WHO WE ARE: In joyous screams then let us sing

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

To learn the difference between men and women, go to The Tribal Mind.
A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 29/6/2008.
These words are symbolic of the culture and identity of our nation: "For most of my life I lived a delusion./ Yes, material gain has caused me confusion./ But slowly in time I learned that my place is/ To tell all that I meet the glory that God is."

They come, of course, from Billy Thorpe's song Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy, which has just been selected by the Film and Sound Archive in Canberra for preservation in the National Registry of Recorded Sound. It was a bold choice by the Archive, because it dramatically broadens the definition of what may constitute a "national song". Compare it with these lines:

"Free and friendly nation,/ Born of our own hand,/ Peace our greatest virtue,/ Mighty southern land./ Valiant into battle,/ Courage to the end,/ Standing firm for freedom,/ Loyal southern friend./ Nature's earthly heaven,/ Glory for our eyes,/ Ours alone those treasures,/ Under Southern Skies."

That's from the "national song" written last year by Amanda Vanstone, the former Minister for Immigration who became Australia's ambassador to Italy. She wasn't proposing it as a replacement for the anthem (Advance Australia Fair) but for use on less formal occasions. We can picture her at this very moment winning trade deals by crooning those lines to Silvio Berlusconi (to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory).

He no doubt responds with "Italian brothers, Italy has arisen,/ With the helmet of Scipio on her head./ Where is Victory?/ God has made her the slave of Rome./ Let us gather in legions./ We are ready to die./ Italy has called" (from the national anthem of Italy, which has not felt the need to update words written in 1847).

Personally, I'd discard Vanstone's stirring sentiments and celebrate my patriotism with one of the numbers selected for preservation in the National Registry of Recorded Sound. Thorpie's "personal anthem" joined Slim Dusty's Pub With No Beer; Men At Work's Down Under; the Aeroplane Jelly jingle; Johnny O'Keefe's She's My Baby; The Saints' I'm Stranded; a 1927 recording of Waltzing Matilda; The Easybeats' Friday on My Mind; Peter Dawson's Along The Road To Gundagai and We Have Survived by No Fixed Address (go to the registry to hear them).

The Archive revealed that the selection criteria included "artistic excellence, historical relevance, technical or scientific achievement, and prominence in shaping Australia's culture and identity."

Last year this column suggested eight candidates for the title of "national song". They were Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport, Down Under, Shaddup You Face, I've Been Everywhere, Man, Pub with No Beer, the Neighbours theme, Australiana (the Austen Tayshus pun collection) and The Sounds of Then (which includes the wonderful line "Laugh and say: 'This is Australia'."). Readers voted solidly to enlarge the list with the Skippy theme, Farewell Aunty Jack, Great Southern Land, I Still Call Australia Home, We Are One But We Are Many, and My Island Home.

Now that the Archive has broadened the definition to include rock songs and ballads that make no mention of the land or its icons, we should vote again. Go to comments to offer your new nominations.

To discuss why TV is programmed for people over 55, go to The Tribal Mind

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again (with the chorus/response) should be Australia's national song. Possible runners up inlcude The real Thing and Wangaratta Wahine.

DD replies: Tell us more about Wangaratta Wahine.

by SPoD on June 28, 2008 at 11:50 PM

"One country" by Midnight Oil gets my vote. One of their most gentle and passionately Australian songs you'll ever hear.
Lyrics are below:
Whod like to change the world
who wants to shoot the curl
Who gets to work for bread,
who wants to get ahead
Who hands out equal rights,
who starts and ends that fight
And not not rant and rave,
or end up a slave
Who can make hard won gains,
fall like the summer rain
Now every man must be, what his life can be
So dont call, me, the tune, I will walk away
Who wants to please everyone, who says it all can be done
Still sit up on that fence, no-one Ive heard of yet
Dont call me baby, dont talk in maybes
Dont talk like has-beens, sing it like it should be
Who laughs at the nagging doubt, lying on a neon shroud
Just gotta touch someone, I want to be
So dont call, me, the tune, I will walk away
(one country one, country one country)
Who wants to sit around,
turn it up turn it down
Only a man can be, what his life can be
One vision, one people, one landmass, we are defenceless, we have a lifeline
One ocean, one policy, seabed lies, one passion, one movement, one instant
One difference, one lifetime, one understanding
Transgression, redemption, one island, our placemat, one firmament
One element, one moment, one fusion, yes and one time

by Samran on June 28, 2008 at 11:53 PM

My vote is split between "Funky Town" by Pseudo Echo and "I Don't Wanna Work" by the Uncanny X-Men

by Brian Mannix on June 28, 2008 at 11:58 PM

A truly national song is one that we can all sing along to.
The problem with all the above-mentioned songs is that your average aussie would be lucky to know 10% of the words.
As such, the only song that really qualifies is, regretably, Khe San by the Chisels. At least your average aussie know half of the words and can respectably mumble something resembling the other half.

by Steven on June 29, 2008 at 12:45 AM

Gee whiz, Amanda Wanstone's "song" would have to rate as the most god awful piece of tripe ever committed to paper.
Too f***ing funny!

by nick andrews on June 29, 2008 at 12:50 AM

"I Still Call Australia Home" with slight changes to the lyrics takes my vote. It really plucks at my heart strings every time I hear it.
Advance Australia Fair is an Anthem to mediocrity and just makes me cringe.

by gastroboy on June 29, 2008 at 01:24 AM

Easy choice- Khe Sanh!

by Andrew on June 29, 2008 at 03:26 AM

What could be more inspiring to a nation collecting gold at the podium in Beijing or instil more fear in the All Blacks before kick off than Eagle Rock.

by Mark on June 29, 2008 at 03:45 AM

"My Island Home" by Neil Murray covers all the bases and the emotions. try singing the chorus while thinking about this country and try not to cry

by philip on June 29, 2008 at 04:13 AM

Too right that Amanda's pathetic attempt at lyrics is god-awful. I'm a muso, she's well, got a lot of money. To the rest, this topic is interesting. Does David Dale have to inflicted with crap comments from the uneducated and unwashed brigade. Guys, go pull your pud somewhere else!

by bandbloke on June 29, 2008 at 06:18 AM

The only thing I have ever heard that I would consider is "I still call Australia Home"
It says all we need to say about the best country in the world!

by Brian Purdue on June 29, 2008 at 07:01 AM

These comments are great for a laugh, and keep them coming, but don't forget that this is a serious national problem. Advance Australia Fair is the worst, most trite piece of 'music' ever written, it's lyrics are farsical (girt by sea?), no-one even knows the second verse, and the tune is absurd.
Waltzing Matilda on the other hand is an iconic piece of Australian verse, written by no less than Banjo Patterson, and the tune (the original version) is great.
And it is an important piece of our culture, we all know it, we all love it, we need to have the courage to own who we are and make our national song one that we can actually identify with.

by Patrick Curley on June 29, 2008 at 07:11 AM

Just a few thoughts...I just looked up the words of "My Island Home" - fine sentimental song explicitlly for a small part of a small part our population. By all means keep it in the Narional Registry, but we need a song that expresses the main current of our national self-understanding, values, aspirations and hopes. And perhaps one that is wise enough to ask God for help, protection and continued blessing - like NZ, Sth Africa, USA etc (and unlike the French who don't ask for God's help and so keep needing to be saved through those who do) Just a few thoughts...

by Ian Powell on June 29, 2008 at 07:37 AM

I think that "We're Happy Little Vegemites" hits the right criteria. The song is universally known around Australia and crosses all age groups and demographics.

Being an advertisement for a product should not hold it back. Vegemite achieved International exposure through Men At Work's great anthem "Downunder".

Most significantly, it fits one great Aussie criteria- the product is overseas owned, but loved in Australia. Something like Toyota, Sony, iPod etc etc etc. Ah what a lucky country we live in.

Yes, we are all happy little Vegemites in this country. Blissfully living in our own little paradise and munching on those yummy Vegemite sandwiches. Mmmmm heaven.

Alan Gilmour.

by Alan Gilmour on June 29, 2008 at 08:15 AM

Any way you want it - Journey

Detroit rock city -Kiss

Hotel California - The Eagles

Good songs right?

by Tim Baggins on June 29, 2008 at 08:37 AM

Ahh Neil Murray, what a legend... but my choice would be Blackfella Whitefella over My Island Home...

Blackfella, Whitefella, it doesn't matter, what your colour, as long as you are true fella, as long as you are real fella..

There's what should be Mr Rudd's immigration policy in 4 lines..

by Rich K on June 29, 2008 at 08:58 AM

Australians all let's pay too much,
We're F'ing girt by f'ing Sea,
We rabbit on about freedom,
Then tight-en airport sec-ur-it-eeee

Our land abounds in poli-speak,
But look out if you're sick,
Doctors ignore or blame you
Our medicare has gone to s*it

The ACCC won't help you,
As petrol prices soar,
Goods and food and housing,
It's a gouging free for all.

We talk about being responsible,
Then go down to the pub,
Our definition of mateship,
Is another round on Bob

Australians all let us be proud,
We inherited a strong country,
With cowardice and political correctness,
We're flushing it down the dunny

by Sammy01 on June 29, 2008 at 09:03 AM

First post mentioned Wangaratta Wahine by Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band - tryingto find lyrics, no luck so far..great song/band..

by Rich K on June 29, 2008 at 09:05 AM

Am I allowed to queer the pitch by spruiking my band's own national song here? It's written to the very same tune as ex-senator Vanstone's redoutable effort, and here it is:
HIDE OUR SOUTHERN SHAME
Nation built on murder of convicts and Kooris
Land-grabs and slave labour: cut down all the trees
Land of racist bigots from the very first day
White Australia Policy never went away
Lock up refugees from wars we helped to start
Concentration camps in our vast, bleak, sandy heart
Blabbering about ï¿½freedomï¿½ while we hire a thousand new spies
Hoist a foreign flag on a stinking pack of lies
Hated in our region, caught in foreign wars
First we died for the British, now weï¿½re American whores
Jingoistic zombies; slaves to demagogues
Dying for our masters; good obedient dogs!
Fooled by fundie zealots ï¿½ homophobic hypocrites
ï¿½Prosperity gospelï¿½ ï¿½ the dollarï¿½s our crucifix
Greedy, dull and vicious, mired in apathy
Our real god is consumerism: cars, beer, sport and TV
Laying waste our country, just to go on being slobs
Now weï¿½re going nuclear: radioactive yobs
Sweltering in pollution under Southern Sun
Addicted to our cars: the damage is already done
Now weï¿½ve f*cked the whole planet; time to wave goodbye
Warming for the next thousand years: the whole worldï¿½s gonna die
But it couldnï¿½t be our fault: someone else is to blame
God of redneck morons: hide our Southern Shame
God of beer and barbies: hide our Southern Shame!
(end)

As you can see, it was written about things as they stood last year, but why should the glory of the Howard Years be forgotten so soon, especially when our 'national character' remains very largely unchanged as far as I can see.
See you on the cruise ship to the ice-free North Pole...

by Zibethicus on June 29, 2008 at 09:16 AM

Including mythical beings like Gods in a National Anthem is a quaint old fashioned idea but ultimately divisive. It is insulting to those with no particular personal god on the one hand, and to the members of faiths not in the faith of the writer. Would the commentor like the word allah used? I suspect not, yet it is a word commonly used for god around the world. Non Christians would likely feel the same about a Christian god being used.
No, a better national anthem would be either I Still Call Australia Home or Waltzing Matilda. Advance Australia Fair is just a boring piece of drivel little better than Amanda Vanstone's embarrassing attempt at song writing.

by Tony Johansen on June 29, 2008 at 09:16 AM

We love Island Home and Khe Sanh!But we'll have to go for either Still Call Australia Home or Waltzing Matilda, although Road to Gundagai is also a good choice! The only thing we're sure about is: We love this country!!

by Allie and Mike on June 29, 2008 at 09:53 AM

Wangaratta Wahine was written by the wonderful Mic Conway and recorded by the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band in the 1970s. It is the tragic story of unrequited love of the narrator for a woman who worked in a roadside restaurant in Wangaratta. On rare occasions the Mic Conway National Junk Band still performs despite vocal protest from Brother Jim who still hates the song. The ame of the album is also Wangaratta Wahine and is defineitely in the ABC archives

by SPoD on June 29, 2008 at 09:55 AM

Cicada That Ate Five Dock by Outline must also surely be a front runner

by SPoD on June 29, 2008 at 10:02 AM

We allow politicians to make a balls-up of the place on a daily basis, let's not permit them to bastardise the anthem for it as well. Vanstone is better off in Italy doing, well whatever it is she's doing.
I'd like to think that I Still Call Australia Home would have a fair shot at being considered. It is always at the front of suggestions when this issue comes up so let's just give it a run.

by Marty Cobcroft on June 29, 2008 at 10:08 AM

Click goes the shears boys...click, click, click

Nah, seriously I think everyone doesnt have the correct definition of national anthem. It needs to portray the history, tradition and detail the good ol' aussie battler. Sure alot of those songs represent us and we are damn proud of them, but to have them as a national anthem doesnt make sense.

But then, why can't we change the rules. be the first nation to have a rock song as our national anthem. I'd imagine that most countries would think of us as a laughing stock if it did happen. Seriously.

by TC on June 29, 2008 at 10:42 AM

I think whatever song is selected, it needs to meet some criteria. First of all, it needs to be fairly short. Can you imagine people standing still, for example at prize giving, while the song goes on and on and on for several minutes? And maybe a few times a day? Then, every time Australia wins a gold, a collective groan would go up: "Oh NO! Not that song again. I couldn't take it any moooooooooore".

Many of your choices are out straight away, based on this criterion. Unless you choose to play only part of the song. Then what's the use of the rest of the song anyway?

And for the record, I personally think Amanda Vanstone's contribution is better than a lot of the other choices that I see listed here. You might like to imagine fondly that crude lyrics somehow make you look cool. I think you'll just come across as uncouth and unwashed, not to mention naive and simple.

by Prometheus on June 29, 2008 at 11:00 AM

I am a Yank.

The Swagman tells me a lot of your country, history, speech, politics, socal status.

The Swagman did not give up his freedom for the Squatters and the Troopers.

Good readin.
Yall take care.

by Virgil Dotson on June 29, 2008 at 11:01 AM

"Get f----- you f----- f---wit" - by Frenzal Rhomb

by Rod on June 29, 2008 at 11:03 AM

Waltzing Matilda? Yes! Lets have a national anthem that glorifies suicide and petty criminals. I’d rather be girt by sea.

by Anna Day on June 29, 2008 at 11:19 AM

Please people - My Island Home? I Still Call Australia Home? Waltzing Matilda? Far out - there's a reason it is called a National "Anthem". It's not the national pop song, nor is it a national folk song. It is the national ANTHEM.

Let's have a look around the world - "God Save The Queen/King". "Oh Canada". "The Stars and Stripes". They all fit the definition of an anthem and they all have lyrics specific to the country. And Advance Australia Fair fits all the criteria too. I like it!

Now I have no problems with change. There are certainly some things about our country that could use changing. If someone really thinks they can pen the words to a new anthem that will better represent this country, and they can get enough grass roots support to change it in a true democratic process - go ahead. Personally, I doubt this is ever going to happen. We will become a republic and remove the Union Jack from our flag before that happens.

by Rhys on June 29, 2008 at 12:08 PM

Just for all of you who complain that we don't know the words to the second verse of Advance Australia Fair, or that the words don't make sense, here's the full version of the Star Spangled Banner - the national anthem of the USA.

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution!
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

by Rhys on June 29, 2008 at 12:16 PM

The current anthem is great for the job - because it's slightly stilted and rather boring, and that's what national anthems are supposed to be. Anthems belong to bland politicians, painful school assemblies, and boring municipal occasions. Keep the really cool songs for the rest of us instead

Actually, our national anthem isn't so bad if you increase the speed a fair bit - it's positively rollicking. Even better if you sing it to the tune of Gilligan's Island.

by TheLoadedDog on June 29, 2008 at 12:21 PM

We Are One But We Are Many or I still Call Australia Home

by David on June 29, 2008 at 12:36 PM

if any one song can summup australia, i think it would be jailbreak by ac/dc. or any other ac/dc song.

by lil sal on June 29, 2008 at 12:37 PM

Rack Off Normie

by neil on June 29, 2008 at 01:14 PM

Thanks Tony J for responding to my thoughts. You raise some important points but mess it up with silly errors, possibly deliberately in Dawkinesque style. Muslims would not at all need Allah in there as they use and know well what the word means - you'll notice I didn't speak of Jesus etc. - you chose to add that stuff about Christian god, to strengthen your point - not intended or necessary. Muslims would not for a second find it a problem, same for Hindus etc. as would most non-Christians. The idea is for song that picks up the main currents, otherwise every song is able to be removed as offensive by some or allegedly on behalf of some. That sort of sensitivity would lead, if followed through consistently to nothing being said or sung by any "us"
Atheism and theism are all old fashioned and modern and its silly to argue against something by inaccurate chronological snobbery. Much of the roots of why people flee to the west rather than to societies grow out of the soil of God inspired beliefs and values that haven't been arrived at as result of inevitable progress but by the working out of ideas that some wish to forget, but (coises) just won't die, especially at the Uni that I serve at.

by Ian Powell on June 29, 2008 at 02:03 PM

Don't forget that national symbols are like make-up on someone ugly; they let us feel good but never let us quite forget that we don't really believe it ourselves. South Africa and Tajikistan have much cooler flags than Australia, but also have much higher crime rates, unemployment and dysfunction. Anthems in particular are universally dull and turgid; it's the same law of nature that makes passport photos hideous however good-looking you are. When we voted for our anthem, the choice was between one about "nature's hidden minstrelsy", one about sending the Queen victorious (presumably over that paparazzi behind Prince Harry), one about a vagrant's death while resisting arrest and the one we've got now about gallant Cook from Albion sailing. "Still within each native breast there dwells a British soul"? Jolly good show.
Given the fact that an anthem can't be an anthem without being awful, I think Vanstone actually did us a real service. She always projected herself as part comedian, quite deliberately (remember her wisecracking on Enough Rope and her regular self-mockery on Good News Week?), and I suspect she wanted to go out in style, with a massive raspberry to see how seriously she was taken. This isn't the work of someone who wants to be taken seriously, it's the patriotic equivalent of Orson Welles convincing us that aliens are invading Earth: the subliminal message throughout is "If you're taking this seriously, the day will come when you realise what an idiot you are". It's hard to see how you could be more Australian than that.
If you're after a serious suggestion, the repeated mention of We are One but We are Many is the only one honest about our status as the Licorice Allsort nation made up of every origin and white elephant the world's produced, and manages the impossible task of being both patriotic and a good song in its own right. But my point stands: good songs don't want to be anthems, and to represent the establishment is, for most artists, fatal. Remember what happened to the Oils frontman when he became a minister.

by Nicholas on June 29, 2008 at 02:11 PM

Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool

by rolyjay on June 29, 2008 at 02:35 PM

i'd probably have to go with the whole
'we are one, but we are many
and from all the lands on earth we come
we share a dream, and sing with one voice
i am you are we are australian'
it just has so much that is really australian in there
and just a note, we don't really need to know all the words to the anthem; after all we don't sing the second verse of 'Advance Australia Fair'

by smiffy on June 29, 2008 at 04:01 PM

Waltzing Matilda is a great tune - easy to sing and associated with Australia all over the world. It sounds just as good as a celebratory tune as it does when played by a military band. Pity about the words. I'd suggest locking Les Murray and Bob Ellis in a room, promising to let them out when they have written some appropriate new lyrics. The old ballad words could still used as a traditional song on other occasions.

by Ross on June 29, 2008 at 04:56 PM

i am, you are, we are australian (seekers)

by nigel on June 29, 2008 at 05:07 PM

Nothing does it for me like 'Sounds of then' by Gangajan.

Out on the patio we sit
And the humidity we breath
Watching the lightening crack over the canefield
Sounds of then - this is Australia

by janet on June 29, 2008 at 05:15 PM

Aussiemandias, by TISM.

by Allan on June 29, 2008 at 06:37 PM

I am a huge Cold chisel / Jimmy Barnes fan,but I do not think that Khe Sahn is appropriate as such a significant song to represent our country. (Maybe Working class man!). However I reckon it would have be out of ''I am Australian" (by RAI THISTLEWAITE) Great Southern Land (Icehouse) or My Island Home (Christine Anu) also Midnight Oils' One Country has such great meaning to it...

by angela on June 29, 2008 at 06:43 PM

by angela on June 29, 2008 at 06:43 PM

"Easy choice- Khe Sanh!
by Andrew on June 29, 2008 at 03:26 AM"
If we really want it to be Australian then it should be "Nui Dat" as no Australian forces served at Khe Sanh, apart from some bomber crews who flew sorties.
But no Australian forces were on the ground.
I never could understand the point of that song....

by Adrian on June 29, 2008 at 07:38 PM

Advance Aus Fair sounds like a bit of a dorky national anthem because Australia IS a bit of a dorky, relatively new, little country tucked away away right down south.
How can Aus hope to compete with Italy national's anthem, with its real references to Scipio and roman imperial legions?

by Fredereich on June 29, 2008 at 08:11 PM

The comedian Adam Hill had the right idea when he put the words of Advance Australia Fair to the music of Jimmy Barne's working class man. Check it out. Fantastic solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVKngijexnw

by Simone on June 29, 2008 at 08:19 PM

the last couple on the list still stand for me! my island home, i still call australia home.. though my favourite is "we are one but we are many" - i can't believe i heard it first on a telstra ad, but is so appropriate! and fun and easy to sing! and catchy!!! it's genius! its patriotic but modern and fun to sing!

by Diya on June 29, 2008 at 08:20 PM

Just read the lyrics! It says it all!

I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian.

by Diya on June 29, 2008 at 08:37 PM

A second for rolyjay and Eagle Rock.

As a backup, The Newcastle Song by Bob Hudson. A song most of us can relate to growing up.

by Rick on June 29, 2008 at 08:45 PM

ya dis guy is right i am facing deportation but i deseve it 7 years bing here only 21 mabe its ggood 4 me but u stilll need a warrent in dis land of free

by Farhad Zulfiqar on June 29, 2008 at 08:48 PM

The ridiculous part about "Khe Sahn" is that Aussie troops were not involved in that conflict.

Ditto for "Working Class Man", which was written by an AmericaWe could just as easily have "Up There, Cazaly" as a national song. Would go some way to explaining our obsession with sports over academic and other cultural achievements.

by Uncle_Gweilo on June 29, 2008 at 09:02 PM

As an expat Aussie living in the UK I'd say Khe Sanh even though it doesn't exactly celebrate Australia but at least we all know the words!

by Alastair Rosie on June 29, 2008 at 09:39 PM

We Are Australian by Judith Durham, the chorus (at least) of which should be fairly familiar to most:

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
"I am, you are, we are Australian".

I won't post the rest here, but you can find it at http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/w/weareaustralian.shtml.

The lyrics help to highlight Australia's multicultural history and social diversity and accurately represent the many facets that make Australia's whole. It's simple, straightforward and (to be honest) sounds good. Definately a song I would enjoy hearing played when we collect gold at the Olympics this year!

by Rosie on June 29, 2008 at 09:51 PM

"Please people - My Island Home? I Still Call Australia Home? Waltzing Matilda? Far out - there's a reason it is called a National "Anthem". It's not the national pop song, nor is it a national folk song. It is the national ANTHEM."

ROFL exactly

Thank you!! omg people Waltzin Matilda?? What is wrong with you guys.. its embarassing enough that we respond to the New Zealand haka with this song.. almost makes me laugh

and now u want it as our national anthem????

oh deary me

by Jason on June 29, 2008 at 09:52 PM

It still makes me cringe when I see at Aus v NZ rugby tests, the crowd respond to the passionate battle cry of the haka, with a story about a suicidal sheep thief! Waltzing Matilda is a good song, but not a national song.
As someone said, better to be girt by sea than a sheep thief

by ST on June 29, 2008 at 09:59 PM

"I still call Oz Home" would be a perfect anthem - that is to say for me and the million other expats spread around the globe. Doesn't really have the right message though for the rest of you...

"Waltzing Matilda" would be a shoo-in if it wasn't for the lyrics. On the other hand it is the most honest anthem for a country which was literally built by a bunch of convicts and their wardens. You could even strech the analogy by letting the jumbuck represent the Koori population.

That the song (arguably) doesn't reflect the nation as it stands now doesn't faze me. Countries don't tend to rewrite their anthems as their demographies or circumstances change. I haven't heard of a move to reissue "The Star-spangled Banner" in Spanish.

by Mick on June 29, 2008 at 10:31 PM

If we want a national anthem that can unite all Australians as one, we need something that we can all relate to and truly embrace as our own story.

by Daniel on June 29, 2008 at 10:44 PM

Who ate all the pies?
Seriously, I agree with My Island Home, I used to listen to it all the time when I lived overseas and it was the perfect song. The text of the first verse could be changed for the context of the national anthem, followed optionally by the original and perhaps some other verses reflecting diverse points of view and even languages.

by James Y. Obbo on June 29, 2008 at 11:05 PM

great southern land? what a great song.
One country by the oils is good too - though so what if half the country cant sing it? Can half the country sing the national anthem?
Khe sahn has to be a no no - its a song about a depressed vet lost after the war. Why we sing it druken and wild on friday nights is beyond me...listne to paul kelly sing it and it sounds more like it should - depressing.
Beer with duncan?

by chris on June 29, 2008 at 11:21 PM

Why has no one mentioned "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris? Any song that has "Ooh mau moo mau mau (repeated)" as a major part of the song is just crying out for national significance.

Or we could have "Up there Cazaly" as the Winter song and "Howzat!" by Sherbert as the Summer song.

On a serious note, I've been to official functions where "We are Australian" has been sung rather than "Waltzing Matilda" and I think it's more reflective of Australia today than the chronicle of a suicide of a sheep thief.

by Ozpuck on June 30, 2008 at 11:48 AM

I offer to you "I remember when I was young" by Matt Taylor - a quintessential song that takes me back, while also marking the genesis of an authentic Oz Blues band, Chain. That said, you might also consider "Black and Blue" by Chain. For the record I'm a sucker for Khe Sanh and Eagle Rock:)

by OzBlues on July 01, 2008 at 05:54 PM

The Sun-Herald

Who We Are

WHO WE ARE: In joyous screams then let us sing

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