Eric Bogle
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Eric Bogle (born 23 September, 1944) is a Scottish-born Australian singer and songwriter.
He was born in Peebles, Scotland, and emigrated to Australia in 1969. He currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia. Perhaps his best-known song, written in 1972, is And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, a haunting evocation of the ANZAC experience fighting in the Battle of Gallipoli; it has also been interpreted as a reaction to the Vietnam war.
His songs cover a wide range, including bright comic songs, satires (I Hate Wogs), protest songs and other serious considerations of the human condition. Some idea of the breadth of his work can be gained from the fact that another of his well-known songs is "The Aussie Bar-B-Q", a cheerful ditty about a completely different Australian institution. Bogle also wrote an homage to Stan Rogers, entitled Safe in the Harbour.
In a similar vein to And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, his song No Man's Land refers to the old Scottish song Flowers of the Forest being played over the grave of a World War I soldier. (Bogle is also on record as calling the song The Green Fields of France, and it has sometimes been covered as Flowers of the Forest.)
On the lighter end of the scale, other well-known songs include two homages to departed pets, Little Gomez and Nobody's Moggy Now, and his homage/diatribe to his folk music fans, Do You Know Any Dylan?.
Many of his songs have been extensively covered by other artists, particularly those in an anti-war vein. And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and No Man's Land both gained fame in versions by June Tabor and The Clancy Brothers.
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda was covered by John McDermott and The Pogues, and All the Fine Young Men was recorded by De Dannan. Recently, the Dropkick Murphys covered The Green Fields of France.
External links
- [link] Eric Bogle - NB* older versions of this site have been [archived in PANDORA]
- [link] Lyrics for various songs
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