Back to Larkins' Bar

DESCRIPTION: The singer writes a letter to his (girl/wife); the (soldiering/cockie's) life is hard and lonely. He pleads, "Take me back to the Holbrook streets, And back where the beer-hogs are, Back to the sound of the barrel taps And back to Larkins' bar."
AUTHOR: James "Digger" O'Brien?
EARLIEST DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: home Australia drink
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown-FolkSongsOfAustraliaVol2, pp. 273-274, 274-275, "Back to Larkins' Bar" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
NOTES [75 words]: Meredith collected this song twice, in fragmentary but strikingly different forms, from two residents of Holbrook, Australia. Marilyn McPherson credited it to her father, Digger O'Brien; Jack Campbell also apparently had it from him. On its face, that would seem to disqualify it from "folk song" status -- except for the extreme set of variations.
Larkins' Bar is apparently one of the chief landmarks of Holbrook (this is Australia, after all). - RBW
File: MCB273

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography