Spirit of the Anzacs

Annotation — Australian & New Zealand Songs

Country artist, born 15 April 1964 in Corryong, Victoria, Australia. He released this album (ABC Music # 0602547172938) to mark the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli during the First World War.1 It largely contained songs about the First World War and Second World War, but also Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. The songs referencing the Vietnam conflict were "Spirit of the Anzacs", "Tell Carmelita", and "The Unbearable Price of War". The deluxe edition of the album came with a cover of "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", originally released by Redgum (1983), composed by John Schumann. For the title song "Spirit of the Anzacs", Kernaghan joined forces with Australian-based artists Guy Sebastian, Sheppard, Jon Stevens, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll, and Meg Washington, for the release of a charity single. The song was a patriotic tribute which referenced several wars and roles. In the case of Vietnam, it focused on the nurses: "she's a nurse in Vietnam... she's all of them, she's one of us... the spirit of the Anzacs". The song "Tell Carmelita" was narrated from the perspective of a soldier in Vietnam, missing his sweetheart, centred around the famous and iconic Battle of Long Tan that took place on 18 August 1966. A small number, approximately 108 Australian and New Zealand servicemen, defended their position against a force of around 2,500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars, possibly preventing an attack against Nui Dat, the base of the 1st Australian Task Force23: "you've already heard about Long Tan, we stumbled on some VC on patrol". During the attack he hoped that he would return to Australia: "I wish I was there, Camelita beside me. The song "The Unbearable Price of War", a duet with Lisa McCune, kicked-off with helicopter sound-effects, and a soldier writing to his parents from "Vung Tau, at the Australian field hospital", after his APC (a tank) drove over a mine: "I'm lucky to be alive". The narration then moved to a female working at the hospital writing to her parents that it's worse than she thought: "the triage, the chaos, the blood and khaki". Sources1Wikipedia: Spirit of the Anzacs (album)↩2historynet.com: Battle of long tan how australians and new zealanders beat odds↩3Wikipedia: Battle of Long Tan↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: He's a drover drifting over Western plains / He's a city lad, a clark down Flinder's Lane / They're in the trenches at Lone Pine / And on the Flander's firing line / A willing band of ordinary men / He's all of them / He's one of us / Born beneath the Southern Cross / Side by side / We say with pride / He is all of them / He is one of us / He's a pilot on a midnight bombing raid / He's an Able Seaman on the Armidale / She's a nurse in Vietnam / They're on patrol in Uruzgan / Sons and daughters rising to the call / She's all of them / She's one of us... / The spirit of the Anzacs / Proud and strong / Spirit of the Anzacs / Will live on and on and on...

Notes

Charity single marking the Anzac centenary; one line on a nurse in Vietnam.

About the artist

Lee Kernaghan - country singer born 15 April 1964 in Corryong, Victoria.

Themes

Patriotic · Nurses · WW1 · WW2 · Afghanistan · Gallipoli

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs