[Intro]
[Verse]
When Cobb & Co. ran coaches from the Buller to the Grey
I went for a livery-stable lad in a halt up Westport way
And I gave my heart to a red-haired girl, and I left it where she lay
By the winding Westland highway from the Buller to the Grey
[Instrumental]
[Verse]
I ve got Neatsfoot on me fingers, and lamp-black on me face
I ve saddle-soaped the harness and hung each piece in place
But my heart s not in the stable, it s in Charleston far away
Where Cobb & Co. goes rolling by from the Buller to the Grey
[Verse]
There s a red-haired girl in Charleston, she s dancing in the bar
And I know she s not like other girls who dance where miners are
And I can t forget her eyes and everything they seemed to say
The day I rode with Cobb & Co. from the Buller to the Grey
[Verse]
There s a schooner down from Murchison, I can hear her in the gorge
And I ll have to work the bellows now and redden up the forge
I m going to strike that iron so hard, she ll hear it far away
In the roaring European where the road runs by from Grey
[Verse]
Some day I ll be teamster with the ribbons in me fist
And I ll drive that Cobb & Co. Express through rain and snow and mist
Drive a four-in-hand to Charleston, and no matter what they say
I ll take me girl up on the box and marry her in Grey
[Instrumental]
[Verse]
There s a graveyard down in Charleston where moss trails from the trees
And the Westland wind comes moaning in from off the Tassman Seas
And it s there they laid my red-haired girl, in a pit of yellow clay
As Cobb & Co. went rolling by from the Buller to the Grey