Fewer and fewer people living in this country feel any cultural connection with jolly swagmen, billabongs and coolibah trees.
The Balinese onlookers tried to understand why the Australian contingent was getting all choked up by a song about a swagman who stole a sheep and then drowned himself.
The song is just about resistance to heavy handed authority when the swagman in fact rejected most of the trappings of society, either out of necessity or choice.
Homeless men were, in Australia, known as ‘swagmen’ ‘cause they carried a swag around with them, which was a rolled up sleeping mat and waterproof blanket.
The squatter sends another swagman to the billabong to trick our hero into taking a walk, the rat hands our hero to the cops, he's paid off and our hero goes to jail?
The song is just about resistance to heavy handed authority when the swagman in fact rejected most of the trappings of society, either out of necessity or choice.
The squatter sends another swagman to the billabong to trick our hero into taking a walk, the rat hands our hero to the cops, he's paid off and our hero goes to jail?
The Balinese onlookers tried to understand why the Australian contingent was getting all choked up by a song about a swagman who stole a sheep and then drowned himself.
Homeless men were, in Australia, known as ‘swagmen’ ‘cause they carried a swag around with them, which was a rolled up sleeping mat and waterproof blanket.
Fewer and fewer people living in this country feel any cultural connection with jolly swagmen, billabongs and coolibah trees.