# What music screams "Australia" to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780 "2008-03-18T14:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/61 "2008-03-20T02:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] Australian Crawl: **Reckless** [/QUOTE] Reckless! That’s the one I’ve been wracking my brain to remember – though now I notice it was on **Girl From Mars** ’s list too. I’ll also second [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_the_Band_Played_Waltzing_Matilda), though it might be a bit of a downer for a holiday soundtrack. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/62 "2008-03-20T06:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=hawthorne] _A Walk in the Light Green (I was only Nineteen)_ is by **Redgum** , not LRB. Their _I’ve been to Bali too_ is another very Australian song. Two bands as yet unmentioned are **The Angels** and **Weddings Parties Anything**. _A Tale They Won’t Believe_ or _Under the Clocks_ would be good film backing. [/QUOTE] :smack: :smack: D’oh that’ll teach me not to check before I post it. How could I get that wrong, one of my favourite songs. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/63 "2008-03-20T07:03:49Z")
I’m not Australian, never even visited that fair land. But I have learned so much about Australian history from Midnight Oil records. “Bullroarer” from Diesel and Dust actually features - yep, you guessed it - a bullroarer, an Aboriginal communication device. If I’m not mistaken, they got a bit of stick because they weren’t supposed to use it, or something. “Kosciuszko” from Red Sails… is just cool because of the mention of so many landmarks… the mountain, Darwin, Alice Springs, Charleville… There are so many Australian historical facts on Earth and Sun and Moon… almost every track talks about the nation’s history of imperialism, the mistreatment of Aborigines… amazing record. As for INXS, my other favorite Australian band, their quintessential Aussie track is [Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZODWmn6xhM). Not so much for the lyrics, but the video is beautiful and it makes me want to book a ticket to Sydney and see that beautiful country. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/64 "2008-03-20T07:04:06Z")
[QUOTE=bathsheba] Yothu Yindi’s version of Jailbreak. [/QUOTE] Haven’t heard that one. I was coming in to say that while I think their album Freedom was fantastic (listen to Mabo), I don’t even like the song Treaty. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/65 "2008-03-20T08:55:57Z")
This thread gives me cultural cringe. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/66 "2008-03-20T09:46:26Z")
[QUOTE=Buckler of Swashing] This thread gives me cultural cringe. [/QUOTE] **What actor screams Australia to you?** [DEL]Heath Ledger[/DEL] Yahoo Serious 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/67 "2008-03-20T10:29:06Z")
Unfortunately [Gimme a Home Among the Gum Trees](http://www.alldownunder.com/oz-u/songs/home-among-the-gum-trees-16.htm) song got hijacked into a theme for a television show, but it is quintessentially Australian IMHO. Bogle’s: ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’, Allen’s: ‘I Still Call Australia Home’. Captain Matchbox: ‘Wangaratta Wahini’. or, my fave, also by Eric Bogle: The Aussie BBQ When the steaks are burning fiercely When the smoke gets in your eyes When the snags\* all taste like fried toothpaste And your mouth is full of flies It’s a national institution It’s Australian through and through So come on mate and grab your plate Let’s have a barbecue When the summer sun is shining on Australia’s happy land Round countless fires in strange attires you’ll see many solemn bands Of glum Australians watching their lunch go up in flames By the smoke and the smell you can plainly tell that it’s barby time again The Scots eat lots of haggis, the French eat snails and frogs The Greeks go crackers over their moussakas and the Chinese love hot dogs Welshmen love to have a leek, the Irish like their stew But you just can’t beat that half-cooked meat at an Aussie barbecue There’s flies stuck to the margarine, the bread has gone rock-hard The kids are fighting and the mozzies\*\* are biting, who forgot the Aerogard?\*\*\* There’s bullants in the Esky\*\*\*\* and the beer is running out And what you saw in Mum’s coleslaw you just don’t think about And when the barby’s over and your homeward way you wend With a queasy tummy on the family dunny\*\*\*\*\* many lonely hours you spend You might find yourself reflecting, like many often do Come rain or shine that’s the bloody last time that you’ll have a barbecue \*Snags=sausages \*\*Mozzies=mosquitoes \*\*\*Aerogard=insect repellent \*\*\*\*Esky=portable ice-chest, mainly for beer. \*\*\*\*\*You MUST know what a dunny is, yes? ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/68 "2008-03-20T11:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=Trillionaire] I think [Xavier Rudd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Rudd) might be what you’re after - he’s an Australian folk-rock singer who uses Aboriginal instruments in his music, and he sings about a lot of uniquely Australian themes. [/QUOTE] I’ll second Xavier Rudd. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/69 "2008-03-20T21:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] I’ve seen _Priscilla_ far too many times, because the music that makes me think “Australia” now is ABBA… [/QUOTE] Me too! Except for me it’s Muriel’s Wedding… The only other things I would think of are the same as the OP - Land Down Under and digjeridoo music. Maybe the soundtracks to Young Einstein and other notable Aussie flicks? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/70 "2008-03-20T21:42:04Z")
Also that OOO-OOO-OOOh OOO-OO-OO–OOOhhh song they used for the commercial where the toothbrush swings from jungle vines like Tarzan for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/71 "2008-03-20T23:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=GreedySmurf] Anything by **Slim Dusty** - especially _The Pub with no Beer_, and _I Love To Have A Beer With Duncan_ If you search for music by Slim watch out though he was an incredibly prolific song writer. [/QUOTE] I was amazed it took as long as it did to mention **Slim Dusty**. I mean he defined part of Australia and the spirit of Australia for so long. When he died, the country wore black. Well, the part I was in, at least. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/72 "2008-03-21T00:15:35Z")
I dunno, I was gonna say “Waltzing Matilda.” Maybe some Oils, like the B-side of **Earth & Sun & Moon**? ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/73 "2008-03-21T02:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] **What actor screams Australia to you?** [DEL]Heath Ledger[/DEL] Yahoo Serious 😃 [/QUOTE] :smack: You’re making it worse! Seriously, people outside Australia remember him? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/74 "2008-03-26T21:09:31Z")
[QUOTE=Buckler of Swashing] This thread gives me cultural cringe. [/QUOTE] …but I never even mentioned Kevin Bloody Wilson! …whoops. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/75 "2008-03-27T01:41:15Z")
Crowded House Kylie Minogue Silverchair ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/76 "2008-03-27T01:42:35Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] **What actor screams Australia to you?** Yahoo Serious 😃 [/QUOTE] I recognize those words but they don’t seem to make sense the way they are strung together. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-screams-australia-to-you/441780/77 "2008-03-27T02:19:35Z")
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