"Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" is a song written by Australian singer

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

in 1957 which became a hit around the world in the 1960s in two recordings (1960 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for the original, and 1963 in the United States with a re-recording of the song). Inspired by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

's calypsos, most noticeably "The Jack-Ass Song", it is about an Australian stockman on his deathbed. Harris originally offered four unknown Australian backing musicians 10% of the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for the song in 1960, but they decided to take a recording fee of £28 among them because they thought the song would be a flop. The distinctive sound of Harris's original recording was achieved by the use of an instrument of his own design called the "

wobble board The wobble board is a musical instrument invented and popularized by the Australian musician and artist Rolf Harris, and is featured in his best-known song " Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport". A wobble board, like some other musical instruments, can be ...

"—a two-by-three-foot piece of

hardboard Hardboard, also called high-density fiberboard (HDF), is a type of fiberboard, which is an engineered wood product. It is used in furniture and in the construction industry. Description Hardboard is similar to particle board and medium-densi ...

. The recording peaked at No. 1 in the Australian charts and was a top 10 hit in the UK in 1960. In 1963, Harris re-recorded the song in the UK with

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

as producer, and this remake of the song reached No. 3 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and spent three weeks atop the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart in 1963. "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" was a surprise hit on the US R&B chart where it went to No. 19. The song reached No. 20 on the Canadian

CHUM Chart The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. On Janua ...

. Harris re-recorded his song a second time along with

the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...

in 2000 with the introductory verse and the verse mentioning the stockman's death omitted. It is still popular today as a children's song. The song was used by the WWF in the late 1980s as the theme song of enhancement talent wrestler

Outback Jack ''Outback Jack'' is a 2004 American reality TV show filmed in outback Australia. It was produced by Nash Entertainment. It starred Vadim Dale, a 6-foot-tall former underwear model, as ''Outback Jack'', and started with twelve women who vied ...

. Other versions were recorded by

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

(for her 1966 album ''

Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door ''Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door'' is a studio album recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis. Background Whilst the material of her album '' Connie Francis sings Fun Songs for Children'' (1959) clearly had aimed at toddlers and small ...

'') and by

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

. A version by

the Brothers Four The Brothers Four is an American folk singing group, founded in 1957 in Seattle, Washington, and known for their 1960 hit song "Greenfields." History Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley met at the University of Washington, wher ...

can be found on their CD ''The Brothers Four, Greatest Hits''.

The story of the song

The opening recitation by Harris: :''There's an old Australian stockman, lying, dying,'' :''and he gets himself up on one elbow,'' :''and he turns to his mates,'' :''who are gathered 'round him and he says...'' is similar to the first verse of a song, ''The Dying Stockman'', collected in Australia by

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

and published in 1905: :''A strapping young stockman lay dying,'' :''His saddle supporting his head;'' :''His two mates around him were crying,'' :''As he rose on his pillow and said...'' In Harris's version, a dying Australian stockman instructs his friends to take care of his affairs after he is gone. The first of these is to watch his

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

feed, then to tie his

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

down, since they jump around (which is the chorus). "Sport" is an Australian term of address, alluding to "good sport", which often, as in this case, praises someone for carrying out a small favour one is asking of them. The lyrics mention animals and objects associated with Australia, including

cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 parrot species belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea (true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up the ord ...

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...

es, and

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

s. His last dying wish is "

Tan Tan or TAN may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...

me hide when I'm dead, Fred". By the end of the song, the stockman has died and his wish has been carried out: "So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde, and that's it hanging on the shed".

Deleted verse

The fourth verse caused some controversy in 1964 because of its use of the word "Abo", an offensive slang term for

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

. The lyrics of this verse (not found on Rolf Harris's official website) were as follows: :''Let me Abos go loose, Lou'' :''Let me Abos go loose:'' :''They're of no further use'', ''Lou'' :''So let me Abos go loose.'' The stockman thus emancipates his indigenous

offsiders ''Offsiders'' is an Australian television sport program hosted by AFL commentator Kelli Underwood. The show airs live on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am on ABC TV and ABC News. History The show began airing in 2005 (alongside '' Insiders'', its n ...

at his death because they are "of no further use" to him. This verse does not feature in 21st-century versions of the song and, in a 2006 interview, Harris expressed regret about the racist nature of the original lyrics.

Performances by Harris

Many parodies, variations, and versions tailored for different countries exist of the song, and Harris performs excerpts from some of them on a 1969 live album released only in the UK called ''Rolf Harris Live at the Talk of the Town'' (EMI Columbia SCX 6313). He recorded a version with

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

on 18 December 1963 for the BBC programme ''From Us To You Say The Beatles'' in which each Beatle is included in the lyrics: "Don't ill-treat me pet dingo, Ringo"; "George's guitar's on the blink, I think"; "Prop me up by the wall Paul"; "Keep the hits coming on, John". In the final verse, the stockman's tanned hide is used to replace Ringo's drumheads. It was broadcast on 26 December. Harris performed the song during the Opening Ceremony of the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, with a special verse of lyrics written for the event; they are as follows: :''Can I welcome you to the Games, friends,'' :''Welcome you to the Games,'' :''Look, I don't know all your names, friends,'' :''But let me welcome you all to the Games.''

References

External Links

* {{Authority control 1957 songs 1960 debut singles 1963 singles Rolf Harris songs Songs written by Rolf Harris Australian children's songs Novelty songs Race-related controversies in music Satirical songs Songs about mammals Songs about Australia Songs about death Australian country music songs Culture of Western Australia Columbia Graphophone Company singles Epic Records singles The Beatles bootleg recordings

The story of the song

Deleted verse

Performances by Harris

See also

References

External Links