Lyrics
The Dunstan Range is glowing gold, but the town is turning cold
While the suits in Wellington trade our future for the gold
I’m standing in a classroom with the plaster falling down
The most educated beggars in this dusty, one-horse town
The board says "Future Leaders," but the cupboards are all bare
While the ministers are breathing in that filtered city air.
(Verse 2)
The rent is climbing higher than the Remarkable peaks
While the water in the pipes has been failing us for weeks
I’m working sixty hours just to keep a roof overhead
But the "Market Rate" is hungry and it needs to stay well-fed
Young families in their cars down by the lakeside in the dark
Is this the "Grand Design" or just a cruel and bitter spark?
(Chorus)
It’s a broken Otago summer
Where the thyme smells like the end
In a system built to break us
With no money left to spend
Yeah, the hills are gold and hollow
And the sky is hard and wide
But there’s a hunger in the gully
That the government can't hide.
(Verse 3)
They cut the pay, they cut the hope, they tell us "do your part"
While they rip the very lifeblood from the nation’s beating heart
The housing list is growing like the briers on the hill
But the politicians' pockets are the only things they fill
They promise us a "New Day" while we’re drowning in the dust
Just another generation watching iron turn to rust.
(Bridge: High-energy Hard Rock. Aggressive, distorted riffs and heavy crashes.)
Pay the teachers! Fix the floor!
We can't take this anymore!
Sell the land and sell the soul
Leave us in this mountain hole!
The system’s rigged, the system’s blind
Leaving every kid behind!
(Guitar Solo: Fast, chaotic, and angry—reflecting the frustration of the lyrics.)
(Verse 4: Music drops to a low, brooding bass line and a steady kick drum.)
The sun sets red over Wanaka, a beautiful facade
Hiding all the broken homes and the failures of the state
I'll mark another paper by the light of a stolen candle
While the country burns away with a price they couldn't handle.
(Final Chorus: Full-volume Hard Rock Country explosion.)
It’s a broken Otago summer
Where the thyme smells like the end
In a system built to break us
With no money left to spend
The hills are gold and hollow
And the sky is hard and wide
But there’s a hunger in the gully
That the government can't hide!
(Outro: Slow, heavy chords ring out and decay into silence.)
Empty classrooms...
Empty pockets...
Central Otago...
Is bleeding out.
While the suits in Wellington trade our future for the gold
I’m standing in a classroom with the plaster falling down
The most educated beggars in this dusty, one-horse town
The board says "Future Leaders," but the cupboards are all bare
While the ministers are breathing in that filtered city air.
(Verse 2)
The rent is climbing higher than the Remarkable peaks
While the water in the pipes has been failing us for weeks
I’m working sixty hours just to keep a roof overhead
But the "Market Rate" is hungry and it needs to stay well-fed
Young families in their cars down by the lakeside in the dark
Is this the "Grand Design" or just a cruel and bitter spark?
(Chorus)
It’s a broken Otago summer
Where the thyme smells like the end
In a system built to break us
With no money left to spend
Yeah, the hills are gold and hollow
And the sky is hard and wide
But there’s a hunger in the gully
That the government can't hide.
(Verse 3)
They cut the pay, they cut the hope, they tell us "do your part"
While they rip the very lifeblood from the nation’s beating heart
The housing list is growing like the briers on the hill
But the politicians' pockets are the only things they fill
They promise us a "New Day" while we’re drowning in the dust
Just another generation watching iron turn to rust.
(Bridge: High-energy Hard Rock. Aggressive, distorted riffs and heavy crashes.)
Pay the teachers! Fix the floor!
We can't take this anymore!
Sell the land and sell the soul
Leave us in this mountain hole!
The system’s rigged, the system’s blind
Leaving every kid behind!
(Guitar Solo: Fast, chaotic, and angry—reflecting the frustration of the lyrics.)
(Verse 4: Music drops to a low, brooding bass line and a steady kick drum.)
The sun sets red over Wanaka, a beautiful facade
Hiding all the broken homes and the failures of the state
I'll mark another paper by the light of a stolen candle
While the country burns away with a price they couldn't handle.
(Final Chorus: Full-volume Hard Rock Country explosion.)
It’s a broken Otago summer
Where the thyme smells like the end
In a system built to break us
With no money left to spend
The hills are gold and hollow
And the sky is hard and wide
But there’s a hunger in the gully
That the government can't hide!
(Outro: Slow, heavy chords ring out and decay into silence.)
Empty classrooms...
Empty pockets...
Central Otago...
Is bleeding out.