Comments: 11

• Tomotou from Nsw Australiathese lyrics are not complete - in this song the word 'abo' is sung - as Australians would know, this is an abbreviation for aborigine - but this abbreviation is considered rude or condescending - so was left out of this transcript of this song's lyrics. However, I think it is just a matter of being 'politically correct' The way I see it is that Australians are renowned for abbreviating so many words I see this as just another instance of them doing this without a condescending intent or malice - just another abbreviation.
• Maverick from Namur BelgiumLove your songs and lyrics. These take me back to funny happy good times, so thanks mates.
  José Stouffs.
• Carmel Vella from Los AngelesLoved this song when it came out.
• Lance, Wny from Western New YorkAlternatively, let’s include the Sheila’s, too:
  
  Furlough me jackaroos, Rose,
  Furlough me jackaroos.
  They’re each one a decent bloke, so heck,
  Cut ‘em each a sev’rance check.
  
  Or how about:
  
  Lay off me jackaroos, Suze,
  Lay off me jackaroos.
  Send each one off with a pat ... on the back,
  And a top-shelf bottle o’ booze.
  
  How’re the jackaroos feelin’, Sheila,
  How are they all feelin’?
  Not so sad after a few coldies, Goldie,
  That’s how they’ll be feelin’.
  
• Lance from Western New YorkThe deleted verse could be reprised without being racially offensive by substituting, “jackaroos”:
  
  Cut me jackaroos loose, Lou
  Or
  Let me jackaroos loose, Lou
  Let me jackaroos loose.
  If they’d be of use to any of you,
  Put them back in the queue.
  
  Or just substitute, “jackaroos”, for the offensive term.
• Linda from Fort MohaveI can remember my dad singing to me this song as early as the late 1950's. It is my pleasure to sing this song to my babies grand. Xoxoxo
• Eddie from Braselton, GeorgiaI remembered a lyric not shown here and did some research.
  Let me Abos go loose, Lou
  Let me Abos go loose:
  They're of no further use, Lou
  So let me Abos go loose.
  Turns out Abos is short for Aboriginals and many took it as racist, so it has been removed in later versions.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn June 2nd 1963, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" by Rolf Harris entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #88; and on July 7th it peaked at #3 (for 1 week) and spent 11 weeks on the Top 100 (and for 5 of those 11 weeks it was on the Top 10)...
  The week it was at #3, the #1 record was "Easier Said Than Done" by the Essex and #2 was "Surf City" by Jan and Dean...
  And three years earlier on June 11th, 1960 it reached #1 (for 3 weeks) on the Australian Kent Music Report chart...
  He had two other records make the Top 100 chart; "Sun Arise" (peaked at #61 in 1963) and "Nick Teen and Al K. Hall" (it reached #95 in its one week on the chart)...
  Mr. Harris celebrated his 84th birthday three months ago on March 30th, 2014.
• Jas from Clifton, TxI try not to overthink this song or songs like it, if there's anything in the world like this one, too much. I once had a conversation with a guy who spent two hours explaining to me how this was really a hugely symbolic, deep, intense song that most of us normal people weren't complex enough to understand. He wasn't from Australia and he had never been to Australia, he was from New Jersey. Then when I was in the Special Forces I had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time in Australia. I went to a charity event in Canberra, ACT, and Mr. Harris was in attendance, so I asked. He's really a very pleasant guy, not at all what I expected out of a man with his credentials. We talked more about his art than the song because I figured it was way past the time where he was tired of answering questions about something he did in 1960. But, he did offer me this bit of information on his song, I'll never forget because he kept calling me "Guy," not "mate," not some other cool Australian sounding name (dingo, I wanted to be called dingo!). Mr. Harris was talking about the way people perceive things and read into them and on this song he said, "You know guy, they take that silly bit about kangaroos and run amuck with it. Blows my mind really. It's about an old cattle man, that would be all. They do that with paintings too, guy. You paint a flower and they muck it up and they want to know what the flower is thinking. I say to them guy, I dunno, it's just being a flower I guess." I don't know if I can get in trouble for quoting somebody like that or not, so there you have it. But when the man himself says its just a song about a guy who evidently owns cows and other pets who happens to be dying, I guess that means that it's just a funny little song about a guy who owns cows and other pets who happens to be dying. Bob, I can't really tell if you're being serious or if you said that as a joke, but he said it's just a simple song about a guy who owns cows and other pets. He threw in a bunch of Australian references that people from outside Australia would be able to identify and put them in a pattern that sounded fun. That's just it. We spend so much time trying to figure out what the flower is thinking that we never actually consider that it might just be a flower and nothing else. But, I guess he would appreciate the attention to his art.
• Bob from Matamata, New ZealandThis song is massive, if you read between the lines you can really see where Rolf is coming from. Deep, dark, brooding almost foreboding.....I only wish Metallica would do a cover, could you imagine a distorted electric wobble board patched through a wah wah peddal.... heavy man very heavy.
• Mark from Lancaster, OhSo _that's_ where that sound came from. My life is fulfilled at last.
  
  Australian calypso???

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