There was a moment,

There was a moment,

As country roads

In West Virginia led

Straight into Proud Mary

Which kept on rolling

On a river of nostalgia

Children played on a climbing frame

As sorry eyed adults with puffy faces

And last year’s lockdown

Wreaking havoc with their finances

Drank cheap cocktails,

When a family beer garden

In Queensland

Resembled a little piece of Americana

The local band were nothing

If not adventurous

Breaking into a raucous cover

Of Daydream Believer

The older guys in the audience

The Grandads,

Ten-pound poms,

Expats who would never admit

To running out on the old country

Because it was no longer a

Monoculture

(as if it ever was)

Sang along, half-heartedly

They still remembered

The Palais on a Friday

Football at the Den

On a Saturday

A fumble behind the garages

With Patsy Morgan

When she was just seventeen

And they were back

Singing an old Beatles song

Whilst the lead vocalist struggled

With the high notes

Macca he was not

But it was Australia day

Some people remembered

It as an invasion

Not like the Beatles in the sixties

Maggie with the hearing aid

And baggy skin underneath

Her arms

Who still danced like a dervish

After a few Baileys with ice

Cried at the memory of

Screaming like a wild dog

For a piece of Paul

Never hearing a single song at all

But what a performance

She thought this band was shit

But it was a party

So she tightened her bra

Sang along to Hey Jude

NaNaNaNaNaNaNa…and gave

Her granddaughter a hug

‘Thank Christ’ she shouted in her ear

‘That in the end, all you really need is love…luv’