Union Songs

Boonaroo

A song by Don Henderson©1968 Don Henderson

- [play]

Chorus
Oh, who will man the Boonaroo?
Who will sail her, be the crew,
sailing on the Boonaroo?

Is there food and is there store
to feed the hungry, clothe the poor?
In this world their number isn't few.
In her cargo would you find
any way for one mankind,
sailing on the Boonaroo.

Is there bandage by the reel?
Is there medicine to heal?
Christ knows, there's healing work to do.
In her cargo would you find
any way for one mankind,
sailing on the Boonaroo?

Would the hull be filled with material to build,
perhaps a bridge for a world that's split in two?
In her cargo would you find
any way for one mankind,
sailing on the Boonaroo?

Or jam packed in the hold,
is there grief and death untold
and asked "Why?" have to answer true.
In her cargo would you find
any way for one mankind,
sailing on the Boonaroo?

Notes

Don Henderson wrote:

"Australian seamen have manned the Australian National Line M.V.s Boonaroo and Jeparit sailing to Vietnam 'under strong protest'. In the case of the Boonaroo, which has already completed one round trip, the crew's continued hostility to the U.S. aggression in Vietnam, and the friendly contacts they established with Australian troops engaged in the war, are already a small part of Australian working-class history."

Geoff Wills recorded this song on the 1966 Don Henderson LP "One Out". That recording is also on the MUA Centenary CD "With These Arms".

Boonaroo was one of eight Australian songs in the "The Vietnam Songbook", compiled and originally published in 1969 by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber. In the 2003 New York celebration concert of the book and other protest songs, American singer Dan Zanes sang "Boonaroo" ...

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union songs..........a selection by mark gregory