Rewriting traditional songs

 

'Advance Australia Fair' 

Australia's sons let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

 

 Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make our youthful Commonwealth
Renowned of all the lands;
For loyal sons beyond the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Original version of Australia's national anthem,
by Scotsman Peter Dodds McCormick in 1837.

  • Listen to a new version of this song created by Judith Durham performed
    with Aboriginal singer Kutcha Edwards (including her introduction).
    Click the Youtube link below.

Lyrics of Durham's version

1. Australia, celebrate as one,
with peace and harmony.
Our precious water, soil and sun,
grant life for you and me.
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
to love, respect and share,
And honouring the Dreaming,
advance Australia fair.
With joyful hearts then let us sing,
advance Australia fair.

 

2. Australia, let us stand as one,
upon this sacred land.
A new day dawns, we're moving on
to trust and understand.
Combine our ancient history
and cultures everywhere,
To bond together for all time,
advance Australia fair.
With joyful hearts then let us sing,
advance Australia fair.


 3. Australia, let us strive as one,
to work with willing hands.
Our Southern Cross will guide us on,
as friends with other lands.
While we embrace tomorrow's world
with courage, truth and care,
And all our actions prove the words,
advance Australia fair,

With joyful hearts then let us sing,
advance Australia fair.

 

 

CODA
And when this special land of ours
is in our children's care,
From shore to shore forever more,
advance Australia fair.
With joyful hearts then let us sing,
advance . . . Australia . . . fair.

By Judith Durham

Source of lyrics
  • What is the significance, in an indigenous context, of Durham having to ask the then Prime Minister of Australia (John Howard) for permission to use McCormick's words?

(For extra listening: Durham discusses the background to her composition, including her collaboration with Kutcha Edwards in composing lines in stanza 2 in a radio interview here.)

 

  • Compare Durham's song with the multimodal version of the present anthem below which uses the soundtrack of the anthem sung by Julie Anthony at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

  • Count the iconic stills images of Australia, its flora and fauna, its land and peoples.
  • What place do Aboriginal Australians have in this text? What kind of images are reproduced?  
  • How do meanings created in this multimodal version of the national anthem compare to Durham’s version and McCormick’s original text.

 

Reflect: If you were asked to rewrite the lyrics of the national anthem, what aspects would you change and why?


Extension activity: Write your own version of the national anthem.

 

On to Poetry For the 21st Century