Lamington (The Leech Kingdom)

Written in Australia in February 2006 to commemorate the adventures in Lamington rainforest.

Words and music by David. Harmony vocals by Kristen. The original version was recorded live on a single mic in Brisbane, Australia. Version 2 was recorded by our friend Lilly at the Knoll at Stanford, with harmony vocals added in later using GarageBand.

Version 2:


Original Version:


Download Version 2 or Download Original Version or Watch Debut Video

Verse 1
Call me Mike Pole; I’ll be your guide to fire and trees
With a leech in my eye, I can’t pause to cry, just push on down the trail
Meet tutor Conrad, who wrestles snakes and tastes like sexy,
And Rob, plant demigod, will sing us all to sleep
Now we’re all here, let the activities begin

Commence the transects, with piles of leaves of entire margins
“What species is this?” “Let’s say they’re the same” and on the story goes
Old fire boundaries, where Eucalyptus meets the booyong
And tests to give the studious a pang of fear
But the sunset blaze reminds us why we’re here

Chorus
Lamington, Lamington,
O take me away to your leech kingdom
Lamington, O Lamington
With Mike Pole as our guide
We’ll wander far and wide
From the day’s first rays ‘til the fire of the setting sun
In Lamington

Verse 2
Up the Caldera, singing songs of pop and Broadway
“Silence please, respect the trees, they’re older than you know.”
Across the stream, waterfalls one after another,
The beauty’s too much, can’t take it in – all rush and foam and roar
But the winner is the summit’s view of cloud.

Then the leech attacks, grabbing hard to socks and ankles
And Ryan’s found a new lover to leave a hickie on his neck
The rain comes down, and the trail’s a mass of fog and mudslides
Slip and slide, keep pushing on, it’s only five miles more
If you run you’ll make it back for Happy Hour

Verse 3
What amazing fauna, from paddymelons to shining glow worms,
Blue lobster-looking things that put up quite a fight
Conrad’s the master, from possums to his leaf-tailed geckos
Emily, watch out for snakes, they care not for your shoe
Now the commodore is calling to the frogs

(Spoken: This next verse is a description of the duckbill platypus based on personal observations by our very own Courtney and Kat)

Then they awoke, but there was nothing to be seen.