Advance Australia Fair: what a dirge. Bland, pretentious, uses the word girt. Is there anything good about it at all? We don’t even have golden soil. It’s more of a brownish-red. Useless for growing stuff. But this on the other hand. I think this song, so very squarely, seems to sum up this nation and its peoples. Because when I think of Australia, I think of the phrase “Italo-Christian Disco fever”. I know I’m not alone. Quite simply, I think this song says everything there is to say about Australia, and even some things you probably can’t say about Australia. In particular, the line “Skiing all summer, and surfing all winter long” seems a little hard to back up. But “far beyond the kangaroos, Australia gave us the Bee Gees too”. Man, no arguing with that! Also, as someone so sagely pointed out, there are far too few national anthems with a saxophone solo.
If you still need convincing, here’s the MP3. It took me until the sixtieth or seventieth listen to really get it, but boy, when I got there, there was no turning back. I also developed a bit of an obsession with pimp hats and bright red waistcoated jumpsuits, but I’m sure we can all agree those are two things that Australia definitely needs more of.
Definitely.
[via @dandebuf]
/Luke
4 responses so far ↓
1 John Lacey // Feb 17, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I can’t really see it being performed by Julie Anthony before a sporting event, but it is kind of catchy… and much worse things came out of the seventies.
I bet had Baz Luhrmann heard it before he released “Australia” it would’ve made the soundtrack. Closing credits, maybe.
2 Taylor // Feb 18, 2010 at 2:09 am
I’m not Australian, but I’m all for making this your national anthem. It’d kick our national anthem’s ass.
3 Rockstar Philosopher // Feb 18, 2010 at 6:42 pm
“Skiing all summer, and surfing all winter long” seems a little hard to back up
We can, indeed, water ski all summer, and some of the best surf is in winter.
4 Sarah // Feb 22, 2010 at 12:27 pm
AMAZING!I want it to be the anthem so bad! I almost started crying when the dancers started the skippy hop! The dance moves must be mandatory!
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