Biography:
Scotland's greatest living Australian. Or the other way around, depending on how you look at it.
Born in Peebles, Scotland, and emigrating to Australia in 1969, he currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia. Written in 1972, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is perhaps his best-known song, being a haunting evocation of the ANZAC experience fighting in the Battle of Gallipoli. It has also been interpreted as a reaction to the Vietnam War.
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Other songs:
- And The Band Played "waltzing Matilda"
- Across The Hills Of Home
- And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
- And The Band Played Waltzing Matlida
- Ballad Of Henry Holloway
- Bloody Rotten Audience
- Dedication Day
- Front Row Cowboy
- Green Fields Of France
- Leaving Nancy
- No Mans Land
- Now Im Easy
- Safe In The Harbour
- Scraps Of Paper
- The Blessing
Four years of hard work!This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!
[Intro]
G Em C D
G Em C D
Well, here's a song I've written specifically for you
G Em C D
Who sit inside the audience and talk through all I do
G Em C D
I cannot understand it cause I'm pretty good, you see
G Em C G
So there must be something wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 1]
G Em C D
I'm an artist and authority on music and what's more
G Em C D
I'm incredible informative on folksong and folklore
G Em C D
I'm a wonderful performer and so you all must be
G Em C G
So bloody thick and stupid not to like the like of me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 2]
G Em C D
I'm a folkie and that's obvious, you can tell it by me clothes
G Em C D
And when I sing traditional, I sing it through me nose
G Em C D
And if you insist on talking everytime I sing a song
G Em C G
I'll fix you with 'Bold Robin Hood', that's eighty verses long
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 3]
G Em C D
And when I sing contemporary, me heart and soul is pure
G Em C D
I must be bloody brilliant, cause me writing's so obscure
G Em C D
My hero's Leonard Cohen, I dig him perfectly
G Em C G
But I must be so much better, because no-one here digs me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 4]
G Em C D
But now I'm going to leave you, cause I feel I'm wasting time
G Em C D
Couldn't possibly be wasting yours, so you must be wasting mine
G Em C D
And let me tell you now that I'm not out here for me health
G Em C G
So if you don't come and pull with me, I'll go and pull meself
[Outro]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
But underneath it all I'm just a pain in the flipping arse
G Em C D
G Em C D
Well, here's a song I've written specifically for you
G Em C D
Who sit inside the audience and talk through all I do
G Em C D
I cannot understand it cause I'm pretty good, you see
G Em C G
So there must be something wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 1]
G Em C D
I'm an artist and authority on music and what's more
G Em C D
I'm incredible informative on folksong and folklore
G Em C D
I'm a wonderful performer and so you all must be
G Em C G
So bloody thick and stupid not to like the like of me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 2]
G Em C D
I'm a folkie and that's obvious, you can tell it by me clothes
G Em C D
And when I sing traditional, I sing it through me nose
G Em C D
And if you insist on talking everytime I sing a song
G Em C G
I'll fix you with 'Bold Robin Hood', that's eighty verses long
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 3]
G Em C D
And when I sing contemporary, me heart and soul is pure
G Em C D
I must be bloody brilliant, cause me writing's so obscure
G Em C D
My hero's Leonard Cohen, I dig him perfectly
G Em C G
But I must be so much better, because no-one here digs me
[Chorus]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
While you're ignorant, you're cultureless, you're philistines en masse
[Verse 4]
G Em C D
But now I'm going to leave you, cause I feel I'm wasting time
G Em C D
Couldn't possibly be wasting yours, so you must be wasting mine
G Em C D
And let me tell you now that I'm not out here for me health
G Em C G
So if you don't come and pull with me, I'll go and pull meself
[Outro]
G Em C D
You're a bloody rotten audience whilst I am very good
G Em C D
If brains were made of oak and ash then you'd have balsa wood
G Em C D
I'm ethnic and authentic and I'm really full of class
G Em C G
But underneath it all I'm just a pain in the flipping arse
Eric Idle
Eric Johnson
Eric Lapointe
Eric Prydz
Eric Weissberg