Yoik

Northern Norway through Sweden, Finland and Russia are the traditional lands of the Sámi. Since years unrecorded these people have lived a hunter gatherer existence in one of the harshest parts of the globe.

The song of the Sámi is Yoik. Yoiks are personal songs. Traditionally an individual yoik is written for a person but rather than a fairly literal description of that person it is intended to capture their essence.

As with all living cultures the Sámi culture is evolving and so is yoik. Taking yoik into the domain of political and environmental activism is the Sámi singer Mari Boine. Here is a small sample of her singing a song called Gula Gula which is bemoaning pollution and the destruction of the earths natural resources. It is from the CD of the same name. Click here.

If you would like a copy it is available from Amazon, click the link bleow.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

A Carrot in C

Here is a photo of Lindsay Pollack pumping out a tune on a carrot. Yep on a carrot and you will have to take my word for it but if you heard you would not be able to tell the difference from a more conventional instrument.

Lindsay combines the disparate but related disciplines of physics and music to challenge our conception of what is required to make music. Lindsay knows that it is the bore and length of the tube that generates the notes not composition of the wall of the musical instrument that forms the notes. To demonstrate he takes a piece of garden polly pipe, drills some holes along the side, attaches a clarinet mouth piece and the sound is virtually indistinguishable from a commercially purchased clarinet, and somewhat cheaper the manufacture.

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Still not convinced that the instrument wall has little to do with the sound? That is where the carrot comes in. He takes an ordinary raw carrot and, using a hand drill, drills a 10mm hole through the middle. Then, with a 4 mm drill, puts in the holes along the sides (he has the distances between the holes marked on a guide so he gets them in the correct positions). Attach a clarinet mouth piece and a kitchen funnel and you have a functioning musical instrument that has a beautiful rich sound. (The kitchen funnel is mostly for show, but it also adds a little length to the carrot for the lower notes.)

Of course your standard carrot needs a mouthpiece to generate the vibrations that it will alter to create the notes that we hear and Lyndays uses a clarinet mouthpiece in this demonstration. It is the reed in the mouthpiece that generates the vibration and to prove that even this is replaceable with something much simpler he pulls out a small instrument that uses a piece of plastic stretched over a t-joint from a drip watering system to achieve the same effect.

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Enough of the woodwind section and on to the brass, or should I say “plastic pipe”, section of the orchestra. Once again he has a range of instruments that defy our understanding of what is required to construct an instrument capable of professional sound.

This is a bass instrument (the length of the polly-pipe guarantees that). It is operated by turning on and off taps which control the flow of air through parts of the instrument.

And finally, to prove that nothing is sacred, here is a photo of him playing his home constructed bagpipes, or perhaps more correctly, plastic glove pipes.

As the name suggests the bag is a rubber glove. The drone is a piece of aluminium pipe and the chanter is a piece of polly pipe.

How much more fascinating this must be for students involved in his music classes than the ones The Green Man attended. If you are interested in this sort of thing you may like to check out Wind World

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Music Australia

The National Film and Sound Archive has just released a new website www.musicaustralia.org

See digitised historic sheet music
Hear contemporary and heritage sound recordings
Find mutlimedia, websites, pictures, manuscripts, books.
Get information about musicians, organisations and services.

WARNING: This site is a time trap, enter it and you will loose hours.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Queensland Drover

Further to the previous entry here is a well known traditional droving song from the early days. Click here to listen to the tune.

Queensland Drover

1: There's a trade you all know well,
It's bringing cattle over
On every track, to the Gulf and back
Men know the Queensland drover.

Chorus:
So pass the billy round boys!
Don't let the pint-pot stand there!
For tonight we drink the health
Of every overlander.

2: Oh I come from the Northern plains
Where the girls and grass are scanty;
Where the creeks run dry or ten foot high
And it's either drought or plenty.

3: There are men from every land,
From Spain and France and Flanders;
They're a well-mixed pack, both white and black,
The Queensland overlanders.

4: When we've earned a spree in town
We live like pigs in clover;
And the whole year's cheque pours down the neck
Of many a Queensland drover.

5: As I pass along the roads,
The children raise my dander
Crying 'Mother dear, take in the clothes,
Here comes an overlander!'

6: Now I'm bound for home once more,
On a pread that's quite a goer;
I can find a job with a crawling mob
On the banks of the Maranoa

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Axis Of Spooky

A new dark force is arising in the world. Forget the "Axis of Evil" that is yesterdays sinister alliance. In breaking news US President George The Lesser has named the Spooky Men as part of the Axis of Spooky.

Dressed in black and representing the embodiment of secret men's business the Spooky Men meet to conduct their spooky business in dark misty corners of the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney from whence they stealthily emerge from time to time spread their spooky message and to promote the Axis of Spooky.

So it was that the NFF came under the spell of the Spooky Men.

Naturally The Green Man, who has always thought of himself as being a bit on the spooky side, felt an instant affinity with the Spooky Men and promptly bought a copy of their CD and a "Bush Names Spooky Men as part of the Axis of Spooky" t-shirt. This was to reap unexpected and bountiful rewards later in the festival.

It is time perhaps for you to hear some of the Spooky Men. Click here

Sunday afternoon the Spooky Men were performing in the "Singing Room". This, as The Green Man was later to discover, was a venue where everyone joins in. The Spooky Men were teaching a crowd of about 200 a Georgian chant. Given that this was a male choir teaching a male song it was somewhat perplexing that there were quite so many women amongst the participants but they were allowed to stay as long as they pretended to have beards and spoke in low voices. (cast your mind back to the stoning in Life of Brian) Definitely no soprano singing was allowed.

At this stage it may be appropriate for The Green Man to include a sample of his own singing so that you can judge the appropriateness of his attendance at this venue. This has not been done however to avoid the risk of permanently tainting your appreciation of music with the memory of his voice.

So it was that The Green Man found himself in the midst of 200 other people who could actually sing. It was at this stage that the experience took a truely bizarre turn. There is a pause in the singing and a man near by asked The Green Man a question.

"Should you be able to sing that whole phrase in one breath?"

Having no idea GM replied

I suppose so, if your breathing is OK.

Then someone came by and gave GM a glass of water. Strange when there were all those other people who didn't get one.

The light on top of The Green Mans head can take a while to flash on at times but eventually a strange realisation swept over him. Spooky man t-shirt, beard, unusual hat (like they wore) - the audience thought GM was one of the Spooky Men!

It was a bit wierd at first but GM was soon in the swing of it, offering advise all over the place.

"You are doing fine, but you need to focus on your breathing"

was particularly well received. People love that sort of assistance and GM was embracing his new found role as a pseudo Spooky Man with enthusiasm. At the end people were coming up congratulating and saying how much they loved our, oops, their, performance. GM was most gratious on their behalf. This is about as much fun as you can have standing up and without any talent or practice.

Anyway here is a photo of the real Spooky Men's Chorale

Their CD is a must buy in The Green Man's humble opinion. Buy it here.

Finally, one small grab of a song that gives an insight into the political acumen of the Spooky Men and their sophisticated tactical approach to the next federal election. Click here.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

National Folk Festival

Well another folk festival has come and gone and excellent music and related activities were indulged in. The National Folk Festival is held in Canberra each Easter long weekend and is an opportunity to renew acquaintance with traditional Australian music and to hear some contemporary musicians working on what they no doubt hope will one day be traditional Australian songs.

Unlike the more regulated nature of the Port Fairy Folk Festival the NFF can be described as amiable semi-chaos. You arrive with your tent/caravan and put it basically anywhere there is a vacant piece of dirt and you can have power as long as you have enough extension cords and double adaptors.

There is a wide cultural mix at the NFF and a greater emphasis on dance than at Port Fairy. All in all it was an excellent time with the highlight undoubtly being the Spooky Men's Chorale but more on them later.

Not that all the locals were that excited indeed some were completely laid back about the whole thing.

We stumbled on these fellas in a park nearby.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Not Me A Song About Condalezza Rice

One of The Green Mans favourite performers is John McCutcheon who makes his way out from America from time to time to perform.

Here is a song he wrote about Condaleesa Rice (I know her first name is probably spelt incorrectly but I can't be bothered looking it up.) following her questioning by congress.

It is about that fact that she was not taking responsibility for her mistakes, it was always someone elses fault, not hers. Of course he is totally wrong, it is really about John Howard, our diminutive man of teflon. Click here to listen to it.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Port Fairy Folk Festival - The Friday

Well another long weekend of alcohol and music has drawn to a close with a long and tiring drive back to Melbourne, the low point of which was a one hour traffic jam in Geelong. Not to worry this is a minor inconvenience for what is always an exceptionally good weekend. Mind you, the liver has only two weeks to recover this year before the National Folk Festival in Canberra thanks to the moon being uncomfortably close to the Labour Day. (or something like that)

Increasingly over recent years the festival has contracted for The Green Man and his compartriots, focusing increasingly on the small venues and particularly those that serve alcohol. So it was then that the week commenced with a long Friday evening in the Wine Bar listening to some exceptional music. First up was the Hog Stompin Zydegators.

As the name implies they are a zydeco band. Zydeco originated in the southern states of America and is characteristed by its lively style with improvised instruments such as the wash board. The Hog Stompin Zydegators were the imbodiment of the style and produced some magnificent vibrant music that set a high standard for the weekend. Click here to hear a sample.

And working on the assumption that too much provincial American music is never enough the next act up was The Sensitive New Age Cowpersons who are a bluegrass band. They have taken bluegrass to its logical conclusion and they will play anything bluegrass. To this end we were treated to bluegrass renditions of the Sound Of Music and National Anthem, that’s ours, the Australian National Anthem, in which there is a national pride in not knowing the words.

That was not the only version of the National Anthem that weekend. One wonders whether other nationalities take quite so much pride in taking the piss out of their national anthem but it is big in Australia. It is all to do with our anti-authoritarian tendencies in this country. Clearly the winner, however, as far as The Green Man was concerned, was the National Anthem set to the tune from Gilligan’s Island, now that worked on so many levels.

For those of you that have not been to the Port Fairy Folk festival, each act lasts 1 hour with ½ hour in between for the setup, so by the time the third act was on we had been drinking bottles of white wine, interspersed with pints of Guinness for approximately two and a half hours, consequently The Green Man has no idea who the third act was but is reliably assured that he enjoyed them.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

South Australia

South Australia is a classically structured sea shanty designed for modulating heavy hauling activities on the square rigged ships that used to sail between England and Australia.

Listen to the tune

In South Australia I was born!
Heave away! Haul away!
South Australia round Cape Horn!
We're bound for South Australia!

Chorus
Heave away, you rolling king,
Heave away! Haul away!
All the way you'll hear me sing
We're bound for South Australia!

As I walked out one morning fair,
Heave away! Haul away!
It's there I met Miss Nancy Blair.
We're bound for South Australia!

I shook her up, I shook her down,
Heave away! Haul away!
I shook her round and round the town.
We're bound for South Australia!

There ain't but one thing grieves my mind,
Heave away! Haul away!
It's to leave Miss Nancy Blair behind.
We're bound for South Australia!

And as you wallop round Cape Horn,
Heave away! Haul away!
You'll wish to Christ you'd never been born!
We're bound for South Australia!

Up the coast to Vallipo,
Heave away! Haul away!
Northward on to Callao.
We're bound for South Australia!

It's back again to Liverpool,
Heave away! Haul away!
I spent me pay like a bloody fool!
We're bound for South Australia!

I'm Liverpool born and Liverpool bred,
Heave away! Haul away!
Long in the arm and thick in the head.
We're bound for South Australia!

Oh, rock and roll me over boys,
Heave away! Haul away!
Let's get this damn job over boys.
We're bound for South Australia!

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Brisbane Ladies

Folk songs are organic and a tune is frequently reused with the lyrics evolving to suit the circumstances of the singers. Brisbane Ladies is a folk song from Queensland that utilises an old sea shanty for its tune and the structure of its lyrics.

Sea shanties were sung as a means of keeping rythym when performing heavy manual tasks such as hawling up (or weighing) the anchor or tensioning the sails. Accordingly they have a heavy rythmic component. I have included below on the left the lyrics to Brisbane Ladies and on the right the sea shanty "Spanish Ladies" upon which it was based.

Click here to listen to the tune.

Brisbane Ladies Farewell and adieu to you, Brisbane ladies Farewell and adieu, you maids of Toowong We've sold all our cattle and northward we'll travel But we hope we shall see you again before long. Chorus: We'll rant and we'll roar like true Queensland drovers We'll rant and we'll roar as onward we push Until we return to the Augathella station Oh, it's flamin' dry goin' through the old Queensland bush. The first camp we make, we shall call it the Quart Pot, Caboolture, then Kilcoy, and Collington's Hut, We'll pull up at the stone house, Bob Williamson's paddock, And early next morning we cross the Blackbutt. Chorus Then on to Taromeo and Yarraman Creek, lads, It's there we shall make our next camp for the day Where the water and grass are both plenty and sweet, lads, And maybe we'll butcher a fat little stray. Chorus Then on to Nanango, that hard-bitten township Where the out-of-work station-hands shit in the dust, Where the shearers get shorn by old Tim, the contractor Oh, I wouldn't go near there, but I flaming well must! Chorus The girls of Toomancie they look so entrancing Like bawling young heifers they're out for their fun With the waltz and the polka and all kinds of dancing To the rackety old banjo of Bob Anderson. Chorus Then fill up your glasses, and drink to the lasses, We'll drink this town dry, then farewell to them all And when we've got back to the Augathella Station, We hope you'll come by there and pay us a call.

Spanish Ladies Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain; For we've received orders for to sail for ole England, But we hope in a short time to see you again. Chorus We will rant and we'll roar like true British sailors, We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea. Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England; From Ushant to Scilly is thirty five leagues. We hove our ship to with the wind from sou'west, boys We hove our ship to, deep soundings to take; 'Twas forty-five fathoms, with a white sandy bottom, So we squared our main yard and up channel did make. The first land we sighted was called the Dodman, Next Rame Head off Plymouth, off Portsmouth the Wight; We sailed by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dover, And then we bore up for the South Foreland light. Then the signal was made for the grand fleet to anchor, And all in the Downs that night for to lie; Let go your shank painter, let go your cat stopper! Haul up your clewgarnets, let tacks and sheets fly! Now let ev'ry man drink off his full bumper, And let ev'ry man drink off his full glass; We'll drink and be jolly and drown melancholy, And here's to the health of each true-hearted lass.

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Waltzing Matilda

Every Australian knows our national anthem and it is not Advance Australia Fair. That is just some phoney nationalistic claptrap thought up by bureaucrats and very few Australian know more than the first line or two.

Our real national anthem is Waltzing Matilda. It is the song that is guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye of every expatriate. It is the signature tune of the Australian Army and it is the song that we all know the words to.

The song celebrates an incident involving an itinerant worker, know as a “swagman” after the “swag” of rolled up blankets they carried. The “swag” was also known as a “matilda” from Teutonic origin meaning Mighty Battle Maiden. These were women that followed the soldiers into battle and kept them warm at night, amongst other things.

These men lived lonely lives tramping the Australian bush looking for itinerant work, this was know as "waltzing" also from the German auf der walz meaning on the tramp. The title and lyrics refer to the swagman wandering through the Australian bush. It became known as being "on the wallaby track"

The song tells the story of him camped by a water hole when he stumbles on a stray sheep. He catches it for later consumption. When cornered by police he chooses to commit suicide rather than deal with the police.

That it is the most poignant song to most Australians is an social comment in itself.

Waltzing Matilda

by A. B. "Banjo" Paterson

Oh! there once was a swagman camped in a Billabong,
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree;
And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling?
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag --
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;
And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker-bag,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

Down came the Squatter a-riding his thoroughbred;
Down came troopers -- one, two and three.
"Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"

But the swagman he up and he jumped in the water-hole,
You'll never take me alive says he;
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Published as sheet music in 1903

Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses, 1917

* swagman: an intinerant farmhand,
* billabong: water hole, often the last water in a dried up creek
* coolibah tree: Eucalypt (Eucalyptus microtheca), common in inland Australia,
* billy: a billy is a tin can used to heat water over a campfire to make tea, thought to be a corruption of "bully" from the Bully Beef tins they were originally made from
* jumbuck: sheep, Aboriginal corruption of "jump up"
* tucker-bag: bag or box used to store tucker (food)
* squatter: farmer/grazier who squatted or illegally occupied land. Squatters went on to become the landed gentry of Australia
* trooper: policeman or soldier on horseback

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.

Morton Bay

Australia was originally founded as a penal colony. The dynamics of the society founded was based on a ruling class of soldiers and an underclass of prisoners. Unlike what you may think, the prisoners were generally not hardened criminals. All serious criminals were hung in England. Those transported to Australia were usually petty thieves convicted for stealing a hankerchief or some such.

The guards were also effectively transported since they were unlikely to return. Thus it was that soldiers assigned to accompany and guard the prisoners were the worst and most problematic soldiers. This lead to a brutal and sadistic regime and one of the most brutal and sadistic soldiers was in command of the penal colony at Morton Bay in Queensland. His name was Captain Patrick Logan and he was Commandant of Morton Bay from 1825 until his murder in 1830.

The basic decency of many of the convicts and the corruption and brutality of the authorities at this formative stage of our nationhood has left permanent scars in our national psyche that present themselves today as a deep distrust of authority, support of the underdog and a penchant for larrikanism. Superficially we may seem similar to America but in this, I believe, we are quite different.

Listen to tune

One Sunday morning as I was walking
By Bribane's Waters I chanced to stray,
I heard a prisoner his fate bewailing
As on the sunny river bank he lay.
I am a native of Erin's Island
Transported now from my native shore.
They tore me from my aged parents
And from the maiden whom I adore.

I've been a prisoner at Port MacQuarie,
At Norfolk Island and Emu Place,
At Custon Hill and Curston Kelly,
And all those settlements of such disgrace.
But of places of condemnation
And penal stations of New South Wales,
Of Morton Bay I have found no equal;
Excessive tyranny each day prevails.

For three long years I was cruelly treated
And heavy irons on my legs I wore.
My back from flogging was lacerated;
My shirt was soaked with my bloody gore,
And many a man from downright starvation
Lies mouldering underneath the clay,
And Captain Logan, he had us tortured
At the pillories down in Morton's Bay.

Like the Egyptians or ancient Hebrews
We were oppressed under Logan's yoke.
'Til a waiting Black lying there in ambush
He gave this tyrant his mortal stroke.
My fellow prisoners be exhilerated
That all such tyrants a death shall find.
And when from bondage we are liberated
Our former sufferings will fade from mind.

One Sunday morning as I was walking
By Brisbane's waters I chanced to stray
I heard a prisoner his fate bewailing
As on the sunny river bank he lay.

Traditional

Please note that the The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.