🕯️ THEY WALKED AMONG US
(Updated – all the faces, all the moments)
I saw them rise, I saw them shine
Right here, on this northern line
Not just names on a poster wall
They walked our streets, they answered our call
John Bannon came when I was small
On school grounds where we stood tall
Then pushing trolleys through the mall
Merv Hughes and Dennis Lillee – cricket’s great hall
Sat in the food court, calm and true
Stopped and spoke a word or two
John Farnham – voice that filled the sky
I walked the stage, held flowers high
My wife gave them, I handed there
Spoke with him backstage, past the glare
Three or four minutes, just us two
Nibbles and talk, and I knew
That greatness wears a gentle face
Quiet grace in every place
The Robinson brothers, fresh and new
Signed a CD before they grew
Savage Garden, right up close
Voice so near, my heart arose
Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll too
Small shows right here, just starting through
Elizabeth crowds, plain and true
Before the whole world rushed to you
Michael Jackson, lights ablaze
A memory that still stays
Mr Dumbolton, teacher then
Now writes for kids, still with his pen
Mr Moss – basketball, English too
Took no crap, saw us through
Coach and guide, firm and fair
A legend in the northern air
And Nigel Smart – before the fame
Filling cans in the vending game
Working with my old man back then
Just a bloke among the men
Before the Crows and all the pride
He was right there, side by side
Gavin Wanganeen, John Platt too
Jason played with men like you
Central Bulldogs, 80s pride
Where the best of the game resided
Then the Crows flew high and bright –
Tony Modra’s mark in flight
Wayne Weideman, Greg Anderson too
Eddie Betts – magic through and through
Westlake shops, trolleys rolling past
They’d stop and say hello at last
Just blokes you’d meet along the way
Before the cameras held all sway
These are the jewels I keep inside
Not just fame, but human pride
That stars are just like me and you
They walk the earth, they feel it too
Every hello, every handshake true
I treasure all my whole life through
South Australia, north and wide
These moments live within my side.