Australia

The inspiration to create this song was to commemorate Australia Day (January 26th), and this year (2018) marks the 230th anniversary of that day. Of course, Australia is always a great country, so you could use this piece any time you want to celebrate its awesomeness, not just for Australia Day.

It's tough to talk about a country in a short song, but we tried to mention some important locations, rattle off some great facts, and emphasized the adventurous spirit of Australia. As John was researching this song, he spoke to his mother-in-law, Felicity, who is a true Aussie – born and raised there. He was impressed with her description of how beautiful and free the country is, and we hope that is translated into this tune.

The song has a worldbeat fusion style to it and features a synthesized didgeridoo throughout. It's a very cool groove and one that sticks with you after the fact.

The melody has a good bit of syncopation, and to help your students stay on track the piano and an electric piano play the melody line. There is also a part 2 vocal line at the chorus (also covered by the piano and electric piano) which is optional, but it sounds excellent if your performers can pull it off! Hint: Don’t miss the word change in part 2 at the coda, which says “Waiting for me” instead of “Calling to me.”

Special thanks to our studio musicians and singers who brought this song to life, especially Dane Clark who played drums.

(Note: Ugg is © Deckers Brands. Vegemite™ is a trademark of Bega Cheese Limited.)

Art extension for cross curricular enrichment - To help bring the experience to life as you perform this song, our arts and crafts specialist Kristyn Johnson has come up with some wonderfully colorful ideas for dot hand painting inspired by Australian Aboriginal art. In addition to the hand outline pictured on this page (for which she provides two options), she has created some printable outlines of animal shapes (e.g., kangaroo, snake, turtle, etc.) for students to use as a guide for their painting. These are available at our web site, free to subscribers as always.