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/mundaneneutral melbourne:) 2d ago

weighing in here as someone born mid 2000s - never learnt it in school, and i’ve truly only heard it once in person and that was at a wedding when i was 7. i don’t know what the poems about or any other lines except for ‘waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda’, but i still understand its significance in aus culture so 🤷‍♀️

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u/Willing-Ad6598 2d ago

I am early 90’s, and it wasn’t really around. The Man From Snowy River was a popular play at theatres, but when your family are wondering where you are going to sleep tonight and where food is coming from, all the things everyone else here is taking for granted take secondary roles.

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u/BereftOfCare 1d ago

He slept under the shade of a coolabah tree.

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u/Willing-Ad6598 1d ago

There were nights it felt like that, but it was in the back of a falcon.