Australian folk musicians Penny Davies and Roger Ilott have written a song about Girraween National Park.
Penny Davies about the song:
We moved to Stanthorpe in 1987 and immediately started visiting Girraween National Park, loving it from the start. Roger had written the tune for this song while we were still in Sydney but the words had never really been right - until we met Girraween. I liked the idea of a verse for each of the four different and glorious seasons in the park. I have to explain to people that "where the Bald Rock flows" refers to the creek - Bald Rock Creek - there are no volcanic eruptions occurring any more in that area!
I love a sense of "circularity" in song lyrics and so the seasonal subject was a perfect vehicle to tell the story of this magical place with its many faces - the name means "place of flowers" and it is particularly lovely in spring when there are thousands of flowers there. However, each day of the year holds different treasures and vistas in beautiful Girraween.
On the 13th of February, 2016, the couple performed the song at Girraween's 50th Anniversary celebrations. Penny and Roger have kindly given us permission to share it with you.
Spring flowers among the stones,
Granite, grey as old roo bones.
Lichen - orange, white and green
Splashed along the worn ravine.
Birds are building in the trees,
The scent of flowers calls the bees.
CHORUS:
Where the Bald Rock flows, wild flowers grow
Down among the green of Girraween.
Summer insects buzz and hum,
The creek is whispering where it runs,
Nestling in its rocky sides
tufts of fern and orchid hide
In a grove of fringing lily,
Stop a while and boil a billy.
CHORUS
Autumn in the yellow grass,
Sunset light warm as brass,
Trigger plant and bluebell still
Paint their colours on the hill.
The wind blows in, its breath is cold,
Grey clouds take the place of gold.
CHORUS
Winter frosts the granite mounds,
Sparkles on these sacred grounds,
Sleeping here among the trees,
The promise of a million seeds.
Girraween, Girraween - place of flowers, Girraween.
