Songs about Koala Bears

Subject: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 07:40 AM

There's an article in todays Daily Telegraph about the number of koala bears being killed by cars. This led Paul, my colleague in work, to ask if I knew any songs about koala bears. I can't think of any.
Anybody?

Michael

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:05 AM

There's one verse of TIE ME KANGAROO DOWN

And, as I recall, Rolf Harris had a koala (Coogee Bear) as a co host on one of his programmes, so you might find something on a search for Rolf

Nigel (In Cardiff)

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:07 AM

Having posted the link, the verse isn't there!
Take me koala back, Jack
Take me koala back.
He lives somewhere out on the track, Jack
So take me koala back.

Nigel

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:07 AM

There's the theme song of the cartoon "The Adventures of the Little Koala" (Japanese; dubbed in English; ran on the Nickelodeon cable channel 1987-1992):

Brand new day, time to play with Roobear and his friends.
Where summer never ends.  Koalas show you how to
fly a plane, catch a wave, there's nothing we won't try.
Lots to do, fun starts here with you and me...
Look up there, way up high, koalas in balloons,
laughter's on its way to you... 
Laura, Nick and Roo, Mimi and Floppy, too…waiting here for you.
Brand new day, time to play with Roobear and his friends.
The fun and laughter never ends.
Koalas lead the way...on a sunny day...we all love to play...

(Link to page about the program: http://members.tripod.com/~djfury/nicktoonsab.html)

Probably not what you had in mind, but it's a start.

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:11 AM

Using the DT lyrics search atop the page, for "koala" gets 2 mentions, neither very pretty!

Nigel

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: greg stephens
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:11 AM

well,from the evidence so far, koala bears havent been a very effective muse, as compared to say skylarks, hunting dogs, cuckoos or horses.

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:15 AM

The version in the DT also misses the 'scene setting' first verse. The whole thing was found Here

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:25 AM

How about this song by Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara, called "My Number"? (Here's a review of their album, which describes their style of folk music: http://www.canehdian.com/genre/rock/a/teganandsara/biography.html)

MY NUMBER by Tegan and Sara

Showers pounding out a new beat
I trade my old shoes for new feet
I grab a new seat
I don't like the one I got 
The fabric's wearing through
And it's wearing me out
You're wearing me down

Watching old baseball games
And low budget telethons
Ain't like watching you yourself 
When you yourself is on
Got time to wander to waste and to whine
But when it comes to you,
It seems like I just can't find the time

So watch your head and then watch the ground
It's a silly time to learn to swim when you start to drown
It's a silly time to learn to swim on the way down

If I gave you my number
Would it still be the same
If I saved you from drowning?
Promise me you'll never go away
Promise me you'll always stay

Closed down the last local zoo
I'm gonna win the endless war
Over who kills the last koala bear
And who in death will love him more and I
He grabs me by the hand
Drags me to the shore and says
Maybe you don't love me
But you'll grow to love me even more

And I well I'm not surprised

If I gave you my number
Would it still be the same
If I saved you from drowning?
Promise me you'll never go away
Promise me you'll always stay

Showers pounding out a new beat
I trade my old shoes for new feet
I grab a new seat
I don't like the one I got 
The fabric's wearing through
And it's wearing me out
You're wearing me down

So watch your head and then watch the ground
It's a silly time to learn to swim when you start to drown
It's a silly time to learn to swim on the way down

If I gave you my number
Would it still be the same
If I saved you from drowning?
Promise me you'll never go away
Promise me you'll always stay

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:40 AM

From Captain Beaky and his band (site: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kmr/beaky.htm)

Kenny the Koala

Kenny is a Koala bear
His nose is always red
Every morning he sleeps late
He can't get out of bed
And as it's always opening time
He doesn't have to wait
He has a double when he wakes
Just to put him straight
And just like every Koala bear
He doesn't walk he weaves
For his diet's alcoholic
Eucalyptus leaves

Kenny is a Koala bear
He doesn't walk he weaves
For his diet's alcoholic
Eucalyptus leaves

Once he fell out of a tree
Into a passing truck
He said that's clumsy, silly me
What bloody awful luck
Still I reckon it's a tale
I can always brag-on
I'll be the only koala bear
To end up on the wagon

Chorus and ad lib to end

on the album Captain Beaky Volume 2 (1980) (Note on the Captain Beaky site says: "Possibly some bits mixed up / missing. Please email [e-mail] with any fixes...")

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:44 AM

KOALA BEAR
(Collins - Devlin)
Johnny Devlin & The Devlins

I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear
When I hold you close, like you want me to
Baby don't run away, like a scared emu
Well, I wanna give you some lovin' anyplace, anywhere
I don't wanna lose you, 'cause I really care
I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear

Can't you feel my heart when I'm close to you
Well, it's hoppin' so fast, like a kangaroo
Well, I wanna give you some lovin' anyplace, anywhere
I don't wanna lose you, 'cause I really care
I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear

Well, I got you baby, I'll never let you go
I don't wanna leave you, 'cause I love you so
One thing baby that I wanna do
I wanna kling to you like the koala bears do

Well, now that I told you, don't you laugh at me
Like the kookaburras do, and the blue gum too
Well, I wanna give you some lovin' anyplace, anywhere
Don't you leave me baby, 'cause I really care
I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear
I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear
I wanna kling to you like a baby koala bear

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:53 AM

Thank you.
Just after posting I remembered "Tinga and Tucker" from TV. Weren't they koalas? And didn't they have a song? What was it? Boomerang zoomerang or something. Did it mention koalas?
Questions, questions, questions.
Oh and Sharon, thanks muchly for putting me onto the Canadian girls. May you always walk in sunshine.

Michael

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 08:58 AM

"MAMMAL" by They Might Be Giants
from the album Apollo 18 (1992)

Glass of milk
Standing in between extinction in the cold
and explosve radiating growth.
So the warm blood flows
Through the large four-chambered heart,
Maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have.

Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog
 
One of us might lose his hair
But you're reminded that it once was there
From the embryonic whale to the monkey with no tail.
So the warm blood flows
with the red blood cells, lacking nuclei
Through the large four-chambered heart
Maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have
Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog
Placental the sister of her brother Marsupial
Their cousin called Monotreme
Dead uncle Allotheria
 
Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog
The fox, the ox
Giraffe and shrew
Echidna, caribou

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: greg stephens
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 09:49 AM

I withdraw my earlier posting on this thread, which I realise was offensive to koalas. I have since researched the origins of some famous folksongs( availing myself of the expertise of Malcolm Douglas in these matters).

---

THE BEAR IN THE CLEAR AIR

Bear thoughts are in my mind
And my soul soars enchanted
As I hear the sweet bear sing
In the clear air of the day

---

STEWBEAR
(copyright Huddie Ledbetter and Alan Lomax)

There's a big day
Uh-huh
Down in Brisbane
Uh-huh
Dont you wish you
Uh huh
Was there
Was there
You can bet your
Uh huh
Bottom dollar
Uh-huh
On that ko-a
La bear
La bear

---

OLD BLUE GUM

Had an old bear
And his food was blue
Bet you five dollars
He's a good bear too

---

THE KOALA

Oh the koala's a pretty bear
He sings as he chews
He brings us good tidings
In other words, good news
He sucks eucalyptus
To keep his voice clear
And the more he sings"koala"
The winter draws near.

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: greg stephens
Date: 24 Jul 02 - 09:53 AM

not bad, only missed one line-break

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 03:27 AM

LOVED 'EM, greg!!! esp. "The Koala"

As an Aussie, I can't think of a Koala song, I must admit - Kangaroos and Kookaburras, yes.

However, I do know a cute little number called "Wally Wombat Shuffle" by a great group out here called "Coco's Lunch" - well, aren't Koalas and Wombats supposed to be COUSINS ??!!

Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 03:47 AM

Greg,

Superb. You've redeemed yourself.
I had to wait for the tears to stop before posting.

Michael

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 09:38 AM

G'day rich-joy,

"... well, aren't Koalas and Wombats supposed to be COUSINS ??!! "

Actually, the last time the classifiers and taxonomists held forth on them, they declared that Koalas were: "re-arborialised wombats"! (They cite various features in common, but principally the backwards facing pouch ... typical for subterranean burrowers ... but very dicey for tree dwellers!

Anyway, koa;s do such a good job of blending in with the bush that nobody writes about them. It took some 18 (?) years for the first Sydney colonists to even notice them ... probably only after they had cleared most of the nearby Gum trees!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 09:38 AM

G'day rich-joy,

"... well, aren't Koalas and Wombats supposed to be COUSINS ??!! "

Actually, the last time the classifiers and taxonomists held forth on them, they declared that Koalas were: "re-arborialised wombats"! (They cite various features in common, but principally the backwards facing pouch ... typical for subterranean burrowers ... but very dicey for tree dwellers!

Anyway, koalas do such a good job of blending in with the bush that nobody writes about them. It took some 18 (?) years for the first Sydney colonists to even notice them ... probably only after they had cleared most of the nearby Gum trees!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 11:49 AM

Wombat have tonsils, I think, alone of all mammals except humans and a few other apes.

And aren't they going to be painting the roadkilled koalas red, so that they show up better and people slow down? What ever happened to making Koala Xing signs?

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: GUEST,alinact
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 02:31 PM

One from John Williamson.

Allan

GOODBYE BLINKY BILL
Words and Music by John Williamson
© 1986 EMUSIC PTY LTD

     A
  Oh goodbye Bunyip Bluegum, goodbye Blinky Bill
    

  And beautiful little Nutsie, I can't believe it
    

    D
  Our koalas are all dying, can it really be?
    

  E
  A national disaster, a world catastrophe
    

  A
  Shiny little black nose and fluffy little ears
    

  Furry little bundle soaking up the tears
    

   D
  Oh Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are crying in the rain
    

    E
  and Wombat's gone into his hole and won't come out
    

  CHORUS
    

   D             E7                 A 
    Oh pass the hat around between your friends
    

        D          E7     A
  There's no time to contemplate
    

D           E         F#M
  Maybe if we show some love
    

D          E       A
  Maybe it's not too late
    

'Cause Blinky Bill is dying, cross him off the list
Knock on doors, ring the bell, save the eucalypts
I don't think I could stand the shame,
Knowing that I could
Have saved the world from losing
Something beautiful and good

(REPEAT CHORUS)

One doctor on the job is hardly enough
One little hospital, wake up Australia
It's our corner of the world,
Time to pull our weight
What would we tell our children
About our little mate?

Oh goodbye Bunyip Bluegum, goodbye Blinky Bill
And beautiful little Nutsie, I can't believe it
Our koalas are all dying, can it really be?
A national disaster, a world catastrophe

(REPEAT CHORUS TWICE)

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Helen
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 07:57 PM

Watch out for the drop bears!

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 26 Jul 02 - 04:36 AM

"Goodbye Blinky Bill" sad but true.
Apparantly though they are not an endangered species.
Thanks everyone.

Michael

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: SharonA
Date: 26 Jul 02 - 09:24 AM

Article from the Australian Koala Foundation – "THE KOALA - ENDANGERED OR NOT?": http://www.savethekoala.com/danger.html

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 27 Jul 02 - 01:24 AM

I gather that yesterday (Friday, July 26th, Down Under), was some kind of National Koala Awareness Day - and that a nearby district "Pine Rivers Shire" in SE Queensland, has the largest number of "urban-dwelling" koalas in Australia (or some such claim-to-fame) and they even have Koala Ambulances now!!!

(still prefer Wombats ...)

Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Blackcatter
Date: 27 Jul 02 - 01:37 AM

It's interesting that people continue to associate animals through their old names instead of connecting them with their taxinomical affiliations.

I.E. koala BEARS, panda BEARS, starFISH, American buffalo instead of bison, etc.

The original question of this thread also begs for other questions: songs about other Australain animals such as platypus, dingo, Tazmanian devil, wombat, etc.

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: JennieG
Date: 27 Jul 02 - 05:00 AM

Wombats rule!!!
The Chainsaw Song: (sung to Teddy Bears' Picnic)

If you go into the bush today you're in for a big surprise.
If you go into the hills today you'll never believe your eyes;
For every tree that ever there was and every bear has gone because
Me an' my mates are having a wonderful picnic.

Mrs Koala packed the lunch and then she said goodbye.
All she had was a bunch of leaves,she's gone away to die;
And in the trees where nobody sees I do my work, I do as I please
Today's the day my chain saw's having its picnic.

Written by Jan Wositzky 1986
There's more but I didn't type it all out, it would have taken me all night and this is the bit about koalas anyway. The 80's saw many songs protesting about forest logging.
But the wombat is still my favourite animal.....

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Help: Songs about Koala Bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 28 Jul 02 - 05:46 AM

added the lyrics of WALLY WOMBAT SHUFFLE, in its own thread, for anyone interested ...

Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Songs about Koala Bears
From: GUEST,annie redmond
Date: 09 May 11 - 09:42 AM

I LOVE KOALAS!!

Subject: RE: Songs about Koala Bears
From: Andrez
Date: 09 May 11 - 08:24 PM

OK we're agreed on that Guest Annie.

What I want to know is how much can a koala bear? :-)

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Songs about Koala Bears
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 09 May 11 - 09:49 PM

Blackcatter on 27 Jul 02 asks for songs about the platypus. I know one song that references that animal, Oedipus Rex, by Tom Lehrer. And you may end up like Oedipus/I'd rather marry a duck-billed platypus/Than end up like old Oedipus Rex.

Subject: RE: Songs about Koala Bears
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 04:52 AM

Hi can any one help I am looking for a song
starts with.
Down under God made a bear and he called it a koala

Subject: RE: Songs about Koala Bears
From: GUEST,FloraG
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 07:51 AM

Dancing with bears I think mentions koalas.