Eric Bogle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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, a title it was first given by The Fureys and subsequently used by The Men They Couldn't Hang, it has sometimes been covered as Flowers of the Forest.) In 1997, Tony Blair presented a Belfast girl who wrote to him about the Troubles with a framed copy of the lyrics to The Green Fields of France, calling it his favourite anti-war poem.
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, The Men They Couldn't Hang and The Clancy Brothers. And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda was covered by John McDermott, Mike Harding and The Pogues, and All the Fine Young Men was recorded by De Dannan. Recently, the Dropkick Murphys covered The Green Fields of France. Another well known Bogle song, Shelter, was covered by John Williamson on his album of great Australian anthems.
In 2000 a comprehensive five CD collection was released called "Singing The Spirit Home". In 2006 he undertook a lengthy UK tour accompanied by long term friend and collaborator John Munro.
Future plans include recording a new CD for release in 2008.
[edit] External links
- ericbogle.net NB* older versions of this site have been archived in PANDORA
