees
I was climbing in the camper, forty winks was all I'd take
When I felt the cabin shaking, I was really wide awake

Oh, I grabbed the tire lever out from underneath the seat
Hit the lights and threw some Roman sandals on my feet
I was creeping 'round the bull-bar, out roared this awful sound
And my hair was standing straight up, I was frozen to the ground

Hey, there's something in the Pilliga, I've heard old timers say
That some won't even camp there, some never go that way
And if you listen to their stories, they'll make your skin just crawl
Some may offer their opinion and some never talk at all

Then this thing came charging for me, it was all of ten feet high
With hair all covered over, murder in its devil eyes
And I must've started screaming like a banshee in full flight
For it roared and grunted something and then vanished in the night

When finally I woke up, I was lying on the ground
And an eerie kind of stillness, nothing moved nor made a sound
Both my eyes were big as saucers, still seeing in my mind
That primeval apparition, red eyes burning into mine

Oh, there's something in the Pilliga, I've heard it rant and roar
And my nerves were shot to pieces remembering what I saw
It was big and it was hairy, its perfume really reeked
Yeah, there's something in the Pilliga mate, on the banks of Toolie Creek

Let it stay there in the Pilliga on the banks of Toolie Creek