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The Ballad of Ellen Kelly

from After the End by Joustene Lorenz

/

about

Ellen Kelly was the mother of infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly. While she is imprisoned in the Melbourne Gaol in 1880, Ellen witnesses her son’s execution. The Gaol is now a museum housed in the grounds of a University where I work. So I imagine them on the day of the execution—mother and son—and I think about all women in history, reaching back to the very first, Mitochondrial Eve.

lyrics

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 tells 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

from After the End, released June 11, 2022
Joustene: vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, recorder
Bella: vocals. percussion
Jeff: bass guitar, percussion

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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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