Monday, April 25, 2022

ANZAC Day - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle

 It's ANZAC Day today. Here's a song by Eric Bogle written to commemorate the day. I've been playing and singing this song for about 50 years. 

It's about time I posted it to the blog.



What is ANZAC Day - from Wikipedia

In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was an ally of Germany during the war. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock the Ottomans out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied deaths totalled over 56,000, including 8,709 from Australia and 2,721 from New Zealand.[8][9] News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed to achieve its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war, the actions of the Australian and New Zealand troops during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present. The heroism of the soldiers in the failed Gallipoli campaign made their sacrifices iconic in New Zealand memory, and is often credited with securing the psychological independence of the nation. 

Oumou Sangare

One problem about posting something to my blog - after a long break of not posting anything - to it, is suddenly finding a renewed interest in the blog and finding things to post. This current post is an example of this situation.
About two weeks ago I was talking to my mum about Oumou Sangare. I've been listening to her songs for a long time. Years ago I bought a CD from the World Music Network. It was called Desert Blues. It was a compilation CD introducing the music of West Africa to Europe and the West. It was a great CD. I played it a lot.
Eventually I realised there were two songs - artists that really appealed to me.  Their music touched me in ways I can't explain.
The first artist was Oumou Sangare. On the CD she sang Saa Magni.