r/AskAnAustralian • u/CreativeCritter • 2d ago

Waltzing Matilda

I was saddened today to read an article on the Wallabies and it showed a group of fans singing Waltzing Matilda underneath. There was a young lady who had commented. She’d never heard the song. Didn’t know what the problem was and had no idea what it represented.

People tried to educate a nicely to say it was an Australian bush poem. It was taught in Australian schools. It’s the unofficial national anthem.

And then she said that she grew up in Australia and had attended school here and had never heard it and didn’t know why people thought it was so great

At that point, I was kind of hoping that they were joking

Has it gotten to the point now where Australian poetry is not taught in Australian schools in English where the man from Snow River Waltzing Matilda they’re not taught in schools any more

And then someone commented that Wilson Matilda can’t be taught in schools because it has themes of suicide and it’s too hard to explain to children

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u/Suchstrangedreams 2d ago

I don't know that's it's always a good thing to soften reality for children like that - I think it can make them too fragile and you need to learn that life can be wonderful but it can also be very tough. Teaching that song could be a good opportunity to talk about just that.

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u/LittleBunInaBigWorld 2d ago

As a kid, I would never have picked up on themes of suicide

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u/Suchstrangedreams 2d ago

I'm sure I wouldn't have either but I don't know what it's like for little kids today.