Give me a home among the gum trees / With lots of plum trees / A sheep or two, a kangaroo / A clothesline out the back / Verandah out the front / And an old rocking chair.
Yes, my trip to Australia has drawn to a close, but I do take those memories home with me. I also bring back some of the wonderful country’s culture. Our tour guide in the Northern Territory taught us a few of these songs, in addition to showing us around the Australian Outback. And one of those songs was “Home Among the Gum Trees” by John Williamson.
Williamson is a country music singer and songwriter from Australia, releasing over 32 albums over the course of his career. He has also earned many accolades, including 33 Golden Guitar Awards at the Country Music Awards of Australia. To date, more than two million of his albums have sold in Australia. “Home Among the Gum Trees” is likely one of his better known titles and that might have to do with the accompanying dance, which we also learned on our trip. The video below is a pretty good demonstration of the goofy dance.
A simple life in the Outback might be for some people, but I’m a city boy with a preference for complexity and existential concerns. As an aside, you may be more familiar with the term eucalyptus, as those are the trees that make up the entirety of a koala‘s diet. Many eucalyptus trees are gum trees, named as such because any break in the bark causes an outpouring of a lot of sap.
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