A bit of patriotism

I'm totally indifferent to sport, don't know and don't care about the rules of rugby, but I do want the Kiwis to beat the Aussies.  

If I was an Aussie I'd post a clip of that great song, Waltzing Matilda.  We haven't got an equivalent in New Zealand -nothing so popular or so lovely.  But here's a New Zealand folk song, Down the Hall on Saturday Night.  The swagman is dead but the dance at the local hall probably still exists in some form.

 

I got a new brown sports-coat,
I got a new pair of grey strides,
I got a real Kiwi haircut,
A bit off the top, an' short back and sides.

Soon as I've tied up me guri,
Soon as I've swept out the yard,
Soon as I've hosed down me gumboots,
I'll be living it high and hitting it hard.
 
I'm gonna climb onto me tractor,
Gonna belt 'er out of the gate,
'Cause there's a hop on down at the hall, and
She starts sharp somewhere 'bout 1/2 past 8.

Look at the sheilas cutting the supper
Look at the kids sliding over the floor
An' look at the great big bunch of jokers
Hanging 'round the door.
 
. . . .

Yeah, it's great being out with the jokers
When the jokers are sparking and bright,
And it's great giving cheek to the sheilas
Down the hall on Saturday night

God, listen to that and I'm in the memorial hall - a white weatherboard building with a pitched red corrugated iron roof, I'm one of the kids sliding on the french chalked floor, my Dad, who was a good dancer, is waltzing and fox-trotting.  The entry was Ladies a plate (pavlova, sandwiches, sausage rolls, asparagus rolls), men 2/6.  The boys who had left school would be round the back drinking beer and snogging some of the girls in the car park.

The video is shot in Taranaki with Mount Egmont, looking like Mount Fuji in the background - you expect in the foreground there should be an exquisite Japanese ancient culture, not the cheerful rough-and-readiness of pioneers.

Comments

[Gareth]

Lovely post, Rosie. I felt I was in that hall too! I hope the Kiwis do well on Saturday.

[Faster Pussycat Miaow Miaow Miaow!]

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