Thanks for watching Luke Vassella's 'By The River' song series, a collection of bittersweet love songs to Lismore recorded live on location. These songs are honest reflections from a town recovering from Australia's most expensive natural disaster to date.
Real songs for real people in real places.
Real songs for real people in real places.
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Augustines - words & music by Charles Luke Vassella
Let me tell you a story, let me sing you a song
About making the most of a world gone wrong
A song about living with the lemons in the lemonade
A song about keeping it cool when you gotta drink the Kool-aid
See one day I happened to be walking around
I was lost and lonesome in Lismore town
When by chance I glanced up from my feet
There was a brand new place on Woodlark Street
Let me tell you a story, let me sing you a song
About making the most of a world gone wrong
A song about living with the lemons in the lemonade
A song about keeping it cool when you gotta drink the Kool-aid
See one day I happened to be walking around
I was lost and lonesome in Lismore town
When by chance I glanced up from my feet
There was a brand new place on Woodlark Street
Augustines was the sign I read
I opened the door and I poked through my head
I tell you my friends I don't suit all the scenes
But I could see myself suiting Augustines
I opened the door and I poked through my head
I tell you my friends I don't suit all the scenes
But I could see myself suiting Augustines
Oowee would I ever find
The sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
If I ever forgot what a good time means
I could try to remember down at Augustines
The sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
If I ever forgot what a good time means
I could try to remember down at Augustines
You could say I was getting a little ground down by life
You could say it's worn a little thin with my beautiful wife
You could say I was just a little wasted on the vine
You could say it's worn a little thin with my beautiful wife
You could say I was just a little wasted on the vine
Singing oowee will I ever find the sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
Cause right now I couldn't give a bag of beans for all the problems in this world
I'm at Augustines
Cause right now I couldn't give a bag of beans for all the problems in this world
I'm at Augustines
You know I walked past the place that was my friend Mark's cafe
I remember sipping Just Grounds back in the day
And talking with a friend and a neighbour or two
Way back when life was long and the sky was blue
I walked past Black Sombrero's it only made me sad
They made the best damn Margherita this town ever had
The table's are still set but the room makes no sound
The front door's locked and there's no-one around
Still I walked on past Dave & Benny's Tatts Hotel
Yes I remember that smooth Irish whiskey well
In the backroom there was always some band or something going on
But now the lights are off and those days are gone
And over the way I can see the old arcade
Where I drank the coffee sweet Alisha made
That girl had a beautiful smile and a friendly call
I never went there for the coffee at all
Me and the kids used to go to Lismore library
To hear Mary Tyson tell her stories and sing her rhymes
Lismore Storytime
Then afterwards we'd go down Keen Street
To that old Embassy arcade for a babyccino
I never went there for the coffee at all
I remember sipping Just Grounds back in the day
And talking with a friend and a neighbour or two
Way back when life was long and the sky was blue
I walked past Black Sombrero's it only made me sad
They made the best damn Margherita this town ever had
The table's are still set but the room makes no sound
The front door's locked and there's no-one around
Still I walked on past Dave & Benny's Tatts Hotel
Yes I remember that smooth Irish whiskey well
In the backroom there was always some band or something going on
But now the lights are off and those days are gone
And over the way I can see the old arcade
Where I drank the coffee sweet Alisha made
That girl had a beautiful smile and a friendly call
I never went there for the coffee at all
Me and the kids used to go to Lismore library
To hear Mary Tyson tell her stories and sing her rhymes
Lismore Storytime
Then afterwards we'd go down Keen Street
To that old Embassy arcade for a babyccino
I never went there for the coffee at all
You know there's too much talking I can hardly even think
My mind's still walking I've forgotten to blink
My friend says to me LukeyV why worry you don't need to fret
Don't be caught in the headlights on a road of regret
Cause there's a whole lotta ways you can fill in the blanks
And how many reasons do you really need to give thanks?
My friend you can't change what's beyond your control
And all the money in this world it won't buy your soul
And all the worry in this world it won't buy you a single hour
You'll be just as cold in the grave as the ivory tower
It's a meaningless life, you can't right every wrong
Take a look around you, there's good people being bombed and starved to death
Good people perish, while the wicked live loud and long and strong
So don't be over righteous, and don't be given to crime
My brother why destroy yourself before your time?
Don't you know this burden's been laid on the whole human race
Don't you know all things are beautiful in their time and in their place
Don't you know eternity has been set in your heart
Even dear old Arthur Stace couldn't understand,
Running around Sydney town, writing it down in chalk from the end to the start
But when insecurity reigns in the Anthropocene, I said to my friend
Brother I could be locked in tight down here at Augustines
My mind's still walking I've forgotten to blink
My friend says to me LukeyV why worry you don't need to fret
Don't be caught in the headlights on a road of regret
Cause there's a whole lotta ways you can fill in the blanks
And how many reasons do you really need to give thanks?
My friend you can't change what's beyond your control
And all the money in this world it won't buy your soul
And all the worry in this world it won't buy you a single hour
You'll be just as cold in the grave as the ivory tower
It's a meaningless life, you can't right every wrong
Take a look around you, there's good people being bombed and starved to death
Good people perish, while the wicked live loud and long and strong
So don't be over righteous, and don't be given to crime
My brother why destroy yourself before your time?
Don't you know this burden's been laid on the whole human race
Don't you know all things are beautiful in their time and in their place
Don't you know eternity has been set in your heart
Even dear old Arthur Stace couldn't understand,
Running around Sydney town, writing it down in chalk from the end to the start
But when insecurity reigns in the Anthropocene, I said to my friend
Brother I could be locked in tight down here at Augustines
I been trying to recall some of the moments I had
Thinking of the things I learned from my dear old Dad
He always seemed to face the future with hope and good cheer
But Dad I do miss your smile talking over a beer
Thinking of the things I learned from my dear old Dad
He always seemed to face the future with hope and good cheer
But Dad I do miss your smile talking over a beer
Oowee am I losing my mind
Looking for a place I'll never find
Through the twists, the turns, the rifts and ravines
To hell with it all, I'm here at Augustines
I'm standing in the doorway staring at that empty chair
Just standing here in the doorway trembling
Staring at that empty chair
Staring at that empty chair
Looking for a place I'll never find
Through the twists, the turns, the rifts and ravines
To hell with it all, I'm here at Augustines
I'm standing in the doorway staring at that empty chair
Just standing here in the doorway trembling
Staring at that empty chair
Staring at that empty chair