The Convict Stain chords by Ted Egan

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Verse 1
G 
Gradually, people began to
see themselves as Australians
rather than exiles from the other side
of the world.
Increasing protests saw the
end of the transportation system
to the eastern states in the 1850s,
but Western Australia,
desperately short of labour,
took convicts until 1868.
The longest surviving convict
died in 1938.
Far from being a badge of shame,
it's considered an absolute
bonus
to have a convict link
D 
G 
in one's ancestry.
C 
G 
Once upon a time out in Australia,
D 
we had to be so careful what we knew.
A 
We couldn't have the tiny
Am 
D 
tots getting upset,
A 
we couldn't have the breeding
D 
who -who -who -who's -who.
G 
C 
No, we must not have the little
G 
children worried that
Grandad might have
C 
come out here in chains,
Am 
For that grandma might have
D 
G 
E 
been a scarlet harlot
Am 
A 
D 
Transported to Australia
G 
for the gains,
E 
I mean her pains
Am 
A 
D 
G 
Transported to Australia for the gains
We knew we must abstain
C 
from refrains about the stain
A 
That most dreadful blood of all,
D 
the convict stain
G 
Teach them of the kings and queens,
C 
don't forget them might have been
Am 
Concentrate on the in -betweens,
D 
G 
D 
G 
but not the convict stain
So we did not teach our
C 
G 
children any history
D 
Other than of English kings and queens
Am 
Of peasants as they dutifully
D 
tugged their foreskins
A 
And of Levites marauding the machines
D 
G 
C 
Of the Romans as they came
G 
and saw and conquered
C 
The Dukes and Anglo -Saxons and the Celts
Am 
D 
Of the Huns and Picts and Goths
G 
E 
and the slippery slimy sloths
A 
And the Boers who drank a
D 
lager on the belts
G 
Yes, we had to teach them
C 
G 
all about Crusaders
C 
Who in the name of God had slain the wogs
Am 
Of the Vikings who'd all
D 
G 
sailed off to Valhalla
E 
A 
And the pestilence of Napo
D 
G 
leon and the frogs
E 
Am 
Yes, the pestilence of Napo
D 
G 
leon and the frogs
We knew we must abstain
C 
from refrains about the stain
A 
That most dreadful blood of all,
D 
the convict stain
G 
Teach them of the kings and queens,
C 
don't forget the might of beans
Am 
D 
Concentrate on the in -betweens,
G 
D 
G 
but not the convict stain
D 
G 
But now, now, now, now, now,
now things are different
The time has come for us to
D 
wield the whips
Am 
We'll have a go, we'll give the
D 
pawns some curry
A 
Let's land -base them
with our quaint colonial grips
D 
G 
C 
We've done an antibode deal for Teyvaji
G 
We feel that we're like
C 
finest midday swine
Am 
D 
G 
Selected by the noblest English judges
E 
A 
D 
G 
Just put down to mature for a time
E 
Am 
D 
G 
Just put down to mature for a time
So should we still abstain
C 
From refrains about the stain?
A 
Was it really all that bad?
D 
Was it a stain?
G 
Who wants to know about
kings and queens
C 
Or forgettable mylophenes
Am 
And mediocre in  -betweens?
D 
G 
Let's hear it for the convict
D 
stain!
G 
Uncaught, unfettered
C 
G 
Now we're free,
we'll show the world
Australia culturally
D 
Am 
We're into stubbies, tunes and thongs,
D 
and esoteric songs
A 
D 
About chandering and the old Pacific Sea
G 
C 
G 
Everyone's a pu tative first reader,
a comic background's
C 
obviously a must
Am 
D 
G 
Everyone's great -grandma stole an apple,
E 
A 
D 
a  handkerchief, a shilling or a crust
G 
C 
G 
We'll fight to check through all the archives
C 
of England, Ireland, Scotland and of Wales
Am 
D 
G 
To learn about the various situations
E 
A 
that caused our ancestors
D 
G 
to leave their reigns
E 
A 
That caused our ancestors
D 
G 
to leave their reigns
C 
So join with me in singing this refrain
A 
We've forgiven Mother
D 
England for all the pain
G 
The Union Jack still waves on high
C 
for English knighthood
Am 
We still buy our patron saints at Charles
D 
G 
and die despite the convicts'
Am 
D 
G 
D 
G 
stain.