National Anthem Changed

Yesterday it was:

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;

Now it is:

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are one and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;

The GG approved the change.

Personally I thing they should dump the dirge and reword "I am Australian" as our National Anthem.

Re: National Anthem Changed

This is beautiful Bruce .

Re: National Anthem Changed

That is lovely, Bruce. It is refreshing to see a people unabashedly proud of their nation. Here, we have a national anthem that is traditional and extraordinarily difficult to sing because of the range, but "America" and more recently "This Land is Your Land," have grown in popularity and just as stirring.

I think it is just fine to have both.

Awww. Australia has gone from "young" to "one"! Gosh, our little countries grow up so fast...sniff sniff. I hope Australian adolescence goes well; I am tickled to death to be visiting in 2022 and crossing my fingers there won't be any teenage door slamming or "You just don't understand me"....

Great link and video! Absolutely beautiful!

Re: National Anthem Changed

I love the American national anthem. IT is majestic and proud. But I guess you have to be a native to understand it from all angles. I used to love "I am Australian" but the ABC has thrashed it so much - playing it non top 24/7. IT gets too much after a while. We only watch the ABC because the rest is crap and getting worse by the day. But the way they just repeat stuff ad nauseum makes you want to go and read a book - which we often do.

Re: National Anthem Changed

"I am Australian" always brings a tear to my eye, especially Mirusia's version.

We played it at R Mar's funeral, with the Aussie flag draped on her coffin, and a stuffed toy Kangaroo wearing an Aussie shilling brooch as honour guard.


https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...CA&FORM=WRVORC



As an Englishman I would like to say ...



Up the Aussies!

Re: National Anthem Changed

I should have said that the change from "young" to "one" was largely asked for by our pollies from both sides of the aisle.

"Young" did not reflect the 65000 years of history only the 200 years of colonial settlement. Personally I think it is just tinkering round the edges.

Re: National Anthem Changed

Our UK (National) anthem has been tweaked a few times over the centuries.
It was originally sung as a patriotic music-hall song in the mid 1700s, then adopted officially by the government as the National Anthem around the 1820s, even though it has never been adopted by the Royal House itself.

Usually, only the first verse is sung on official occasions and at sporting events (which is why most of us Brits, myself included, can't remember the other two verses). Otherwise it's usually verses one and three for some odd reason, but occasionally all three verses.
Then we get the incongruous situation during some events where the UK National Anthem becomes the English National Anthem whilst other nations within the UK play or sing their own anthems.

Like you say Bruce, it's tinkering. People will sing whatever words or verses they have been accustomed to using. Some may even change the words completely, or add or take away verses, or sing humorous versions like they do for many other songs.

I still think I am Australian is better. It actually lists the people who are Australian right from the original indigenous population, through convicts and settlers to goldminers, even with the odd fictional character thrown in (Clancy on his horse).

'Tis a beautiful song, and long may it reign o'er us.

Re: National Anthem Changed

I think I Am Australian is a great song. But if it is seriously being considered as an anthem I think it needs to be given a rest for a while. Give us a chance to miss it. It has been thrashed to death on the ABC. They have been playing it - it meaning one verse and the chorus - non stop for at least a year. Every 5 minutes on TV , radio..everywhere. It's just too much. It has become like Chinese water torture. Also it has at least four verses. It's a bit long. When you start editing a song like that I think it's disrespectful. There needs to be lots of discussion. I think our present anthem is fine. It can be sung one verse in English and one in the first nations language of where it is being played. That is Yamatji if it's in WA, Eora in Sydney,Murri in Queensland etc. THat will help keep the indigenous languages alive and give respect to the original owners. Fly the flags side by side always.