In the 1950s and early 1960s, Australian hotels closed at 6pm. This resulted in men rushing to the pub to get in as many drinks as they could before closing time - while the wife stayed at home looking after the kids and cooking dinner. It was an era known as the "Six O'clock Swill".

Lyrics

Wipe the shit from your hands,
As you trudge from the shed
Spit your fag to the ground,
Scratch some burrs from the back of your head
Then flop on a bale with an audible sigh,
Brush off the sweat as it drips from your eyes
Another day’s classing’s gone by the by, it’s been done

Rip that “blue flame” from your back,
Head yourself for a wash,
With a curse and a nod, bid farewell to the boss,
Cos now that the horrors of work have been done,
Before you return to the traumas of home
There’s still a few hours left, that you call your own

Drink to your friends and your comrades,
To your little lady at home
Drink to the memory of all the great bastards you’ve known
Drink to your queen and your country,
Drink and drink again still
Drink till you fall or the publican calls,
Drink to your fill, of the six o’clock swill

Wipe the froth from your mouth,
Head yourself to the bar,
Catch the eye of that barmaid, the one you’ve not seen before,
Go and tell her some stories you’ve told in the past,
Drain out the dregs of another pint glass
It may be your fifth, it won’t be your last for the day

Drink to your friends and your comrades,
To your little lady at home
Drink to the memory of all the great bastards you’ve known
Drink to your queen and your country,
Drink and drink again still
Drink till you fall or the publican calls,
Drink to your fill, of the six o’clock swill

At home there’s a meal on the table,
And kids running wild in the hall
You’re stuck with your lot,
But you’re willing to wager it all
Cos beleaguered by debt, bedevilled by fog,
Bewitched by the lure of the foam
Besotted by barmaids, benighted by grog,
But be buggered if you’re going home

Drink to your friends and your comrades,
To your little lady at home
Drink to the memory of all the great bastards you’ve known
Drink to your queen and your country,
Drink and drink again still
Drink till you fall or the publican calls,
Drink to your fill, of the six o’clock swill