Posted on 02/04/2020 6:00:38 PM PST by Ozguy1945
you like two Banjo classics ...... two out of three’s not bad ...... Good on you.
you like two Banjo classics ...... two out of three’s not bad ...... Good on you.
Our swaggie looked exactly like this man, 'matilda' was his 'swag' - his bedding tied and rolled up, carried on his back; his 'billy' a small tin bucket with a handle in which he boiled his tea. He would stay in the area for a few days, calling at various farms, then move on...
The practice started during the depression, when there was no work, and itinerant men would roam the countryside. Some, like our swaggie, made it a way of life. I doubt if our swaggie ever stole a jumbuck.
Your story about your home as a kid reminded me of a great,great video called “A Town Like Alice” starring Bryan Brown.That video,your story and my visit to the Outback (where I learned the Aussie Salute!) fills me with awe for the courage and determination of Aussies in taming that rugged land.
In 1981 I was a member of a university choir that toured Australia (Melbourne to Brisbane). Part of our repertoire was both Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Faire, both arranged in four parts by one of our own members. I remember the parts of both songs I sang to this day, and enjoyed both. At one concert a older woman commented on our arrangement of the anthem saying that until she heard our version characterized it as a dirge, but she rather liked ours.
Advance Australia Faire, while virtually unknown in the US, is much easier to understand, is clearly more patriotic and descriptive of that land: “golden soil and wealth for toil our home is girt by sea”. Waltzing Matilda’s tune is instantly recognized, but the lyrics are crammed with dialect that requires a fair amount of translation. “Squatter” is a wealthy land owner? Who knew? Even so, Waltzing Matilda is nearly synonymous with Australia.
Hope that settles the debate/jk.
The NappyOne
My view from here in the U.S. is that we have 1 song that fits the same template as "WM", i.e., Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" (most Yanks probably don't know about his socialist verse which has been conveniently left out of most songbooks and recorded covers). But it doesn't get near the attention today that "WM" still holds in Oz.
>> What does this phenomenon look like from America?
Gun surrender and capitulation is the only thing that comes to mind regarding Australia.
Nationalism? That requires determination, not a song.
Good..combines the best of both.
“Georgie Girl” Judith Durham. Stirring and I’m not even Australian...although during the song I am temporarily!
After reading that I conclude that you are an Australian patriot.
I hope there are millions of you.
Thanks Gene. Songs can be symbols of determination, but you are quite right that the symbol alone is not enough. But something like this year’s state of the union is a pretty good example of something which is both determination itself and a symbol of determination.
thank you for these wonderful stories ......
GSN,thans for your thoughts
Do you still sing?
For an American equivalent of Waltzing Matilda, I think you have to go to something like Huck Finn. Archie Bunker?
Hill Street Blues redefining what television can be?
So nice to meet a genuine patriot. Most people take liberty and freedom for granted, and so they do not have a great capacity for being a patriot.
When we have experienced a loss of freedom, or witness it on ocassion, we know how fragile a flower it is.
Really, there is very little standing between freedom and enslavement.
We are it, we are the thin red line.
And so we are almost always at the ready. Sure as hell no one else will do what we have to do, say or write in the cause of freedom and its continuity.
And we will never give up. Ever.
Patriots are the backbone of the free world.
Thinking about the classics and the Americana I’m familiar with, the great compositions were often born on the heels of great suffering and sacrifice. And knowing the historical context makes the musical experience more purposeful and convincing.
Should the songs serve as inspiration for action, that’d be great!
Not publicly for 30 years now. My excursion into performance, while useful for me professionally, would have interfered with my eventual career as an engineer in aerospace.
As an aside, I was studying chemical engineering at the time. In Brisbane the choir was given a tour of the university in Brisbane that included a look at the chemical engineering department. When I saw the 30’ fractional distillation tower, I barely contained my jealousy.
The university also screened Breaker Morant for us. As I am also enthusiastic about history, I will say Brisbane was a special experience to me.
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