Astonishing Antipodean Antics

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Girt by sea

The copyright to this rousing Australian folk song written by Andrew Barton (Banjo) Patterson in 1895 has resided with Sydney publisher Angus & Robertson since 1900(by now it may well be in the public domain).

Despite the Jolly Swagman and his supporting cast of sheep and policemen being offered to the public as an option when the referendum was held in 1976 to decide the anthem[1] 'Waltzing Matilda' missed out, losing to the unfortunately turgid "Advance Australia Fair" (great title, reasonable tune, lousy lyrics).

Somehow the idea of proud patriotic tears being shed to the accompaniment of a tale of vagrancy, theft, resisting arrest, suicide and eternal warbling about dancing with some bird Matilda[2] who never appears in the narrative seemed somewhat...weird.

Some recent historical studies indicate that Banjo may have been writing in a sort of code about a significant shearer's strike in 1894 which gained widespread public sympathy (despite involving Australia's only incident of inland piracy) , thus indicating an appropriately profound egalitarian sensibility for an Aussie national anthem should there ever be sufficient agitation for the current one to be changed. Some folk with republican sensibilities are promoting this particular interpretation widely.

1. The national anthem was previously "God Save The Queen".

2. See reference "About Waltzing Matilda" below to find out why Matilda doesn't do anything in the song.

Debunked: Rights to "Waltzing Matilda" are owned by an American, hence not anthem.

References:

• http://tafkac.org/songs/waltzing_matilda.html
• About Waltzing Matilda - lyrics, glossary, history
• Australia's National Anthem - Advance Australia Fair
• The Story of Waltzing Matilda - a study showing a deeper meaning to the jolly swagman