Waltzing Matilda Explained: What do the lyrics mean?
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- Опубликовано: 28 фев 2020
- "Waltzing Matilda Explained" is an exploration of the history behind the writing of Australia's unofficial national anthem from its origins in a remote area in Queensland.
Music at the end of the video (The tune from Waltzing Matilda) is from Wikimedia created by user CambridgeBayWeather licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wa...
Listen to the rendition of the song from Slim Dusty: • Slim Dusty - Waltzing ...
TRANSCRIPT
Jumbuck, Billy-boil, Swagman, Billabong
If these words ring a bell to you, it’s because you might have heard it from a song called “Waltzing Matilda”. It’s the most recorded Australian song in history and it’s so popular that it even has its own museum and commemorative day. Also, its lyrics were once microprinted on Australian passports. And even though it lost to Advance Australia Fair in a 1977 plebiscite to be Australia’s national anthem, many believe that it does a better job of capturing Australian ideals.
So how can a song with seemingly obscure lyrics became so ingrained in the national psyche? What exactly do the lyrics mean? Most importantly, how does the song relate to the everyday Australian?
To understand all these, we have to go back to the year 1891 in the town of Winton in the Queensland Outback. During this time, wool was one of Australia’s largest industries. This gave rise to a demand in sheep shearers -- those responsible for removing wool from domestic sheep. As the wool industry grew, working conditions also started to decline and this gave rise to what is now known as the Great Shearer’s Strike. Union workers were trying to fight for fair wages and workers’ rights, among other things.
The situation cooled down but intensified again three years later and one day in 1894, some shearers set the woolshed at a cattle station on fire, killing dozens of sheep. The station owner and three policemen chased a man named Samuel Hoffmeister but instead of yielding to be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself in a waterhole in the Diamantina River.
Months after the incident, Banjo Paterson, a solicitor, journalist, and bush poet, traveled around the area and, along the way, spent time with members of the family who own Dagworth Station. It was during this time that he wrote the lyrics to Waltzing Matilda and there is a good chance that it was inspired or influenced by those recent events.
The song narrates the story of a “swagman”, or travelling worker who carries a “swag” - a bag of sorts containing his clothes, cooking implements, and other necessities, packaged in a bedroll. He chanced upon a “jumbuck” or a sheep, the origins of this word likely being an Aboriginal pidgin for “jump up” which something that most sheep do. He shoves the sheep inside his “tuckerbag”, probably for dinner. Tucker is an old British word for “food”. He did all this while camped in a “billabong”, an isolated watering hole that is otherwise usually dry. The “squatter” and “troopers” -- another term for mounted police officers -- eventually pursued the man. “Squatters” were original settlers of land that wasn’t allocated by the government yet during this point in Australia’s history. These squatters eventually became wealthy landowners. In this story, the squatter seems to be the lawful owner of the jumbuck. Continuing the narrative, the swagman escaped, declaring: “You’ll never catch me alive!”, and proceeded to drown himself in the billabong, where his ghost continues to haunt the site.
At a high-level, it’s a tale of an outlaw pursued by authorities, and instead of facing prosecution, escapes and commits suicide instead. This story can be a perplexing one to grasp, however, to many Australians, the jolly swagman, travelling from place to place, with minimal possessions and finding work along the way, is an example of a carefree life, not dragged down by material possessions. It also speaks of the Australian’s inclination to side with those standing up to authority or its love for the underdog -- a sentiment that resonates from stories of Ned Kelly, the Gallipoli campaign, or the Eureka rebellion. It’s also a tale of freedom, with the swagman choosing to die than face the possibility of being put in prison, as for him, living a life without freedom is no life at all.
So the next time you happen to be wandering about the Australian bush, just remember that this is the jolly swagman’s turf. As per the song, he continues to haunt it, while chanting the last line of each verse: You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me -- It’s an invitation to live a carefree life, a life free from many of our modern mundane responsibilities, enjoying simple pleasures such as having a cup of billy tea, and defying authority when it threatens this freedom.
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If only modern day Australia showed an ounce of independence and scorn for authority as the swagman did.
Yeah mate we should go kill ourselves in the water whole you keen?
If only….
Its quite the opposite today. They will defend their covid concentration camps because their sense of freedom is as pale as their skin
The same could be said for any of us in the "civilized world," being ground into the dirt by the bootheel of a government which supposedly serves us.
I think the Australian people forgot about this song and what it meant when they bent over and let their socialist government disarm them.
Back in my youth, many years ago, when the "Scouts" we're the "Boy Scouts", our Scoutmaster, who was from Australia, taught us this song and we cheerfully sang it on all our hikes through the hills and forests of upper New York State in the USA. Thanks for posting and bringing back all those wonderful memories.
Now that its just "scouts" all the boys have to act modest, wont be having any great memories with the boys anymore.
Lovely to read your comment. From Melbourne, Australia 😊👍🏻
The Swagman's swag was frequently referred to as "Matilda", the swag would swing around as he walked, thus Waltzing Matilda
I cry when hearing this song. It takes me back to better, care-free, stress-free times, and reminds me of first grade when I learnt this song. Now I am 19 : )
Its pure Australian A swaggie was a wandering job seeker ,a jumbuk a young sheep,a billabong a pool in river bed coolbah tree species of eucalyptus ,suicide was better than being caught by the troopers mounted policemen,justice was rough
Wonderful song, simply the finest national song ever penned, Banjo Paterson was of Scots descent [ his parents were Scottish migrants from Lanarkshire ] Banjo wrote the lyrics and Christina Macpherson wrote the music. Miss Macpherson's parents also emigrated from Scotland, It was Miss Macpherson that wrote and played the music based on a old Scottish tune The Craiglee march , A lot of folks seem to forget about Christina Macpherson but simply put.... without her there would be no Waltzing Matilda. Magical tune. Although i'm not an Aussie, I feel this should be Australia;s national anthem [ Its the un official one ]
As an American who loves cultures and stories from all over, I had read about this years ago. And I love the idea of having the choice to live a more care free life. Maybe then the planet could rest and heal for awhile.
fat chance as the western world makes homelessness illegal. I mean... wtf? technically speaking, settlers were just homeless people from the old world, right?
To late.. HUMANS shit in their bed and now they'll sleep in it.
Well done and interesting video. I love stories where we idolize a more simple, care free life with fewer possessions and more time spent in nature!
Thanks for watching. For some reason, this video is inundated with spam comments and yours is the first real one. 😎
Thank you for sharing this. Good man.
As an American yankee, My interpretation of the song was always that it was a Hobo camped out at a billabong making some tea at a camp fire, a rabbit had jumped up and he grabbed it swiftly killing it then putting it in his sack of things for later. Then a sheriff and his deputies ride up to arrest him for trespassing and theft, and he choose to drown himself rather then be taken alive. I had always interpreted that waltzing matilda itself was the way one had to walk when wearing ball and chain around ones ankles and that someone somewhere had given it that grimly ironic moniker. Seemed to work with the past of australia.
My interpretation wasn't entirely accurate. But i've oft wondered at the more precise meaning of these somewhat familiar yet strange lyrics. Thanks for the explanation.
Thanx for the explanation I first heard the song in 82 when I was in the USN. The ship I was attached to had left Perth and it seem everyone on board knew the song I myself was never lucky enough to get to go to Australia but from the 450 sailors they totally love your country and the people they said treated them better then they were treated at home
Awesome story Mark! Thanks for sharing.
I've always thought "Waltzing Matilda" was a simile for the walk inmates take to death row.
As an Aussie, who doesn’t know it’s actual meaning yet, I assume it’s about a bush ranger being chased by cops cos the rangers at the time would rob trains and carriages.
Big thanks for your lucid and complete explanations, mate. :-)))
Thanks Cobber. I enjoyed this. 👍
Thanks for enlighting us with the meaning of the song.
Thank you for watching.
Thank you very much for the explanation.
It is very interesting.
Thanks for posting.
Thank you for watching.
Good write up mate, this fellow colonial from another land, has already been brought au courrant on the lyrics and history of Australia's unofficial anthem.
But that being said, still enjoyed your VJO!
Make more, I'll watchem
I Have many relatives scattered through Australia although most seem to be in the Top end [ 3 in Katherine and 4 Darwin 3 in Broome ] and a few in Queensland ] Cairns ] Great folks, Love them.
Time ago I tryed to translate but there are so much australian special words. Thank you for explaining also in written text, because the speach ist fast, too fast for my english. Thanks from Germany. ☘️
Old Aussie words. Most Australians don’t know what any of these special words mean.
This song is taught in many linguistic courses in college in America. Much loved song.
Well done 👍!!
THANKS!!...I always wondered why a sheep rustler was celebrated and figured there had to be something behind it
You’re welcome! I wondered about the same before I made this video, now it all makes sense. ;)
The wealthy landowner is definitely the antagonist, yes.
Well spoken Sir.
Love the narrator's voice.
It’s funny being Australian and knowing what all the words mean
It’s Funny That Even Though I’m Australian, I Don’t Know Any Of The Words.
@@anthemproductions ... then you have been disconnected from your history.
I think you need to question that... as well as the motivation behind it. 😉
@@markbrookman8233 what history? The words come from broken English spoken by a culture of people who don’t exist anymore yet so may try to pretend that they’re related
That's geourgeus!! So good!
Fascinating 👍🏽
Well done…I have the greatest respect for Aussies!
If only the Aussie government were more like Steve Irwin than the oppressive dictatorship it appears to have become.
I love the pogues song..it makes me cry every time
The lyrics to Waltzing Matilda have convinced me that Dr Seuss is secretly an Aussie.
Perhaps only people who grew up in the US will understand this.
This is a nice way to use Adobe Premier Pro! Please make more content!
great video
Well said. Deo Vindice [X]
I will totally remember that next time I’m wandering aimlessly around the Australian bush!
Honestly this song is based and amazing thanks for teaching me about it
Good song and history
Tucker is an Australian word. That’s Australian travelling around. We are not material people. We love travelling and we love the underdog. The simple pleasure family and friends and what is essential and travelling living life to the fullest. We love this song.
I have seen several versions of Waltzing Matilda even how many people have claimed to have written it.
So what' the "billy" that he's waiting to boil? Stew? Tea?
‘Billy’ is the can used to boil tea.
@@Aussified Thanks.
If only modern Australia saw the world this way...
I know…
So you wanna go back to 1895 when the song was first written?
@@velladee3259 no. I want the idea of Liberty or Death to be alive again.
@@velladee3259 although I would die young after a life of extreme hardship if I went back to 1895 I would take the opportunity to live back then
Bless the Matildas they did well at the fifa world cup ❤
Sounds like the American Hobo..same outlook on life.
Most Hobo's didn't work. They just stayed on the lam
But what does the actual phrase Waltzing Matilda mean? Is that some sort of musical gibberish like rama lama ding dong?
I should have covered this in the video. As per Wikipedia:
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back.
Matilda is the name of the bag containing his possessions which unlike this story was tied to a stick and it would swing from side to side hence the waltzing and would follow him. He got that wrong also nothing to do with a care free life. Times were tough no work to be found so these swagmen travelled the country looking for any job just to survive
Did you know that the United States of America Marine Corps actually march to Waltzing Matilda having done so since WW2
Very difficult to understand with loud music over the dialogue, and the accent.
💯 agree
Australian spirit has always been the best within Commonwealth.
"convicts" to injustice laws is a hero in my definition.
"squatters" is contradict to "wealth for toiled" at all, too. Always remind me bloomers bought cheap lands has no difference to "Wealth from Squatter's right" in the old empire - just slightly proportionally different.
The background music is interfering with the narrative.
I like the australiens for ther trying to get this song to ther authem. There ist still something left from the spirit of the first settlers brougth as criminals to Botanybay. But they where no criminals at all. It is described in irish song, Fields of Athenreye, I dont know the korekt writing. Famous song in Ireland.
Love your spelling of correct which seems more korekt.
If we did a revote Waltzing Matilda would win my a kilometre.
Aussie Cossack sent me here
I was hoping to learn who Matilda was.
1st Marine Divisions song ❤️
No wonder I love Australia n wish to migrate to places like Australia….love tat carefree lifestyle 😅🤪👍
What a shame you hadn't bothered to use genuine photos of the Australian outback.
I can see why it didn't become the anthem tho. A song about death being better than submitting to the cops seems like a good way to keep the populace even more rebellious than they already are lol
You did not explain the most enigmatic word, Matilda, which is a backpack, waltzing matilda is traveling by back pack.
How do you fit a full-size sheep in a "tuckerbag" is it like a net or something?
Maybe a lamb in a burlap sack?
The sheep is symbolic... and it represents Liberty and true Freedom.
Mostly, I suspect, by way of litterally butchering it.
What did the hobo in the Song do? so he had to hide in forest? Did he burn those sheeps?
No he wanted to eat cause he had no food so he stole one sheep and the police chased him so he killed himself because police were corrupt and cruel back then
@@patriot1724 Depending on what part of Australia you're in, the corrupt part hasn't actually changed since.
Who was Matilda?
A matilda was a cloth tied at four corners, with basic possessions inside, tied to the end of a stick that you’d prop over your shoulder. As you walked, it would sway or “waltz” ... so the term “waltzing matilda” refers to a long walk or hike, normally associated with freedom to roam and explore.
@@Boppo101 9
@Boppo101 I thought was a girl
The translator needs a translation
I don"t think you explained his "billy"?
A billy was a sort of pot, essentially. Well, more like a large can with a handle such that it could be hung over a campfire. Used for boiling water for various purposes and some cooking, mostly.
From the Phil's bro? 👍
Pure blooded Filipino.
Still it’s an amazing song no matter what!
out of work sheep shearer got shot by police near a dry river for slaughtering a sheep
That is ALL we need. Narrated by a flamin' Indian.
Beautifu, signed a freedom fighter nurse usa.
Thank you, but what means "matilda" and how it can be "waltzing". The title of the song as most important is left unexplained.
I should have covered this in the video. As per Wikipedia:
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back.
as i understand it, Hoffmeister was an anarchist involved in the shearers strikes, an early attempt of freedom loving workers to break the dominance of the privileged British-backed landholders/squatters. No troopers One, Two, Three, would have been bothered to chase down a sheep thief. Banjo P. was part of the privileged, that's where the slant of the song comes from
Unfortunately, this "explanation" does not adequately, or accurately, tell the story of WM - a better, and more thorough explanation is to be found in W.Benjamin Lindner's , "Waltzing Matilda: Australia's Accidental Anthem. A Forensic History" Boolarong Press, 2019. For example, the 1891 and 1894 shearer's strikes, and the death of Samuel Hoffmeister did not provide the 'story' behind the lyrics- that is just a myth invented some 75 years after the song was penned. Call it misinformation, or fake-history. If you'd like a signed copy, e-mail me and learn about the story of love found and love lost which is the real history (or should that be 'herstory'?) behind the collaboration of the words and music to WM.
I may be wrong and I stand to be corrected, I know for horse theft you could be hanged. And I suspect much the same for a sheep. Plus a severe bashing by the police of that time. So the swagman may have thought, I've had enough of this hard life and drowned himself.
I can’t understand this bloke, need subtitles mate
Thanks for watching! Subtitles can be turned on by pressing "CC" on the menu.
jum BUCK
They killed the sheep? I was sympathetic until then
I can barely hear a thing you're saying with the music.
How you guys waltzing down under? How is your carefree lifestyle? Prison colony, indeed.
I’d just like to point out that the Australian bush isn’t the “jolly swag man’s turf” if it’s anyones “turf” it should be the Indigenous Australians land not the jolly swag man’s 🙂
Edit: otherwise it’s a really good video and helped with my revision for exams!
rubbish. why be racist? Its God's country mate and it is spectacular. We don't need division over colour of skin. If you're born here, then your indigenous - a true Aussie is known by the content of his character - they are the ones you can rely on.
Can't hear the narrative over the too loud music which ruins the whole presentation!
The presentation has enough issues that you're better off just looking up the wikipedia article anyway.
Some silly questions from the Antipode (in Catalonia, up on top):
1) Is it possible at all that Matilda was a lonely man's humorous way of calling his sleeping mat (and "mate")?
2) Is it possible that waltzing with Matilda had anything to do with an (again lonely) horizontal rather than standing activity?
3) Finally, is it possible that the lonely man's glee, grabbing the jumpbuck, had anything to do with number 2?
Because doesn't singing "come waltzing with me" to a certain "Jump Back" sound a bit like humorous doublespeak? And what about killing oneself rather than return to a lonely man's life?
Unless it was code for some happy picnic, actual or imaginary, of Paterson and Christina Macpherson by the billabong, sadly interrupted by mounted F&F?
No offence please, just tongue-in-sheep. 😉
Still, remember that 19th century western society lived through an extreme polarization of sorts, almost schizophrenic, for example between officially reigning social norms and basic human instinct. Language was another arena where freedom and taboo found ways to coexist and war with one another. Twerking was just unimaginable back then. Conversely, it is today unimaginable how twisted any language could get. A word like billabong must have sounded alluringly wild. 👹
And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
@@laurencefraser , if not UFO. ;)
Both "waltzing" and "Matilda" go back to the slang of journeymen or itinerant tradesmen from the German speaking countries. As well, the historic swagman's name, Hoffmeister, is of German origin.
Auf der Walz sein = being on the waltz = traveling as a tradesman, Matilda = swag.
As an Aussie, who grew up with this song, I can tell you that it is an out and out song of Rebellion.
But it is highly symbolic.
The swagman represents the truly free man... (our American Brothers and Sisters would equate him to more modern "Bikies").
The Sheep (which is essentially controlled by an Authority Figure) represents Liberty and Freedom. (Which is also why the Swagman grabs him with glee).
The "Squatter", or wealthy landholder represents Politicians and rich folks in general, whilst the Troopers represent precisely who they are:
Protectorates and Guardians for the wealthy.
Finally, the reason why the Swagman chose to drown himself (rather than spend a mere couple of weeks in jail for stealing one sheep), is because of the symbology...
As our American friends often declare:
It is better to die on your feet, than to be a slave, living on your knees.
This song is the literal ESSENCE of what it is to live free, and to BE Free. Even to the point of death.
Which reminds me of another American expression:
"Give me Liberty, or give me death."
Thank you for these insights.
Song to me sounded like the typical life of a bush ranger being chased cos of the bounties he got for stealing and robbing
@@zzodysseuszz out of work sheep shearer got shot by police near a dry river for slaughtering a sheep
I had to read countless comments to find someone that actually could explain this. Thank you very much
@@phineasrex3540 ... no worries at all. I'm glad to be of service. ... 😉
now if someone could translate this guy
You suck.
Really? Get a life
you really need to delete that sound/music because it makes it very hard to hear and understand you
I think the Australian people forgot about this song and what it meant when they bent over and let their socialist government disarm them.
Did it specify his race? I hope not because then it can be taught across the globe.
Hm
He was white
Why should his race matter?
@@runeodin7237
Because the guy making the comment is trying to play victim
what the hell has race got to do with this idea of the 'swagman'? Race and religion are what keeps dividing us.Get over this obsessive race thought, mate.
your a
Would have enjoyed this but as usual now, VERY LOUD backing track, your accent and low sounding voice I gave up.