RABAUL a Time Before

 

  (Brief Instrumental intro)

 

For all those who knew it

Or lived in times before

Are reserved those special memories

In their hearts a true rapport

The pearl of the Pacific

Was such an exotic place

Lining the caldera

Within an old volcanic face

 

It had risen from the ashes

Already twice before

At first from an eruption

And the devastation of a war

A colonial community

Of every coloured face

A cosmopolitan cluster

Drawn from the human race

 

Everyone embraced it

Despite the frequent shakes

Remarkably complacent

Unperturbed by the earthquakes

Of the old evacuation plan

We knew what it was meant for

But silverfish were eating it

Behind your toilet door

 

(instrumental interlude)

It was a time of transition

From the Club and men in whites

Drinking gin and tonic

On those balmy tropic nights

But colonial days were numbered

A new future, in our sights

We were on an epic journey

To mandate a Bill of Rights

 

 So, the carefree years passed us by

And Independence days had come

PNG still flourished

Established proudly in the Sun

Until that fateful morning

In September 1994

With very little warning

The lights went out once more

 

The town was smothered

Under pumice ash and mud

A spectacular destruction

The devastation chilled the blood

Perhaps because we lived there

It’s loss our heartstrings wrung

For that is where we lived and played 

When we were very young.

 

   (Instrumental outro)

 

Rodd Sherwin



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