G’Day Mates! Today we venture into that amazing land down under! I first heard this song when I was in elementary school. My Dad traveled to Australia and brought home music, children’s books and all sorts of interesting items from a land I only knew as a continent in geography class. I enjoyed the music and oddly enough our choir at school added this tune to the school program that Fall.
I wanted to make this one look like native Australian art, sort of aboriginal. Tribal in a sense. It challenge me as I am not a big fan of brown and orange, yet here it seems to have worked. I did five or six different layers of ink for the background, then wrote the song lyrics very small in varies spaces to add some texture. It took me several days to get the courage to write words on a background I really liked, it’s what I call a “gulp” moment. Go to that next level and hope you don’t mess things up!
Are you ready for today’s singing moment…here we go!
Once a jolly Swagman
– Andrew Baron “Banjo” Paterson 1941
Camped beside a billa bong.
Under the shade of a kulibah tree
And he sang, as he sat
and waited ’til is billy boiled
Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
And he sang, as he sat snd waited til his billy boiled,
“You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.”
In researching the author of this song, Banjo Paterson started his professional life as a lawyer turned poet, eventually turning to music. He wrote a very famous poem called The Man from Snowy River, which was eventually turned into a very famous movie! It’s one of my Disney favorites! He is a folk hero in Australia and his work is considered some of the most important elements documenting the culture down under!
I wondered how a lawyer turned into a poet who also turned into a lyricist and cultural icon. I have no doubt it was his love of country that inspired him to write, create and share. He was obviously inspired by his homeland and wanted to share it with the world. Not an easy task in the early 20th century.
So what inspires you? What in your life makes you want to share it, sing it, or engage others in doing something different? What makes you want to learn and grow and share all that with others? And when was the last time you had a “gulp” moment? When did you last do something so scary you put it off until you had the courage to proceed? THAT is when you know you are alive and growing.
Let me encourage you today to do something to scares you into action. You will be better for it, and so will the world!
