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The Ballad of Ellen Kelly

by Joustene Lorenz

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about

Ellen Kelly is the mother of infamous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly. Ellen was serving a three year sentence when she watched her son, Ned, executed in the Melbourne Gaol. The Gaol is now a museum in the precinct of a university. I used to eat my lunch and stare at the gibbet and wonder about Ellen and the nature of being a mother.

lyrics

The Ballad of Ellen Kelly

1.
Ellen was born in the County Antrim, Ireland,
Cold winters, snow is falling down,
The Red Coats came through and took their land away,
Exiled in 1845.

2.
Great Southern Land, eight children, desperation;
Drought and fire and famine laid them low,
Their mother sent to gaol, Ellen’s boys would find a way
To avenge the family and the Kelly name.

3.
Ellen hears the news directly from the warden—
One son shot dead the other’s going to hang,
She told him on that day: ‘Ned die proudly, not afraid,
‘No good man ever suffered for your crimes!’

RFPTISE
Now I’m standing on the iron stairs
Where poor men took their final breath,
The hangman’s just an actor
Paid to fabricate a hero’s death.

Meanwhile, I see a mother cry
As we drink tea and preen our lives.
We make the past and raise our glass
To all the lies we think will last.

4.
I was born in a world that can’t remember,
Went to college, earned myself a name,
In the museum of my genes
I’ am Mitochondrial Eve,
And a Mother who must watch their children die.

And she will bring them life,
And watch her children die.

Bring them life
And watch her children die.

credits

released January 1, 2022

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Joustene Lorenz Australia

'Sexy, smart, poetic—Joustene is a unique artist. One of the best singer-songwriters of the current era.' Felipe Rollins (The Musicians' Journal, June, 2023).

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