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Advance Australia Fair is the official national anthem of Australia, and it was composed by Peter Dodds McCormick in the late 19th century. It was first performed by Andrew Fairfax at a Highland Society function in Sydney on St Andrew's Day, ( 30 November, 1878). The song quickly gained popularity and an amended version was sung by a choir of 10,000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. In 1907, the Australian Government awarded McCormick £100 for its composition.It emerged as the most popular choice for the national anthem after an opinion poll in 1974 (the Australian Bureau of Statistics polled 60,000 nationally). It was also the subject of a National Song Poll in 1977, where it garnered 43.6% of the vote, as against Waltzing Matilda (28.5%), the Song Of Australia (9.7%), and the then-current national anthem God Save the Queen (18.7%).
On most occasions, only the first verse of the anthem is sung. This has led to the belief that most Australians do not know the second verse, and the anthem is sometimes comically recited with the first verse sung clearly, and the second verse mumbled.
The anthem, though sung with enthusiasm at national celebrations, is still regarded by many with mixed feelings and many older people still struggle with the words. Some of the lyrics are odd by modern standards, particularly the word "girt" (the past tense of the verbA verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action ("bring", "read"), occurrence ("to decompose" (itself), "to glitter"), or a state of being ("exist", "live", "soak", "stand"). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many fact "to gird") meaning 'encircled' or 'surrounded'; however, these longer words do not fit the music.
1 Historical notes
Before its adoption as Australia's national anthem, it saw considerable use elsewhere. For instance, during World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough, Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission used it to announce its news bulletins. It was also frequently played at the start or end of official functions.
It was adopted as the national anthem by a 1984This page is about the year 1984. For other uses of 1984, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday (link shows calendar). Events January January 1 Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 AT&T is broken up into 22 indepe decision of the LaborThe Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australia's oldest political party. It is so-named because of its origins in and close links to the trade union movement. While Australians normally spell Labour with an "-our" ending, in the name of the party it is sp government of Bob HawkeRobert James Lee Hawke (born December 9 1929), Australian trade union leader and politician, was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia. After a decade as leader of the Australian union movement, he entered politics and was Prime Minister within three years, although it required a proclamation by the Governor-GeneralThe Governor-General of Australia is the highest constitutional officer in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Governor-General is the representative in Australia of the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, who resides in the United Kingdom. for the decision to become official.
1.1 Alternatives
Other tunes that have gained recognition in the popular mind as patriotic songs include the pop ballad I Still Call Australia Home, by Peter Allen and the reggae-influenced rock song Down Under by band Men At Work. Also gaining popularity is We Are Australian by The Seekers.
