The song named in the title is one of my all time favorite songs. I first heard it as a boy in primary school. We learned folksongs from all around the world when I was in second grade. The song Waltzing Matilda would stay with me for life.
It's kinda weird though. I'm not Australian, but I find the song very stirring. It literally makes hairs on my neck and body stand on end when I hear it. It's very poignant and pulls on the heartstrings, especially when you hear the crowd at a Wallabies Rugby Match singing it.
Only three other songs have that effect on me.
The Star Spangled Banner, I'm Proud to Be An American, as well as
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Here's a link to a particularly stirring version of Waltzing Matilda. It's dedicated to the Australian soldiers serving in OIF alongside the British and American forces. Found it earlier today and thought I'd share it.
Any idea why this song is so poignant even if it's effectively about a criminal who stole a sheep and committed suicide rather than be caught?
I'm an Aussie and I think it is poignant to us because it goes back to our convict heritage and our anti-authoritarian streak. Most of the people that were sentenced to transportation were the very poor , mostly Irish , Scottish , and English .
They got sent here for something as trivial as stealing a loaf of bread because they were starving . Once they got here they were in a harsh alien land unlike anything they had ever known and had to contend with the heat , the flies , aborigines , deadly snakes , deadly spiders . They had to do back breaking work under the lash wielded by their English overlords.
We are rebellious in nature and have a love for the underdog , so the swagman represents the underdog to us against the oppressor.
Its the same as we revere the bushranger Ned Kelly , he was the son of an Irish convict .
Him and his brothers were on the run for apparently assaulting a policeman who came to their house and made a pass at their sister. Knowing that the law would never believe their version because of their prior activities involving cattle rustling and horse stealing they rode off to hide out in the bush.
To cut a long story short they shot three policeman who tried to capture them at stringy -bark creek. After this they committed a few bank robberies and then holed up at a place called Glenrowan.
It was there they made armor for themselves out of stolen and donated plough parts because they knew a big contingent of police were coming for them. When the police got there , Ned walked out into the street with his home made armor plated suit and hemet all of which is reputed to have weighed 44 kg / 96 pounds .
He started marching towards the police firing his gun at them , they fired back , but their bullets bounced off his metal armor. Eventually they cottoned on to the fact that his legs were not protected so they repeatedly shot him in the legs.
He kept on walking until the injuries were to great and he dropped. The rest of his gang committed suicide except one who died from a bullet wound . Ned survived and went to trial and was later hanged , when asked what his last words were before he was hanged , he said " Such is life ".
Its strange that the people we like were essentially criminals but thats just the way we are .
But Waltzing Matilda is a song that is ingrained into our national psyche and one you learn from an early age , about the time you start eating vegemite on toast.
That other song you mentioned " And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda " is another stirring song to Australians because it invokes memories of World war 1 when the ANZAC's charged up the beaches at Gallipoli into the machine gun fire of the Turks who were well dug in .
It was a disaster with many casualties and in Australia it is widely thought that the Aussie and Kiwi troops were led by incompetent British commanders . But even though it was a slaughter there were still many tales of bravery and mateship amongst the ANZAC troops.
It was probably the place where the Australian concept of mateship was forged ie an Aussie will always help out a mate. It is very timely that you mention that song because tomorrow is Anzac day where Australian and New Zealand commemorate the Anzacs and give thanks to their bravery and the sacrifices they made on our behalf.
There is another song called " I was only 19 " by an Australian band called Redgum that you might like about an Aussie diggers experiences in the Vietnam war.
Enjoy.
