ABSTRACT

Eric Bogle's childhood was spent in a home with little in the way of luxury, run on an extremely tight budget, and steeped in the gritty ideologies of post-war Britain. In songs such as 'Singing the Spirit Home' Bogle homes in on the story, as told by Breyten Breytenbach, of a terrified young black South African being led away to his execution while his fellow inmates sing to give him courage in his final moments. Many of Bogle's songs reach beyond a single issue and so in compositions like 'Nothing worth saving' he encourages citizens to become engaged, to be active, but warns, 'For if something's worth saving, there is always a price.' Australia is clearly a place for which Bogle has deep respect but also grave concerns. At its best it is a place in which a dreamer can dream, a place of beauty and friends, and also of contemplation.