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

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

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 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

'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 or ...

for the song in 1960 (*Double bass played by Brian Bursey), but they decided to take a recording fee of £7 each 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"—a two-by-three-foot piece of hardboard. The recording peaked at No. 1 in the Australian chart and was a top 10 hit in the UK in 1960. In 1963, Harris re-recorded the song in the UK with George Martin 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 the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

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 song was used by the WWF in the late 1980s as the theme song of enhancement talent wrestler Outback Jack. Other versions were recorded by

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

(for her 1966 album '' Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door'') and by

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

. A version by the Brothers Four can be found on their CD ''The Brothers Four, Greatest Hits''. The song was also featured in a season 10 episode of the NBC sitcom '' Frasier'' titled “Farewell, Nervosa” and was sung by actor

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

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 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' 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’ feed, then to tie his

kangaroo Kangaroos are 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 species of parrots 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 t ...

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

s, platypuses, and

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

s. His last dying wish is " Tan 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 Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

. The lyrics of this verse (not found on 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 at his death because they are "of no further use" to him. Fellow Australian Horrie Dargie objected to this verse and when he released his cover version in May 1960 Dargie deliberately removed the offensive lyrics. Dargie's rendition reached No. 34 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

(back-calculated) Australian singles chart. Note: Chart positions back-calculated by Kent in 2005. This verse did not feature in Harris's 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. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

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 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, he removed all reference to aboriginals and explained, "It had no special overtones when it was written... a stockman was dying and he wanted his Aboriginal helpers to be released from their employment commitments." To replace it a special verse of lyrics was 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.''

Covers

The song has been covered by numerous artists over the years * Horrie Dargie, as a single, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" (1960) – Aus: No. 34 *

, on the album ''Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport'' * Slim Dusty, on the album ''Aussie Sing Song'' *

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...

, on the album ''Somewhere My Love'' * The Brothers Four, on the album ''The Big Folk Hits'' *

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...

, with Harris, on the album and video ''It's a Wiggly Wiggly World'' (The song was removed from all digital releases following Harris' conviction.) *

covered the song as a B-Side on their 1963 “From Us To You #1” EP The song was also referenced in the Australian horror movie '' Wolf Creek 2'' during the torture scene.

References

External links