Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
| "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Rolf Harris | |
| B-side | "The Big Black Hat" |
| Released | 1960 |
| Format | 7" single |
| Recorded | 1960 |
| Genre | Folk/Pop |
| Length | 3:03 |
| Label | Epic, EMI Columbia |
| Writer(s) | Rolf Harris |
"Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" is a song written by Australian singer Rolf Harris in 1957 which became a hit across the world in the 1960s in two recordings (1960 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for the original, and 1963 with a re-recording of his song in the United States). Inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypsos, it is about an on his deathbed. The song is one of the best-known and most successful Australian songs.
Harris originally offered four unknown Australian backing musicians 10% of the royalties 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 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 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 chart in 1963. Harris re-recorded his song a second time along with The Wiggles 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 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 opening recitation by Harris:
is similar to the first verse of a song, The Dying Stockman, collected by Banjo Paterson and published in 1905:
In Harris's version, a dying Australian stockman instructs his friends to take care of his affairs when he is gone. The first of these is to watch his wallabies feed, then to tie his kangaroo 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 cockatoos, koalas, platypuses, and didgeridoos. 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".
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