Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

waltzing matilda song


Trigger Mike

Recommended Posts

Whenever I watch a war movie with Australians I hear Waltzing Matilda" in the back ground and finally found out the other day the name of the song and the words. It seems to be referred to as the second Australian National Athem. I read where it is based ona true story from the late 1800s. It is a real pretty tune. Why is it so associated with Australia? Why is it the second national athem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it was a poem by "banjo paterson in 1895"

in 1891 there was the great shearer strike in qld that brought qld close to a civil war,

it is said thats what its about.

why we love it ?

been around that long now, every one thinks they come from the bush

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first Australian National Anthem.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Banjo Patterson was a fine journalist, soldier, author and poet.

The Man from Snowy River

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although strongly related to that shearer strike in Queensland ....

 

... it is also a story about a "hobo" thief who drowned trying to avoid capture after being caught red-handed with a stolen sheep.

 

 

Kinda fits our convict heritage :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although strongly related to that shearer strike in Queensland ....

 

... it is also a story about a "hobo" thief who drowned trying to avoid capture after being caught red-handed with a stolen sheep.

 

 

Kinda fits our convict heritage :blush:

 

Every one has a horse thief or two in there family tree...Just need to go back far enough and find them...Some great aunt of mine found a relationship with Billy the Kid...I think they buried real deep...Cause I haven't any thing on it...

 

Texas Lizard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that was a treat. The man from Snowy River. I don't know how many times I returned to see that movie.

 

Thanks.

 

WW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only other Australian song I know ( I think) is the one about the "cuccabura sits on an old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he".....(don't know how to spell cuccabura) :huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whenever I watch a war movie with Australians I hear Waltzing Matilda" in the back ground and finally found out the other day the name of the song and the words. It seems to be referred to as the second Australian National Athem. I read where it is based ona true story from the late 1800s. It is a real pretty tune. Why is it so associated with Australia? Why is it the second national athem?

 

The Irish Rovers' version of waltzing Matilda starts with an explanation of the terms in the song. The link below is to a movie file I made, my first attempt, (edited to add transitions), with pictures of the Irish Rovers and some of their album covers, set to the song as background music.

 

Hope you like it.

DDD

 

http://s981.photobucket.com/albums/ae299/Earthman17/?action=view&current=IrishRoversSingWaltzingMatilda.mp4

 

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,

Under the shade of a coolibah tree,

And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,

"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me

And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,

"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Along came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,

Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee,

And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me

And he sang as he set that jumbuck in his tucker bag,

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,

Down came the troopers, one, two, three,

"Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me

"Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"

"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up jumped the swagman, leapt into the billabong,

"You'll never catch me alive." said he,

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong,

"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong,

"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only other Australian song I know ( I think) is the one about the "cuccabura sits on an old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he".....(don't know how to spell cuccabura) :huh:

 

 

.....that would be "Kookaburra" ......

 

I learned that song just after I started school ... at the age of 5 ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.....that would be "Kookaburra" ......

 

I learned that song just after I started school ... at the age of 5 ....

 

It was taught in elementary school here as well, don't know if it is anymore (late 1950's)..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Paniolo Cowboy SASS #75875

Although strongly related to that shearer strike in Queensland ....

 

... it is also a story about a "hobo" thief who drowned trying to avoid capture after being caught red-handed with a stolen sheep.

 

 

Kinda fits our convict heritage :blush:

 

A lot of people are probably unaware that England also send their convicts to America as well back in the 1700's.

 

Lord only knows what we'd find in our backgrounds. My Grandfather told me once that my Great-Grandfather tried trimming a Mule's ears and selling him as a horse. :lol:

 

He's lucky he wasn't hung!

 

And by the way, when I was in Marine Corps Boot Camp ... We used to sing Waltzing Matilda during drill.

 

Good Day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've done some extensive research and one of the finds is a pair of brothers and their families in North Carolina in the 1770s. Their name was Rhyss. The 1780 census does not show them at all but there is a pair of brothers with the same first names as before and married to women as listed before but their last name is now Rice. Many questions here until I also discovered that their uncle (Rhyss) was hung as a pirate around 1775. They didn't want to be associated with him!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've done some extensive research and one of the finds is a pair of brothers and their families in North Carolina in the 1770s. Their name was Rhyss. The 1780 census does not show them at all but there is a pair of brothers with the same first names as before and married to women as listed before but their last name is now Rice. Many questions here until I also discovered that their uncle (Rhyss) was hung as a pirate around 1775. They didn't want to be associated with him!

 

 

..... I think a lot of that sort of thing went on in those days .....

 

 

................. probably still does ... :mellow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John Williamson, a famous Aussie singer, wrote a song that references that song. It's called, "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda," and it's about a World War 1 veteran. It is a very powerful song:

 

 

 

Our own Mr. Fredrick Jackson Turner covers this version that always brings a tear to the eye.

 

Never ask him to play it if you want to see him smile for the rest of the night.

 

 

Coffee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Grandfather told me once that my Great-Grandfather tried trimming a Mule's ears and selling him as a horse. :lol:

 

He's lucky he wasn't hung!

 

Paniolo Pard, personally, I think I'd prefer hanging compared to what a mule can do to you if they're ticked off! :lol:

 

Hanging, if done right, is usually quick. With a couple swift kicks to the head, a mule can turn you into a drooling vegetable where all you do is sit in a chair, stare into oblivion, take nourishment through a straw, and soil your drawers for the rest of your natural life. :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Paniolo Pard, personally, I think I'd prefer hanging compared to what a mule can do to you if they're ticked off! :lol:

 

Hanging, if done right, is usually quick. With a couple swift kicks to the head, a mule can turn you into a drooling vegetable where all you do is sit in a chair, stare into oblivion, take nourishment through a straw, and soil your drawers for the rest of your natural life. :blink:

I have been like that a few times. Wern't no mule either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.