Quote:

---

But year after year their numbers grow fewer,
Some day no-one will march there at all.

---

And it was this song I quietly reflected with after watching the funeral for Alec Campbell. (Australia's last ANZAC).

As 'And The Band Played' has been nominated, I'd like to put forward another Aussie war song, this one from Redgum and the Vietnam era. 'A Walk Through The Light Green' (Only 19). I'm sure I have posted this somewhere else on FT, the line 'and Franky kicked a mine that mankind kicked the moon' IS the most powerful lyric I have ever heard.


Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can't get to sleep?
And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.

A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.

Then someone yelled "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.

Perhaps it's just me but I hate 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' - I just find it disrespectful.

Quote:

---

And the young people ask me "what are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question.

---

I must be missing something.


And agree 100% with Bertho and the Redgum song, I'm a huge fan and that is one great song. (ever heard Diamantina Drover? Fav song)

Copago,

I am a huge fan of TBPWM so I was a bit surprised by your post and I am not quite sure I understand what you are trying to say. Could you explain a little more why you think the song is disrespectful?

It's the line about the young people asking why they're marching that gets me and him asking himself the same question. Seems a bit presumptuous to put himself in the position of a WW1 vet and the feeling one would have for ANZAC day - and is he saying that young people don't know why they're marching or they are just asking an innocent question?

Beat me to it Bertho. It's gotta be right up there with the best.

For you question Copago, I reckon both are probably true. -

I’ve always thought that the young folk were asking the question innocently, but even if it was suggesting some disrespect, it’s not incorrect given the period the song was written. The 70s was a period of very poor attendance from the public at Anzac parades and RSL’s. 70s kids didn't know anything about the great wars, and most likely didn't really care. There was a lot of other emerging pop/rock type cultures during that period that were far more interesting than showing respect for veterans of a 'forgotten war’. Does Bogle have the right to sing a song through the eyes of a wounded veteran? I'm not touching that one!

I find it really interesting the contrast of the 70s and 80s to now, in terms of support for the values of Anzac day. It's the young people who have picked up the baton and run with it to keep the tradition alive. Anzac Cove swells with tens of thousands of young Aussie kids every year paying their respects. Searching for a sense of tradition maybe? For whatever reason, it’s wonderful to see.