Lyrics

Laurina’s Song
Lyrics by Drew Dale

VERSE 1
Born where the river meets the gums, Kempsey in moonlight,
Dunghutti blood in a newborn, in that 1860s night.
Yellow George Drew held land out on Pelican Island,
Twenty‑six acres of Country sittin’ in his hand.
They say her mother left the world when her first cry came,
A child of the clan, aunties and uncles called her name.
A little one wrapped in the old ways and the land,
A quiet, steady heartbeat of her people’s defiant stand.

VERSE 2
Then a ship came up the river, strangers from the sea,
They saw the girl and they took her from her family.
Laurina they named her, after the woman on the shore,
Carried her to Mount Morgan, chasin’ golden ore.
A life that crossed the ocean, a life that crossed the line,
Taken by other hands but the old songs stayed inside.
She learned new names and places, but the river called her true,
A thread that ran from Pelican Island back to where she grew.

CHORUS
Laurina, you carried two worlds in your hands,
You planted quiet courage in far‑off lands.
You raised your children, you kept the stories alive,
Laurina, your memory still survives.
From Kempsey down to Tassie, from the creek to the sea,
Your blood and your footsteps are the map that guides me.
I walk the line you held, I sing the songs you gave,
Laurina, your spirit is the road I brave.

VERSE 3
She married George James, they built a humble home,
Moved to Tassie where blackfellas no longer roamed.
They raised a family together, kept the hearth and bread,
But Laurina kept the stories of the people she was bred.
She taught the children kindness, she taught them how to stand,
To hide and to remember, to hold the old land’s hand.
And though the world tried to hide the colour of her skin,
She kept the songs alive, passed them on to her kin.

BRIDGE
There’s a whisper in the river, there’s a name in every breeze,
A woman who was stolen, who carried histories.
I feel her in the morning, I hear her in the rain,
Laurina’s footsteps are the reason I remain.

FINAL CHORUS (big)
Laurina, you carried two worlds in your hands,
You planted quiet courage in far‑off lands.
You raised your children, you kept the stories alive,
Laurina, your memory rides by my side.
From Pelican Island fields to the Tassie plains,
Your name is in my blood, your story in my veins.
I am the echo of the songs you used to sing,
Laurina, I carry everything.
Laurina, I carry everything.

© 2026 Andrew Stephen Dale. All rights reserved.
Unauthorised copying, distribution, or use of these lyrics or musical materials is prohibited.