MovieChat Forums > The Coca-Cola Kid (1985) Discussion > 'WALTZING MALILDA'

'WALTZING MALILDA'

posted 16 years ago by blainefielding
2 replies | jump to latest

I've always loved the Australian folk song and unofficial national anthem " Waltzing Matilda", and there is a great rendition of it in this movie toward the end.

The song also is a background motif in the great 1959 movie "On the Beach".

For those interested, there are a number of sites about the song, which was written in the mid- 1890s, at Google and of course the Wikipedia. Several of these sites also define the key words for non- Australians.

I was interested to learn it has an American connection too. After the American First Marine Division was pulled out of Guadalcanal at the end of 1942 it was sent to Melbourne to rest and refit. The men picked up the song there, and it became the official marching song of that heavily decorated unit.

Blaine in Seattle

[–] banders46 16 years ago

We used to sing it at camp all the time (in the U.S.). It always seemed like a funny "unofficial anthem" since it's basically about tramping around the countryside.

[–] CitrusWithFuschiaTrim 14 years ago

And theft of lifestock, plus suicide as a means of evading arrest. LOL. So, yeah, not particularly anthemic at all really. The "unofficial" aspect can't really be over-emphasised.
_____
I suppose on a clear day you can see the class struggle from here.