When I was four years old I went on a boat
And the first thing that I know Is staring at an ocean
Feeling the air so fresh and cold And a hand upon shoulder
And then a land that's red and glowing And a horizon that gets stolen
And the air just like an oven And the handle that is scolding
But the water in the bucket It is sacred and it is holy

And I dare not spill a drop
Because we must all get washed
I dare not spill drop
Because we must all get washed

And out there in Tardun The fathers got us building
And my life had just begun But it felt like it had ended
5 hours out of Perth Just like id fallen from the earth
And landed in a place Forgotten by the human race
Replaced by a brotherhood of man Who had gone mad
And they gave it everything they had They held my feet they held my hands
I missed my mum I missed my aunt I missed my sister I missed my gran
When I climbed up to that cab He said I'm a father not a dad
And afterwards he said There's a drum go get yourself cleaned up
And I've never ever stopped
Though I've washed and I have washed
I've never ever stopped though I've washed and I have washed
Yes we must all get washed

And id rather sleep out on the street Than step into a palace of the people
And when I see Those uniforms up on tv
I say the Gestapo is still free And when they say well dig down deep
I say remember me and the red shield in the dessert
And the prisoners that they kept Well do they still keep
Because every dollar that we ask for they say time has washed away
But the pain it still remains
Oh yes it never stops
Though they say it has been washed
We must all get washed
The honorable George Pell He's ringing all the Bells
He says the helpless will be helped The sick will become well
The shamed will be saved the denied and the betrayed
They will again all become clean And the lawyers they agree
And there's a pope in every tv And they're on their stomachs they're on their knees
They're swinging from the treesThey're a swaying surging sea
And I look out like a boy Seeing the first thing that he's seen
The voices sound like waves Saying "we believe, we still believe"
I see nothing ever changes The pain drifts through the ages
I see that I am lost
I've been cleaned and I've been washed
We must all get washed