Bradman Lyrics - Paul Kelly

Sydney, 1926, this is the story of a man 

Just a kid in from the sticks, just a kid with a plan 

St George took a gamble, played him in first grade 

Pretty soon that young man showed them how to flash the blade 

And at the age of nineteen he was playing for the State 

From Adelaide to Brisbane, the runs did not abate 

He hit 'em hard, he hit 'em straight 

He was more than just a batsman 

He was something like a tide 

He was more than just one man 

He could take on any side 

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand 

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A team came out from England 

Wally Hammond wore his felt hat like a chief 

All through the summer of '28, '29 they gave the greencaps no relief 

Some reputations came to grief 

They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn 

And in the hour of greatest slaughter the great avenger is being born 

But who then could have seen the shape of things to come 

In Bradman's first test he went for eighteen and for one 

They dropped him like a gun 

Now big Maurice Tate was the trickiest of them all 

And a man with a wisecracking habit 

But there's one crack that won't stop ringing in his ears 

"Hey Whitey, that's my rabbit" 

Bradman never forgot it 

Photos 

He was more than just a batsman 

He was something like a tide 

He was more than just one man 

He could take on any side 

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand 

England, 1930 ... and the seed burst into flower 

All of Jackson's grace failed him, it was Bradman was the power 

He murdered them in Yorkshire, he danced for them in Kent 

He laughed at them in Leicestershire, Leeds was an event 

Three hundred runs he took and rewrote all the books 

That really knocked those gents 

The critics could not comprehend this nonchalant phenomenon 

"Why this man is a machine," they said. "Even his friends say he isn't human" 

Even friends have to cut something. 

He was more than just a batsman 

He was something like a tide 

He was more than just one man 

He was half the side 

Fathers used to take their sons 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand, in the palms of his hands. 

Summer, 1932 ... and Captain Douglas had a plan 

When Larwood bowled to Bradman it was more than man to man 

And staid Adelaide nearly boiled over as rage ruled over sense 

When Bert Oldfield hit the ground they nearly jumped the fence 

Now Bill Woodfill was as fine a man as ever went to wicket 

And the bruises on his body that day showed that he could stick it 

But to this day he's still quoted and only he could wear it 

"There's two teams out there today and only one of them's playing cricket." 

He was longer than a memory, and bigger than a town 

He feet they used to sparkle and he always kept them on the ground 

Fathers took their sons who never lost the sound of the roar of the grandstand. 

Now shadows they grow longer and there's so much more yet to be told 

But we're not getting any younger, so let the part tell the whole 

Now the players all wear colours, the circus is in town 

I can no longer go down there, down to that sacred ground 

He was more than just a batsman 

He was something like a tide 

He was more than just one man 

He was half the bloody any side 

Fathers took their sons 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand