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January 26, 2003
Advance Australia Fair
Happy Australia Day, everyone. A chance to celebrate the great privilege we have to live in this magnificent country; the best country on earth.
I mean it. Why would you want to live anywhere else?
I note that the campaign is on in earnest to unseat 'Advance Australia Fair' as the national anthem. Two years ago I could see the beginnings of a slow, steady marketing campaign for 'I Am Australian' to be installed as the new national song, and I've been wary of it ever since.
It's a nice song, and all, but it's no anthem. It represents us well; trying to squeeze in as many multicultural groups as it can and give credit to the aboriginal people as the original inhabitants. It doesn't sound *too* forced.
Problem is, it describes no vision. It says who we are, but not what we want to be. It says nothing much other than 'here we are; we want to make a go of it together', which is a tad too wishy-washy for my liking.
'Advance Australia Fair' isn't perfect, but it does call us together to a higher goal for the country: to advance it; not just sing together about how great it is to be singing together.
I know what you're doing, Howard Government, and I'll be fighting against it.
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By the way; it was written by Bruce Woodley (of the Seekers) and Dobe Newton (of the Bushwackers). The original Advance Australia Fair was written by Peter Dodds McCormick around the 1900s sometime.
Posted by: Dave Cook January 27, 2003 6:26 PM
