Waltzing Matilda is the unofficial national anthem. Sung at the cricket, the footy, sporting events overseas, every Aussie pub karaoke night. A jolly bushman wandering the outback with his swag, boiling the billy, having a laugh. The chorus is what everyone knows. It's the song you sing when you want to feel patriotic without having to memorise the actual anthem.
It's a song about a homeless man stealing a sheep, getting caught by a squatter and three police troopers, and choosing to drown himself in a waterhole rather than be arrested. Banjo Paterson wrote it in 1895 at Dagworth Station in Queensland, almost certainly inspired by the Great Shearers' Strike of 1891 and the suicide of striking shearer Samuel Hoffmeister, who shot himself rather than be arrested. The 'jolly swagman' is a fugitive, the 'jumbuck' is stolen livestock, 'waltzing matilda' is bushman slang for carrying your bedroll on the road, and the 'billabong' is where he ends his life. It is a song about poverty, theft, police pursuit, and suicide. It is also a hell of a tune. Australia adopted it as a quasi-national anthem because the lyrics rhyme well, the melody is iconic, and most people listening to it have never thought about what the words actually say.
Reception
Sources
- National Library of Australia: Waltzing Matilda Origins REFERENCE
- Banjo Paterson Society REFERENCE