The Drunkard Went Down To Lightning Ridge

The sun was bleeding into the dirt when the word went around
That a filthy red Del Sol had been seen rolling into town
A machine like that had never swept the streets of the Ridge of Lightning
So the locals knew the man who tamed that beast had to be frightening

The Sol rolled past the Bottle House, with thousands of dead soldiers
And along to a mad man’s castle that stood proudly amongst the boulders
Past open mines and shanty towns and burnt out ghosts of cars
Man and machine didn’t even stop to see a deranged tribute the stars

Thunder cracked like a whip in the distance and the rain came pouring down
It was obvious the stranger had brought trouble to the town
They came out of mines, they came out of the pub, they even came in their pants
There was trouble in the Ridge and fists were going to dance

With guns and knives and bits of wood, the locals formed a gang
And decided if the stranger wanted trouble, he would hang
The crimson creature came to rest behind the town’s store
The door popped open, the stranger stepped out, the tempest continued to roar

They all went to the pub to drink and fight, and the stranger did his share
But when it came time to settle the bill, the cheapskate wasn’t there
The search went on till they decided he’d probably toppled down a mine
When really he’d slipped off to a farm and spent the night with a pretty swine

When the heavens shudder and shake and rain plummets from the sky
To this day, the locals say, with a tear threatening the eye
You can still hear that drunkard, his alcohol level heightening
Behind the wheel of that dirty del Sol, parked above the Ridge of Lightning