Tie Me Kangaroo Down, sports

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Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (roughly: "Tie my kangaroo, sports friend") is a humorous song by Rolf Harris from 1957. The song is inspired by Harry Belafontes Calypso and is about an Australian rancher (Stockman) who on on his deathbed asks his friend to take care of the daily chores on the farm. The friend is asked, among other things, to feed the wallabies and tie the kangaroo , otherwise it will always hop around. The song alludes to typical Australian things and animals, such as cockatoos , platypus and koalas as well as didgeridoos . The song is one of the most famous and successful Australian songs.

background

The song became a worldwide hit in the 1960s. Harris offered the four unknown background musicians 10 percent of the royalty. However, they decided to split a fee of 28 pounds among themselves because they thought the song was going to be a flop.

The song became a number one hit in Australia in 1960 and stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks. Also in 1960, the song came in the UK Top 40 to number 9. In 1963 it reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and stayed at the top of the Adult Contemporary Charts for 3 weeks . Another recording with small text variants was made together with the Beatles . Harris recorded the song again in 2005 with "The Wiggles". The song is still popular today as a nursery rhyme.

The distinctive sound of the original recording was achieved by an instrument designed by Harris, the so-called wobble board , a 60 by 90 centimeter hardboard made of masonite .

The lyrics of the song are compared to the poem "On Preston Bar" by the Australian poet Richard H. Kendall, in which a young wallaby named Tymie tries to run away in front of its owner.

The fourth stanza was removed around 1960 because it used the word abo , a derogatory slang expression for the Australian Aborigines . Harris later apologized for the verse.

use

The song has been used in a number of films, including the TV show The Goodies and Skippy the Kangaroo . Nicole Kidman sang the song in a sketch with Mike Myers on the Saturday Night Live Show. Elvis Costello sang the song on the Frasier series . Wrestler Outback Jack used the song for his appearances on WWF (now WWE) in the mid-1980s. A Germanized version was published under the title " Halt das Kangaroo tight ", first by the Nilsen Brothers in the late 1950s .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Did you know ... page 18 " Westside News ", February 20, 2008 - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  2. ↑ Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport in the Official UK Charts (English)
  3. ^ The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits , 6th Edition, 1996
  4. ^ Rolf Harris - Beatles: Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport on YouTube
  5. ↑ Business Abroad: Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. In: Time . September 26, 1960. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Renee Switzer: Rolf's lyrics 'a sign of the times'. In: The Age . December 6, 2006, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  7. ↑ http://schlager.atspace.com/schlagerha.htm

Web links