For some reason this song popped into my head when I was waking up this morning.

 I wrote it in 1977 when I was teaching in Taumaranui. It's called The Taumarunui Blues. It's a standard twelve bar blues.

I woke up this morning to the sound of a train, I said

I woke up this morning to the sound of a train,

My alarm clock was working but

I couldn't hear it for the rain.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumaranui,

That's why I'm singing the blues.

Now Taumarunui ain't a one horse town, I said

Taumarunui ain't a one horse town.

Them horses got more sense,

Ain't a single horse for fifty miles around.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumaranui,

That's why I'm singing the blues.

* * *

There were probably more verses, but I don't remember them.

Taumaranui

Actually, there was a very famous song written about Taumarunui. It was called 'Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line'.

HERE

Notice how the singer pronounces Taumaranui incorrectly.

If you didn't, check your Maori pronunciation.

I remember an old teacher in Taumarunui telling me, "If you can't see the mountain, it's raining and, if you can see the mountain, it's going to rain."

I spent just under two years in Taumarunui. Most of 1977, school was already underway when I got the job. Maybe it was around March? And 1978. It was quite an eventful time.

Peter will no doubt recount the famous Cosmopolitan Club incident. 

I'll leave it there for today because I have practice to do.

Ciao tutti.