By Verdelle Smith

The town I came from was quiet and small
we played in the meadows where the grass grew so tall
in summer the lilacs would grow everywhere
the laughter of children would float in the air\

As I grew older I had to roam
far from my family, far from my home
into the city, where lives can be spent
lost in the shadows of tar and cement.

Chorus:
And every night I'd sit alone and learn
what loneliness meant
up in my rented room above the world
of tar and cement.

Each day I'd wake up and look at the sky
think of the meadows where I used to lie
then I'd remember all of that's gone
you're in the city, you better push on
get what you came for, before it's too late
get what you came for, the meadows can wait.

Repeat Chorus

Many years later, tired at last
I headed for home to look for my past
I looked for the meadows, there wasn't a trace
six lanes of highway had taken their place
where were the lilacs and all that they meant
nothing but acres of tar and cement.
Yet I can see it there so clearly now
where has it gone?
Yes I can see it there so clearly now
where has it gone?

Where are the meadows? (tar and cement)
where are the lilacs? (tar and cement)
and where is the tall grass? (tar and cement)
the laughter of children? (tar and cement)
nothing but acres (tar and cement)
acres and acres.....(fade to end)
And  The problem is every time you visit a place that you have seen before , it is in  a worse conditition then the last time Its almost as thought you are seeing a movie watching the world slide down to ruin SO you reach a stage that we wont go there cause it aint as good as it was,A case in point In the 50s  the fairy penguins numbered in there 1000s , you could stand at the end of the beach at Phillip island for hours watching the little fellas waddle to there burrows,Was there late last year and the joint is now a tourist place ,  Tar and cement , and very few penguins,,   -----or trees------ or creeks, ------- or views--------,Just Tar and Cement !!