Lyrics:

Now this is the tale of a mate I had
Back in those other days
Thin as wire and just as tough
And woolly and wide and his ways
When the going was rugged and really rough
He would always cheerfully state
'Things are bad but they could be worse
So we'll see how we go with it mate.'
Now there was a time when we busted our cheques
In a town on the long ago now
When a big gun shearer got on the tear
And started to kick up a row
And he picked on the smallest one of our lot
And slaughter was plain to see
Till our mate said 'Listen you son of a gun
Come and fire a charge at me.'
Ha! things really began to happen then because
As he picked himself out of the dust an the dirt
Both eyes were the colour of slate
And he squinted a bit as he said to me
'How did I go with him mate?'
Ha! That was the way our mate used to be
Another time in the sunny state
With both of us was badly bent
With saddle bags empty and nothing to smoke
And between us we hadn't a cent
When we saw on a poster, stuck on a wall
News of a rodeo;
'Well here's our chance' he said to me
'We'll be kings of the wild west show.'
But he drew the worse horse there was in the draw
Mean eyed and short in the neck
As he climbed up the chute, he whispered to me
'Be ready to collar the cheque.'
Collar the cheque, this is what really happened
As he picked himself out of the red Queensland dust
Just a few yards away from the gate
He looked up at me with a lop-sided grin and said
'How did I go with him mate?'
Ha! That was our mate
Now this mate of mine has gone to rest
The way he was destined to go
Wheeling the lead of the scrubbers that broke
From a camp on the overflow
As I stood by his grave on that drear winters day
With the rest of the crew and the boss
I thought of his happy-go-lucky ways
And I knew just how great was our loss
And I thought of him climbing those long golden stairs
With St Peter in-charge of the gate
And I'm certain I heard his voice at my side, saying
'How will I go with him mate?'
Not to good i reckon
Well it's all over now and I'm settled down
Away from those rovin’ days
And the mates that I had, well they've all drifted on
Like by-gone yesterdays
But I'll always remember that certain mate
And the way he could cheerfully state
'Things are bad but they could be worse
So we'll see how we go with it mate'
Oh yeah, we'll see how we go with it mate