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Eternity

from Into the Light by Alex MacDonald

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about

As the new millennium dawned on New Years Day 2000, one of the first celebrations was in Sydney, Australia. Beamed around the world was one word lit in 50 foot high letters on Sydney Harbour Bridge - the word "Eternity". It had become a kind of motto of the city. This song tells the story of how that came about.

lyrics

Eternity

They say that Arthur Stace was born on the seedy side of town
His parents both were drunkards, the whole family was going down
But he stole milk from people’s doorsteps just to stay alive
His food he found in rubbish bins, or he never would survive
He hardly went to school at all, could barely read or write
He grew up hard and tough, but only five foot three in height
At fourteen he went down the mine, came out as black as coal
First pay cheque just drank the lot, and soon lost all control
In Surry Hills a whorehouse he supplied with rum and gin
A lookout cockatoo for gambling schools and dens of sin

And eternity was waiting and what would be would be
But the odds were stacked in favour of a lost eternity

In Nineteen-fourteen war broke out and he wanted to do his bit
But his country didn’t want him – too small and judged not fit
But the slaughter at Gallipoli reduced the volunteers
So Arthur now was tall enough for the war’s two further years
He joined the 19th Battalion and was on his way to France
As a stretcher-bearer there he just had to take his chance
Day after day he carried back the shattered and the dead
And every day he faced the fact it might be him instead
A gas-shell burst beside him in Nineteen-seventeen
The poppies were no longer red, the fields no longer green

And eternity was waiting and what would be would be
But the odds were stacked in favour of a lost eternity

He went home to Australia, shell-shocked, half-blind and gassed
He went back to his old drinking and he spiralled down real fast
From beer to gin to rum to wine, he ended up on meth
From courthouse to asylum he was just one step from death
He was stinking, dirty, wretched, poor – just wanted a night in jail
The sergeant said he stank too much, told him to hit the trail
Out on the street again, some men were walking up Broadway
St Barney’s Church served food and tea, you didn’t have to pay
‘Who are these guys?’ poor Arthur asked the hoodlum next to him
‘I reckon they be Christian folk’ he answered looking grim

And eternity was waiting to see a man set free
All bets were off that gambled on a lost eternity

‘Well, look at them and look at us! I want what they’ve all got’
In Victoria Park along the road, he struck while the iron was hot
He got down on his knees and prayed for Christ to fill his heart
And in that very moment Christ gave him a brand new start
From that time on he never touched another drop of drink
He worked and gained his self-respect, he turned back from the brink
He heard the Reverend Ridley preach – ‘Eternity’ he said
‘I want to shout eternity, and wake the living dead!”
His words they rang in Arthur’s brain as he left the church that day
Eternity, Eternity, was all that he could say

And eternity was waiting for a city to be free
All bets were off that gambled on a lost eternity

Then tears ran down the wee man’s face as he felt the call of God
To warn the lost of Sydney on the very streets they trod
‘Eternity’ - he wrote the word about two foot wide
With a piece of chalk in copperplate as tears of love he cried
He’d never had much schooling, he could hardly write at all
But he could write Eternity like the writing on the wall
From that day on he trudged the streets in the early morning dawn
And every hundred yards or so Eternity was drawn
For over thirty years he wrote and half a million times
To warn the day of reckoning for all our sins and crimes

And eternity is waiting to see a world set free
Don’t bet against the fearful fate of a lost eternity

And the people they all wondered who was the writer of the word
Some were touched and some were moved and some thought it absurd
Eventually it was revealed that Arthur was the man
But he just carried on his work just like when he began
In Ninteen-sixty-seven Arthur Stace was dead and gone
But the eternal legacy he left goes on and on
In Sydney Square his word stands clear in aluminium bright
And the first word of the millennium was Eternity that night
But Eternity is coming as quick and sure as death
As a small man did remind us all until his final breath

And eternity is waiting for them and you and me
Don’t bet against the fearful fate of a lost eternity

© Alex J MacDonald 2017

credits

from Into the Light, released November 25, 2017
Alex MacDonald: vocals and acoustic guitar
Rob MacDonald: drums
Phil Onslow: bass
Cailean Morison: organ
Spider Mackenzie: harmonica

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about

Alex MacDonald Edinburgh, UK

Grew up in Kildonan Strath, Sutherland, where I loved the psalms and hymns and the old folk songs my father had learned from his drover grand uncle.Went on to Cash, the Clancys and Corries, Tom Paxton and Dylan. Started playing guitar and writing songs in my teens, but only started recording this century with my rock band sons! Either solo or with my band, I've played all over Scotland. ... more

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