Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Advance Australia Fair

In the direction of a new national anthem, suggests Mark Steyn, in this enlightening and amusing article.

Sheepish confession: until fairly recent times, I had always assumed that “Waltzing Matilda” was the Australian national anthem. It’s certainly the most evocative Australian tune for non-Australians; anybody who hears it knows that it relates to Down Under, and to no place else. Of course, I can see how the lyrics might pose a problem. You probably wouldn’t want your national anthem to highlight a story about a hobo who steals a sheep (wouldn’t bother me; might bother some people).

15 comments:

Steve at the Pub said...

Kee-rekt podner, Shore hate to see yore balloon popped like thet, but "Waltzing Matilda" ain't never bin the national anthem of Oz.

(Though it is the "National Song" or something like that, I lose track of the various "National" stuffs - nat'l flower, nat'l grass, nat'l tree, nat'l pig breed, nat'l aroma, nat'l cloth, nat'l twig, nat'l gemstone, nat'l cloud formation, etc etc etc)

Paco said...

Oh, I'm quite aware of that, now.

We, too, have at least two patriotic hymns that qualify as "national". One, "My Country Tis of Thee" (which is, of course, "God Save the King" with different lyrics) I have always greatly admired; the music is stately and the lyrics, dignified. The other, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", I have always disliked, primarily because of the following line: "He [God] is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." This always struck me as being one of the most absurdly arch, purple, over-the-top passages in patriotic music that I have ever encountered, ghastly as either prose or poetry.

bruce said...

When I was a teenager our anthem was God Save the Queen, played before every cinema movie.

There's been a lot of uncertainty over the anthem, as WPedia shows.

You could say we have a conflicted identity. I reckon 1942 fall of Singapore marked a turning point for us - towards the USA, away from British Empire.

bruce said...

From the same WP link:

"Towards the end of World War II, it was played in picture theatres after "God Save the Queen" and the American national anthem."

For all the US soldiers dating Aussie girls of course! God Bless 'em.

kc said...

I like our National Anthem, but I think "America, the Beautiful" could easily replace it.

My dad explained 'Waltzing Matilda' to me when I was very young...catchy tune, made me giggle.

TimT said...

I must admit I don't really like the Waltzing Matilda melody - it's singable without being particularly interesting. The lyrics are more interesting than the melody, in fact. (There is an alternative with a catchier melody.)

Advance Australia Fair has a better melody - at least for the 'national anthem' purposes but the lyrics are a bit silly, never quite rising to purple prose glories such as 'he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored'.

I once took classes with composer Peter Sculthorpe, who was part of the national body selected to choose a new national anthem back in the 1970s, and he us about one of the entries, with the following stirring lyrics (set to an old shearing song and piece of Australiana, 'Click go the Shears'):

Out with the guns, boys,
Quick, quick, quick!
We'll shoot all the commies,
Every last prick...


National symbols are curious things; you can see why they were chosen at the time. They are meant to represent the people, so the politicians obviously like to choose a song that is popular with the people when they want a national anthem.

The trouble is, even songs like Shaddapaya Face were popular once upon a time. So there can be, er, some notable flaws in this selection process.

TimT said...

When we had the bicentennary of Australian settlement in 1988, under our then PM Bob Hawke, some publicist came up with the following song:

Celebration of a nation!
Celebration of a nation!
Let's make it great -
In eighty-eight -
Celebration of a nation!


Awwwww, who could make fun of that? Australians, that's who. And just about anyone else, too. It wasn't long before several variations on the term 'Celebration' were tried out, including 'procrastination' and this:

Masturbation of the nation!
Masturbation of the nation!
Let's make it great -
In eighty-eight
Masturbation of the nation!


Which may or may not say all you need to know about the Bob Hawke era in Australian politics.

Paco said...

Tim: Great history (and poetry!)

Minicapt said...

In days of yore, from Britain's shore,
Wolfe, the dauntless hero, came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.
Here may it wave, our boast our pride
And, joined in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwine
The Maple Leaf forever!

The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear,
The Maple Leaf forever!
God save our Queen and Heaven bless
The Maple Leaf forever!

Cheers

Old Sailor Man said...

Apropos of national symbols, our Oz national dog is the Blue Heeler, I think. Or is it the Red Sheila?

Steve at the Pub said...

Blue Heeler, Red Kelpie, golly, what others do we have?

Steve at the Pub said...

Crikey Tim T, I don't really want to pop your balloon, but both those tunes you mention @4.55pm, strictly speaking, are to some extent a product of USA.

Shaddap You Face is by Joe Dolce, an American, who moved to Oz when aged in his 30's. The song was apparently inspired by his (American) grandparents.

Click Go the Shears, a tune discussed previously on this blog, is really "Ring the Bell, Watchman" by Henry Clay Work of Connecticut, who is also the writer of two of my favourite tunes: "Grandfather's Clock" and "Marching Through Georgia".

TimT said...

Thanks Steve, that makes it even more interesting... a demonstration that America's influence in pop music extends far beyond the rock'n'roll era, into the 19th century?

The other interesting musical factoid that I refrained from mentioning before is that 'The Star-Spangled Banner' started life as a British drinking song before it was given new words.

Then again one person's 'Star-Spangled Banner' is merely a slightly more elaborate version of another person's 'On Top of Spaghetti'...

Paco said...

I think "Shaddap You Face" is the anthem of New Jersey.

Steve at the Pub said...

I've always love the tune to "Star Spangled Banner".
Now that I know the words (thanks Tim T) I like it even more.
That certain is one helluva drinking song!

Paco: I've never really understood the first verse of BHotR, however the 2nd & 4th verses are fantastic lyrics, & go well in a good baritone.

We all (round here) learned the song as "John Brown's Body" & were somewhat distressed when years later we discovered the BHotR lyrics!