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The Queensland versionThe Queensland version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ has a different tune to the Macpherson/Cowan version. It retains almost the exact words of the original Banjo Paterson poem, notated by Christina Macpherson, that appeared in Paterson’s Saltbush Bill J.P. and Other Verses (Angus and Robertson, 1917) (view image). The ‘Queensland tune’ or version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ exists with several minor variations: the main variants are the Cloncurry variant from the north of the state, and the Buderim (or O’Neill) variant in the south-east corner of the state. In oral music traditions, tunes and texts normally remain connected but it is not uncommon for the same words to circulate with different or significantly varied tunes. Typically, too, minor variants of words and music occur as the song is learned and passed on from one person to another, preserved by memory or practice rather than in the written record, and recreated from generation to generation. In this context, ‘Waltzing Matilda’ passed into popular folklore early in its history, probably with different versions of the tune. |
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