We are Australian

 

This week we celebrated Harmony Day at Balmain Public School. The girls got really into it and I have to admit I did too. In the build up to it the whole school practiced singing "I am Australian." At first the school kids stumbled on the lyrics but they got really good at the chorus. Meanwhile the teachers started some conversations about all the different kinds of Australians including Aborigines and immigrants from all over the world.

Emily explained to me how the Aborigines came first. "They arrived on dusty red planes! It says so in a song we learned." I smiled and then googled Australian Outback so she could get a good vision of the dry interior of the country. Emily also struggled with singing a song about being Australian but decided it was okay to sing it because while she's here she's Australian.

This morning the whole school sang the song again with gusto. Here's a little snippet from the chorus. The whole song is worth a listen. You can listen to it here.  I've listed the full lyrics below.

Emily and Tess really embraced the loving spirit of the day. In fact, they woke up early, got dressed and ready for school and started making Happy Harmony Day cards for all their friends. Each one included lots of hearts, balloons and stars; the words I love you; and pictures of holding hands with friends. They are such sweet earnest girls. I'll miss this when they start being cynical and jaded.

At lunch time the school celebrated with an international picnic where each child brought in some dish to share and labeled what country it was from. My girls insisted we should bring chocolate chip cookies. After doing some searching I confirmed that they were, in fact, invented in America - in Massachusetts, no less! They are even our state cookie. Who knew?

All in all, we had a wonderful Harmony Day and we are proud for today to feel like Australians.

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Here we have the lyrics to an iconic Aussie song called “I am Australian” (also known as  We are Australian) which was written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Dobe Newton of The Bushwackers. It’s a very patriotic song – commonly taught in primary schools and was even one of the songs under consideration to replace our National Anthem!

I am Australian / We are Australian (Song Lyrics)


I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I’ve been the first Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I’m a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I’m a teller of stories, I’m a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I’m Ned Kelly on the run
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I’m the hot wind from the desert, I’m the black soil of the plains
I’m the mountains and the valleys, I’m the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian.

We are one .. We are many .. We are Australian!