Blogging Matilda
Upon receiving an excellent version of Australia's unofficial national song, Waltzing Matilda from my brother-in-law-in-law Kim, I was keen to share it with others, but faced with the challenge of how to explain the wit and genius of the parody to those who don't know the original.
Well, Wikipedia (as usual) does a nice job of explaining everything, giving a complete set of lyrics along with translation of the Australian bush idioms that might challenge the international listener. Rolf Harris does quite a decent job too in his version of the song, so here it is:
Rolf Harris - Waltzing Matilda (straight, with explanations of unfamiliar words)
and once you've heard that, and perhaps perused the lyrics at Wikipedia, you'll be all set to enjoy this version, allegedly in the style of Eminem:
Scared Little Weird Guys - Cleaning out my Tuckerbag
In completely unrelated news, tomorrow will provide my with my third Cross-country racing opportunity of the season, at the Mayor's Cup in Boston's Franklin Park. Since returning from Scotland at the end of August I've been pretty consistently running 40 miles per week and have managed a handful of track workouts as well as the races. While I hesitate to call my recovery from knee surgery complete, the fact that the knee is tolerating the abuse of running up hill and down dale at speed is certainly something to be welcomed.
1 Comments:
Years ago, I was w/ a group of semi-ugly Americans in the Hofbrau House in Munich sitting next to a table of extremely drunk Aussies. The latter repeatedly goaded and insulted our table in a more-or-less good-natured way. After a round of U.S.A. sucks type taunting, the table broke into a spirited and very loud rendition of "Waltzing Matilda."
We knew we had to respond in song. But what to sing? At a loss, I suggested "Take Me Out to the Ball Park," which everyone instantly agreed was a great choice. It was surprisingly gratifying to sing “buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks,” etc. But it still felt lame compared to “along came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,” etc.
Post a Comment
<< Home