AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM QUEST
1973
FOREWORD In his Australia Day broadcast on 26 January 1973 the Prime Minister declared the time had come to create a new vision of what we Australians can achieve in this generation for our nation and the region in which we live. To help to fulfil that aim the Government decided to ask the people of Australia to submit entries for the words and music of a new national anthem. Ever since 1905 the Labor Party has been committed to the cultivation of an Australian national sentiment. On 14 April 1973 the Government asked writers to submit words for such a new national sentiment by 31 May. Shortly after that day the four judges, Ross Campbell, Manning Clark, Kath Walker and David Williamson looked through the 2,500 entries to find a number which in their opinion were worthy of being set to music. At a meeting of these four judges in Sydney on 15 June they unanimously agreed that the six pieces which appear in this booklet were the ones which could be put to music, or could be sung to some established melody such as Waltzing Matilda'. Although not all the judges agreed with the sentiments expressed in these selected entries, they agreed that they should still be represented in the booklet. Of those published it was felt that some would benefit by editing. However, since this process would normally follow the requirements of composers in making minor adjustments to the text, it was considered that this would more appropriately take place at a later stage. Musical composers are now invited to set to music the words of any one of the six printed in this booklet, or words written by themselves or a collaborator. Entries should be submitted to the Australian National Anthem Quest, P.O. Box 372, North Sydney 2060, by 31 August 1973. The judges for the music Don Burrows, John Hopkins, Maria Prerauer and Peter Soulthorpe will then select some of the most suitable. After they have finished their work the Government proposes to ask the people of Australia which of those deemed by the judges to be suitable should be Australia's National Anthem. In this way the people of Australia will make use of the method described in the Prime Minister's broadcast: to seek the help of advisers and to seek the help of the Australian people. Australians now have a chance of choosing an anthem which both cultivates and expresses Australian sentiment.
404.4.4 . MANNING CLARX
(for the Judges)
WE'LL KEEP THE FAITH Proud men who walked this ancient land Bold men who came by sea Dreamed of a nation wide and strong Dreamed of a nation free. We'll keep the faith, this new young age And build those dreams of men, who'll share our future strength with us As we share our past with them. We'll keep the faith! And make our land Australia, strong and free! For all who walk the desert sands For all who sail our seas, For all who love this good wide land Let peace our promise be. David Boutland
ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA Facing the world she stands, The light of dawn yet young upon her brow, Dreaming her future days of promise now, Far from the grey North Lands, Where ancient feuds divide, Old arrogance of power, old racial crimes; Lord God of Nations, in these onward times Guard her and guide. When gathering war-clouds frown Let her proclaim peace and goodwill to men, That peace on earth sung by the angels when The Prince of Peace came down, That in our land be seen Hate but of narrow hate, intolerance Only of evil, so her proud advance Be marred by nothing mean. Not wealth her worthiest pride, Nor dower of sunlit beauty, but to be A land of happy homes where peacefully All the good freedoms bide. Facing her destiny, The light of dawn yet young upon her brow, Youth among elders, she foreshadows now All the bright years to be. James Devaney
Lift your head, Australia The hour to stand alone Without the proud regalia Of kingdoms not our own Approaches every minute And bids us speak the right: Oh, come let us begin it Before the fall of night. We have a simple war to wage For freedom in our troubled age And that is worth a fight. Bob Ellis
Vast, ancient, free—this land we share united in one mind that colour, creed and origin shall not divide, but bind. Diversity of speech and thought, diversity of skills, our land needs all who use for her creative hands and wills. Young in our youthful nationhood; rich in that wealth we own of friendship, vigour, vision, hope, Australia shall excel through us whose proud hearts call her home. Ann French
Starry cross in our heavens, Like opals so bright, Guide us to freedom and wisdom and light! May Australia's dark children, Most ancient on earth, Join with us all in our nation's rebirth! In our wide golden country Our riches increase, Our oceans encircle a haven for Peace. Nancy Noble
SONG OF AUSTRALIA Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong Under the shade of a coolibah tree And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' And he sang as he watched while the sun set through the coolibahs, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' Soft come the wallabies to drink at the billabong, Shy rose the platypus the strange sight to see, And the swagman sang while the moonlight lit the loneliness, `All CO= a-waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, All come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' And the swagman sang while the moonlight lit the loneliness, `All come a-waltzing Matilda with me. `Far we have come from an old and a crowded land, Far we have sailed here across the wild sea And here is the country we yearned for and dreamed about, A land of the sun where a man can walk free. And we'll waltz with Matilda We'll waltz with Matilda All through the land where a man can walk free. For here is the country we yearned for and dreamed about, A land of the sun where a man can walk free. Sometimes to join that swagman at his campfire Up rode the drovers thirsty for tea And they sang all together with the shearers and the immigrants, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' And they sang all together with the shearers and the immigrants, `Where we have camped now a nation shall be.'
And they camped by the Tank Stream flowing down to Sydney Cove, They camped by the Gulf in a banyan tree, And they sang by the Swan and the Yarra and the Murray mouth, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' And they sang by the Swan and the Yarra and the Murray mouth, 'Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? And they camped at Eureka fighting for their liberty That those who came after should walk proud and free, And their sons sang after them, fighting in a far-off land, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' And their sons sang after them, fighting in a far-off land, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Voices of long ago singing in our heritage Where the great cities rise by the sea, We take up their song and we sing for what it means to us, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' We take up their song and we sing for what it means to us, `Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?' Douglas Stewart