Ozitis

For those who still find it difficult to accept Advance Australia Fair as Australia’s national anthem, some other options…

I STILL CALL AUSTRALIA HOME

(Lyrics by Peter Allen)

I’ve been to cities that never close down
From New York to Rio and old London town
But no matter how far
Or how wide I roam
I still call Australia home.
I’m always travelin’
And I love bein’ free
So I keep leavin’ the sun and the sea
But my heart lies waiting over the foam
I still call Australia home.
All the sons and daughters spinning ’round the world
Away from their families and friends
Ah, but as the world gets older and colder
It’s good to know where your journey ends.
And someday we’ll all be together once more
When all the ships come back to the shore
Then I realise something I’ve always known
I still call Australia home.
No matter how far
Or how wide I roam
I still call Australia home.
 
 
 
 

I AM AUSTRALIAN

(By Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton)

I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I’ve been the first Australian
 
 
 
 
 
 

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian.
 
 

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian
 
 

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
 
 

I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I’m a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler, I am Australian
 
 

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
 
 

I’m a teller of stories, I’m a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I’m Ned Kelly on the run
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian
 
 

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
 
 

I’m the hot wind from the desert, I’m the black soil of the plains
I’m the mountains and the valleys, I’m the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian
 
 

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian

 

WALTZING MATILDA

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited ‘till 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 ‘till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.
 
 

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he shoved 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 shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

 
 
Up came the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred
Down came the troopers one, two, three
Whose 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
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag
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 that billabong
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.
 
 
 

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.
 

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