Aussie Christmas carols

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The other day I posted about my love of Christmas carols. Thanks to one of the comments left on that post, I realised I’ve never posted about our Aussie Christmas carols.

Australia has some Christmas carols which are our own, plus there are a couple of traditional carols we’ve reworded to make a little more applicable to an Aussie Christmas.

Six White Boomers:

Boomers = kangaroos / Joey = baby kangaroo / Marble Bar = central Aussie town

The Three Drovers:

Drover = a person who drives cattle/sheep over long distances on horseback

Twelve Days of Christmas: (the final verse to save time!)
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Twelve possums playing
Eleven numbats nagging
Ten wombats washing
Nine crocs a-snoozing
Eight dingoes digging
Seven koalas climbing
Six brolgas dancing
Five kangaroos
Four lyrebirds
Three jabirus
Two pink galahs
And a kookaburra in a gum tree

An Aussie Jingle Bells:
Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It’s Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Engine’s getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family’s there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.

(Chorus)

Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes ’round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.

(Chorus)

Thongs = footwear, flip flops / Holden = brand of car / ute = short for utility, similar to pick-up truck / esky = a portable insulated container for keeping food or drink cool / kelpie = breed of dog / swaggie = swagman = men who tramped the country side with their few possession in a swag on their back / shoot through = leave, typically to escape from or avoid someone or something (in this case the washing up)

Have you heard any of these before? Does your homeland have their own Christmas carols?

8 comments on “Aussie Christmas carols”

  1. Sue Bursztynski

    December 22, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    I am familiar with both those carols, yes, and am especially fond of Three Drovers, which must have been written a long time ago, because we learned it in primary school, and I am very middle-aged!

    The Carol Of The Birds is another one I like. It’s up on YouTube.

    Have a great festive season!

    • ajblythe

      December 23, 2020 at 7:02 am

      The Three Drovers is lovely and has a very traditional sound (we play it regularly as a Christmas piece in band). I’d forgotten about the Carol of the Birds!

      Have a wonderful one yourself, Sue.

  2. Giggling Fattie

    December 23, 2020 at 1:23 am

    Hehe so cute!!

  3. Jacqui Murray

    December 23, 2020 at 2:41 am

    Those were fun. Have a wonderful Christmas!

  4. Liz A.

    December 23, 2020 at 11:29 am

    Boomers has a very different meaning here. But I love your “12 Days of Christmas”. I’ve heard of different versions of that song, but I mostly know the traditional one. And, of course the one where on day one they got “a beer”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XS3KzviAmU

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