If a Man Is A Man
If a Man Is A Man Quicktime Player
Words & Music: Pat Drummond (4.20)
For Robert, Peter and Ian Scott. Dateline...
Dubbo, NSW
In the Australian vernacular, the term 'True
Blue' bears on the concept of integrity; while the expression
'Fair Dinkum' is most often used in relation to the virtue of
honesty. While not synonymous, both terms are closely interrelated
and would, by all accounts, have been applicable to Bob Scott.
In the area around Wellington, he was renowned as a man whose
word was his bond. The presentation of The Robert Scott Memorial
Award at The Zoo '92 Convention, in Dubbo last year, was testament
to the regard in which he was held by his community. This song
is about honesty and integrity; two old fashioned virtues which
played a major part in the development of our national character
and which, sadly, have been portrayed in recent years as the
province of the naive and the idealistic. Perhaps it's time we
realised that they are, in fact, the essential glue which binds
all business and social contracts. Without them, individuals,
organisations and governments face a limited future.
Old Robert Scott had hands that were hard
from the years spent working in the Wellington
yard
Doing deals over derelect cars
for the parts that he bought and sold
And the lines in his hands were the long highways
ground dark by the ghosts of the old FJs
but the grease in that handshake was worth
it's weight in Gold
Chorus: "If a man is a man
his word is his bond
It's the land that his life's built on
On a handshake a deal is done
and he will honour his word
and the worth of his hand
If a man is a man"
Now the two Scott boys were kids I'm told
when the family business up in Wellington sold
Bob did the deal on a handshake and sealed
in his way
Then he was offered more money just to change
his mind
there was nothing put to paper; nothing ever
signed
Some said he was crazy
but they heard that old man say
Chorus:
and I've spent thirty odd years building something
up here
Something that's solid and strong
and if you think that I'm just talking business
boys you're wrong
For a man takes pride in what's inside himself
and I'll tell you son
There's not enough money in this whole damn
to buy it back once it's gone"
Instrumental
Now we live in a world full of women and men
who can twist the truth with the point of a
pen
and change it to suit themselves when they
can
and Bob is dead and gone
But his sons told that story on a Saturday
night
to a room full of hard-nosed business types
and I thought "Bob, you did alright
when you handed that handshake on"
Chorus:
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