​The Captain's Beautiful Music

​The captain was bored
The Belle didn't need him
Bluey kept company with Donata
Curly had his dog

Bluey and Curly ran the boat
Donata was chief cook and bottle washer
Murray, the dog, did his bit
Keeping it rodent free

At breakfast one morning
The Captain shocked them
He announced he had bought a violin
And a book to learn from

You can't play that
Donata teased her brother
I'm gunna bloody learn
You just wait and see

Mid morning on the bow
In the warm spring sunshine
The Captain propped up his book
Then set about learning

Murray hid in the engine room
The noise would scare a ghost
Until lunch it continued
Screeching and wailing so loud

We don't eat lunch this early
I thought you might need a break
You've been murdering that cat
For a couple of hours now

Problem is you're all tone deaf
Wait until I learn a tune or two
If ya live that long
Shut up ya bloody galoot

Proudly the captain practiced
Standing tall on the bow
The violin crying in pain
Murray howling in the engine room

They passed the Yarra Yabby
During practice. They called
Hey Captain ya dogs eating a cat
I can hear it screaming

Go to buggery you bastards
Jealous you don't have any culture
I'll be playing with the sym-phoney
In Sydney one day

You'll be playing with the fish
If ya keep playing like that
Curly'll dump you in the river
Put the violin in the boiler

Three months of this torture
The noise was getting worse
He needs a new hobby
They decided coming into Swan Hill

Donata went shopping
Desperate for anything
To amuse the Captain
Get some peace and quiet

In the shop window
Donata saw silence
She returned to the Belle
Beaming smile on her face

You look like a big cod
Escaping with my bait
You must have found something good
To shut the Captain up

That night Donata started
Now you can play
Maybe you need a new hobby
Something more relaxing

I think you're right girlie
How can I get a piano on board
I was thinking more artistic
Quieter Bluey mumbled

Look at the scenery
Going by each day
You could capture it on canvas
Why don't you paint it for me

I can't paint girl
You can learn
Look how quickly
You learnt the violin

You could be right
The violin seemed natural
Sure, I'll give it a go
Yeah you can paint the bilge. ​