Which do you (no matter where you're from) think is better as a National Anthem of Australia?
Our current one:
Advance Australia Fair
By
eter Dodds McCormick
Verse One
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;
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!"
Most Aussies can get up to here ok. The now official version contains the first and third verses. There is no Australian who knows all five. There are only 6 Aussies who even know there are 5 verses.
Verse Two
When gallant Cook from Albion sail'd,
To trace wide oceans o'er,
True British courage bore him on,
Till he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England's flag,
The standard of the brave;
With all her faults we love her still,
"Brittannia rules the wave!"
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"
Verse Three
Beneath our radiant southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across 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!"
Verse Four
While other nations of the globe
Behold us from afar,
We'll rise to high renown and shine
Like our glorious southern star;
From England, Scotia, Erin's Isle,
Who come our lot to share,
Let all combine with heart and hand
To advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"
Verse Five
Shou'd foreign foe e'er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We'll rouse to arms like sires of yore
To guard our native strand;
Brittannia then shall surely know,
Beyond wide ocean's roll,
Her sons in fair Australia's land
Still keep a British soul.
In joyful strains the let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"
Or this one, which many Aussies could and do sing entirely...?
Waltzing Matilda
By: Andrew Barton ("Banjo") Paterson
Once a jolly swagman
Camped by a billabong,
Under the shade
Of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched
And waited 'til his billy boiled
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me"
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched
And waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me"
Down came a jumbuck
To drink at the billabong,
Up jumped the swagman
And grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed
That jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me"
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched
And waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me."
Down rode the squatter,
Mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up came the troopers,
One, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck
You've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me"
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched
And waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me."
Up jumped the swagman,
Sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me
Alive," said he,
And his ghost may be heard
As you pass by the billabong,
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me.
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched
And waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-waltzing,
Matilda, with me."
[ 10-12-2003, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: Leonis ]