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Caring About Our Country
Answering your questions about Australia . . .
Monday, February 11, 2008
Aussie Song Answer
To all the people who wrote us about the song Martin from Denmark was looking for ... yes, it's
Home Among the Gum Trees.
Martin didn't think that was the song, but as Mike, an Aussie who wrote us said, "Most people relate only to the chorus of the song, thinking the chorus is the song. When they see [the rest of] the
words, they say I don't know that song." We agree. That's probably why Martin thinks it's not what he heard while visiting Australia.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Australian Spirit
Birgitt from Germany wrote us about the song I Am Australian they learned in school. They didn't know what the stanza with "The spirit of this great land" meant.
I Am Australian is one of the most loved songs in Australia. It talks about all the different kinds of people we are, from many lands, from the past and today ... all are Australian.
We'll try to explain the stanza at the end of the song that you asked us about. The words "this great land" means our country, Australia. That stanza is talking about all the things that make us Australian.
For example "I'm the drought and flooding rains" is speaking about the hardships we face in the past and today. Overcoming hardships makes us strong.
"I'm the mountains and the valleys" is speaking about the beauty of our country. "I'm the black soil of the plains" describes the rich soil where we grow our crops. "I am the rock, I am the sky" means we are part of everything in our great land.
We talk with pride about Aussie "battlers". They are people who struggle to pay their bills and feed their families. They work hard at their jobs, but still struggle.
They have the "spirit" the poem talks about ... to keep trying and never give up when you know there will always be problems to face. That's why Aussies make so many jokes. It's part of our spirit to find humour in our problems. It helps us face and overcome them.
Every country has a spirit. It's developed from the way people lived and struggled to build a country. It shapes the way you think today and the way you act with other people. It's what makes us Aussies.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
G'day, G'day
To kick our new blog off, we'll start with a correction. Adam Greenwood kindly wrote to tell us we mistakenly credited the song G'day, G'day to Slim Dusty. It was actually written by singer/songwriter Rob Fairbairn. It's hard to think of the song G'day, G'day without thinking of Slim who made it famous. Rob, by the way, co-wrote the song This is Australia Calling, another favourite.
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