Thanks Stew, "Old TI" is such a lovely old singalong song, redolent of past times and the fragrance of the tropics on the air! See also Dec 8th posting for a link to a version by Jessie Lloyd (Joe Gaia's daughter!), and one by Ted Egan.


MEANWHILE : Apparently this song continues to be Hugely popular amongst many Aussies, so, here it is :

GREAT SOUTHERN LAND

Iva Davies

Standing at the limit of an endless ocean
Stranded like a runaway, lost at sea
City on a rainy day down in the harbor
Watching as the grey clouds shadow the bay
Looking everywhere 'cause I had to find you
This is not the way that I remember it here
Anyone will tell you it’s a prisoner island
Hidden in the summer for a million years.

Great Southern Land, burned you black

So you look into the land and it will tell you a story
Story 'bout a journey ended long ago
Listen to the motion of the wind in the mountains
Maybe you can hear them talking like I do
They're gonna betray you, they're gonna forget you
Are you gonna let them take you over that way.

Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land
You walk alone, like a primitive man
And they make it work, with sticks and bones
See their hungry eyes, its a hungry land.

I hear the sound of the stranger's voices
I see their hungry eyes, their hungry eyes
Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land
They burned you black, black against the ground.

Standing at the limit of an endless ocean
Stranded like a runaway, lost at sea
City on a rainy day down in the harbor
Watching as the grey clouds shadow the bay
Looking everywhere 'cause I had to find you
This is not the way that I remember it here
Anyone will tell you it’s a prisoner island
Hidden in the summer for a million years.

Great Southern Land, in the sleeping sun
You walk alone with the ghost of time
Where they burned you black, black against the ground
And they make it work with rocks and sand.

I hear the sound of the strangers’ voices
I see their hungry eyes, their hungry eyes

Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land
You walk alone, like a primitive man
You walk alone with the ghost of time
And they burned you black
Yeah, they burned you black
Great Southern Land

Great Southern Land
Great Southern Land
Great Southern Land



This is the 1982 original by ICEHOUSE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWHcQPR2S-U

This is the 1989 clip for the “Young Einstein” movie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtP4yQNpNF4

This is the 2012 remake vidclip with various artists and locations, by Tourism Australia : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kHUYXAM3yc

“In November 2014 the song was selected for inclusion on the Australian National Film & Sound Archive's "Sounds of Australia" list.”

WIKI : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Southern_Land


R-J