Thanks for watching me, a humble American, react to GANGgajang - Sounds Of Then. Fun, cool song! Thanks for subscribing for more Australian reactions every weekday!
This song is an Aussie classic from approx 1986. The lead singer is singing about migrating from Britain to Australia with his family as a child, and the unfamiliar sounds & smells of country Queensland where they settled.
I lived in late 1960's Queensland when 10, 11 and 12 yrs and I remember the long lush deep emerald grass, the powerfull tropical thunderstorms that turned the clouds greenish grey and the strong smell of brimstone which I have never smelled with storms in any other state. The granite in the ground often brought loud ear splitting brighter than day lightning strikes to the ground in the paddock in front of our house. A tree was hit and split 80 metres from our front door and it was struck again 2 years later which finished it off. Livestock was often struck too. A poor elderly man was struck at the local bowling green and all that was left of him was a shadow of ash and bone and his leather shoes and hat band. The thunder was always magnificent and sounded to me, as a kid, like God dropping and endlessly scraping giant furniture across the clouds. It started with a bomb drop vibe and the glass louvre windows and crockery rattled and then it rolled on and on and on as though it was stampeding into the distance. The static in and around you felt buzzy around the skin and hair. Rain would throw down in bucketfulls but even if you were out of it in a dry house your clothes would still be sticking to skin with sweat in the humidity. So it idefinitely is a Queensland feeling that these storms are alive and vindictive. We weren't even living in the far north sugar cane growing region which is closer to the Indonesian monsoons.
The other songs you've been listening to are patriotic Ballard's. In the 80s every pub had a band playing every night of the week. So dozens of bands honed their skills and became good and made the distinctive ozrock sound. You have heard it in bands like hoodoo gurus, mental as anything. Angels, ACDC, men at work, icehouse ,Goanna, Australian crawl, lots more
They wrote this song whilst watching the sugarcane burning from a verandah in Bundaberg. QLD Ty for showing us our Country, you rock . I really enjoy your channel.
I love this song! Totally identify with it. I live in a humid climate with loads of lightning storms, and I also overlook cane fields. When it came out I felt like it could have been written about my town 😄
@@franbradford1182 Sorry to explode the urban myth, Jimmy didn't write it, nor did any Australian. The song had been a great success in the US, they decided to not release the US version in Australia but get Jimmy to make it kind of an Australian song. One of the early music videos for "Working Class Man" used some of the footage from the US music video showing a foundry as well as some of the burning cane fields footage after that with Jimmy. I guess the record company was cutting costs on video production. It did look rather weird as many could tell the foundry wasn't Australian. They later re-did the video to remove the US footage and just use footage shot in Australia only, I presume because coughing up the money wasn't a problem once it became a mega hit in Australia.
I first saw Gangajang live in the mid 80's when I went to a Midnight Oil concert in Rockhampton (Queensland) and were their supporting band. They were promoting their new album and played this song. They were so good I went out and bought the album the following Monday. I still have that album........
YESSSS !!! You have to have lived in Queensland to get some of this song with the sweat, breathing the humidity and lightning cracking over cane fields. I have loved this since it first came out!
You need to listen to Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil, the lead singer (Peter Garret) became an Australian Politician - he has some crazy dance moves😂
Icehouse Band Icehouse are a rock band from Sydney, formed in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in Australia for their pub-rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new-wave and synthpop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people. Davies and Icehouse extended the use of synthesizers particularly the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Linn drum machine and Fairlight CMI in Australian popular music. Their best-known singles on the Australian charts included "Great Southern Land", "Hey Little Girl", "Crazy", "Electric Blue" and "My Obsession"; with Top Three albums being Icehouse, Primitive Man and Man of Colours.Wikipedia Also known as: Flowers (1977-1980), Iva Davies & Icehouse Origin: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Genres: Rock, new wave, synth-pop Years active: 1977-present
Great Southern Land IS Australia's national anthem (unofficially) :) Hey Ryan if you want to watch an Aussie movie with awesome music watch "Young Einstein" with Yahoo Serious.
We here in Australia have our own sound and genre. This is famously called Aussie Pub Rock. Generally songs that fit in a chill Drinking environment where you can play pool or throw some darts will be considered Pub Rock. Also to note, And I could be wrong but it originated because of the culture of Bands that were hired to come down to pubs and play. It became a Cultural phenomenon and is still common today, this would later created the genre of Pub Rock.
Thanks, Ryan, for this song (released in 1985)... the same year as my fourth child was born. Brings back so many memories. Really appreciate you celebrating Aussie music, comedians etc. (BTW, jang is pronounced with a 'hard' J sound, as in Jack). Congrats on the birth of you and your wife's cute little baby boy ! 🎆 All the best from 'Down Under' 💙
I think i was about 19 when this song came out, i haven't heard this song for a long time it brings back some good time memories 👍😁. Ryan you should have a listen to MIDNIGHT OIL the 2 songs i suggest are "Beds Are Burning" & "US Forces" interesting Australian band.
Yep. The thick humid air & that distinctive smell of the soil & the cane as you drove up north from Townsville to Cairns. Doesn't matter how long you're away, it's one of those childhood memories that stays with you.
Love this song 💖 I first heard it one sweltering summer afternoon and thought 'Wow how appropriate' lol "Out on the patio we sit, and the humidity we breathe, we'd watch the lightning crack over canefields, laugh and think this is Aus-tral-ia" 😆 (Full lyrics below) I think I hear the sounds of then And people talking The scenes recalled, by minute movement And songs they fall, from the backing tape That certain texture, that certain beat To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets In brick veneer on financed beds In a room, of silent hardiflex That certain texture, that certain smell Brings forth the heavy days Brings forth the the night time swell Out on the patio we'd sit And the humidity we'd breathe We watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think, this is Australia The block is awkward - it faces west With long diagonals, and sloping too And in the distance, through the heat haze In convoys of silence the cattle graze That certain texture, that certain smell Brings forth the night time sweat Out on the patio we'd sit And the humidity we'd breathe We watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think that this is Australia To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets In brick veneer on financed beds In a room of silent hardiflex That certain texture, that certain beat Brings forth the heavy days Brings forth the night time heat Out on the patio we'd sit And the humidity we'd breathe We watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think, this is Australia
AWWE Sweet Ryan 💕 you bring Joy, to us All. I Honestly Think, Any Australian, would Accept you as there Go Too/Front Man. I do, & I believe many Aussies would also! You have the Personality, we connect with. 💯👍👍
Grace, yep, Tim Minchen's 'Prejudice' song! Great minds think alike... you just beat me to it :) Cannot wait to see Ryan's facial expressions as it dawns on him... as with all of us :/ 🤣🙃
Damn, great to hear this song again, and thanks for all the hilarious reactions to Aussie stuff (and 'Aussie' stuff!). If you happen to be taking suggestions for classic Aussie songs to react to, then may I recommend John Farnham's 'You're the Voice' (classic Australian rallying cry), or Cold Chisel's 'Flame Trees' (about a bloke having mixed feelings about returning to his hometown), 'Bow River' (about a bloke who's desperate to be back in his hometown) and 'Khe San' (about a Vietnam War veteran, and really controversial when it was released). Really, anything by Cold Chisel! Crowded House's 'Hole in the River' (sad but gives you shivers); pretty much anything by Midnight Oil, but especially 'Beds Are Burning' (Aboriginal rights protest song); Paul Kelly''s 'Leaps and Bounds' (homesickness for Melbourne while in Sydney) and 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' (Aboriginal rights protest song and a history lesson all in one). Also Bernard Fanning's 'Wish You Well' (most cheerful breakup song ever); Hunter's and Collectors' 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' (which was covered by Pearl Jam!), Powderfinger's 'These Days' (another chills down the spine song for me), 'Dancing in the Storm' by Boom Crash Opera (incredibly energising), and 'Solid Rock' by Goanna (another great Aboriginal rights protest song). There are tons more; I could go on forever (and it probably seems like I have already! :oD ). As far as I know none of these songs really made it to the US, but apologies if you've already heard of them. If you haven't they're all worth a listen, with an audience or without.
These guys are still performing I was at a concert in Perth in 2017 and they did this song twice the second time they had a didgeridoo included and it was fantastic. I was treated to a VIP TICKET BY MY HUSBAND AND GOT TO MEET THEM ALL AND GET SELFIES WITH THEM it was a fantastic night out 🎉
At The Astor theatre ? I was there & VIP so backstage with Cal, Buzz etc. After we lost bass player & founding member of the Gang, Chris Bailey of course. RIP Bails, a true gentleman in every sense on the word.
You should check out a song by Archie Roach - Took The Children Away from 1990. He was an indigenous Australian and part of the Stolen Generations, a long and shameful period in Australian history. He sadly passed away a few months ago.
If you wanna watch an Aussie Icon. Best voice on the planet listen to any live version of John Farnham. The Voice of Australia. (Pronounced Farnem) he is the GOAT. ❤️🇦🇺
Thanks Ryan, just love this song, living in North Queensland sure know the humidity and the acres of Canefields. It’s pretty spectacular when u get to see them burning. Check out Graeme Conners, Cyclone Season, Let the Canefields Burn. Great singer from Mackay QLD.
@@starlightshimmery I had a powder blue ghetto blaster. My parents say they still have it! I want it back. It was the best way to make tapes for your friends!
Ryan, have you caught up with iconic Aussie Rock band “Cold Chisel”. Lead singer is Jimmy Barnes who is loved by just about every Aussie, however he takes a back seat to Ian Moss in this song. It’s about wasting your time working in a factory in the city but longing to be in Bow River which is in northern Western Australia ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TdVRNDnTKTU.html
Such an iconic Aussie 80s sound, you need to do some more great Aussie music. From back then up to now. An absolute must is ACDC to see our Aussie Rock. We have so many iconic songs and music artists.
Some great suggestions here and what a reminder of the incredible talent Australia has. Ryan my suggestion would be the band Goanna and their song Solid Rock. Great music but more importantly profound lyrics that give Aussies goosebumps. A very powerful and moving song. and to make it even more special it includes music from our First Nations people and their unique instruments. Really worth a listen.
Next, you need to check out the song True Blue by John Williamson. Find the lyric version on his RU-vid Channel. The photos in the clip were submitted by Australians, as a picture of what Australia represented to them personally. When you get to the old bush man with his dog having a beer with a sign that says Office, that's my old mate Wazza who owns Platypus Bushcamp in the rainforest of Eungella, Finch Hatton Gorge, not far from Mackay in Queensland. The video you need to watch for this one is: John Williamson - True Blue (Lyric Video) which is on the John Williamson TV RU-vid channel.
wow, didn't this bring back memories!! thx Ryan for playing this. Loved your reaction to the music, the theme and the way it was played. Loved the Pub Rock sound.
Hahaha to be in the outback takes a long, very long, no bloody long drive to get there... hahahaha... Thanks for making me bring me back to me childhood with this song... Ya made head move around to it also~ Ü
Queensland specifically. Cane fields, humidity, heavy rain at night as the electrical storms roll in. As a kid I used to spend my summers in Rockhampton with my grandparents. Dodging cyclone season to get home. Must be similar in the US Gulf Coast states.
This song was written when the band were in Bundaberg, my home town. It really is fantastic to listen to as your driving around the same areas that they are singing about.
This takes me back, I was 18 when this came out. Great song, thanks for reacting Ryan 😊 Please check out "Great Southern Land" by Icehouse, another Australian band & awesome song, I think you'll like it 💕
Bed are Burning you should listen to. Check out the lead singer dance style. This bloke went on a to a minister in federal Government. Now got the band back together and touring again.
Hey Ryan, Check out Midnight Oil,Power and Passion, Beds are Burning songs. Cold Chisel and Jimmy Barnes. AC/DC, they got together in Adelaide, in the 70's. They are iconic Australian Bands. Cheers Adam
Hi Ryan, for a really Iconic Aussie song, try "I was only 19" by the band Red Gum. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mGDhzVi1bqU.html It is a song written about the ANZAC soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war. Chills every Aussie and New Zealander, every time we hear it. I'd love to get your reaction
It wasn't about ANZAC soldiers, it was about Australian soldiers. There were New Zealanders in Vietnam & we worked very closely with them & were supported by them (161 New Zealand artillery battery), but they were not involve in this incident. This is based on a 6RAR incident. 2RAR & 4RAR were the ANZAC battalions, in Vietnam. I know, I was there. Do your homework. Dennis.
G'day Ryan. This song came out in 85 when I was in my last year of high school (secondary school). This is a classic song and I love it. I grew up in North Queensland in a town called Tully, which is famous for its high rainfall. I think the average annual rainfall is about 4.6 metres, which is a little over 15 feet. I grew up watching storms coming over cane fields (sugar cane) and my first job out of school was as an apprentice electrician in the local sugar mill. When I was young the local farms would burn the cane fields before harvesting. They don't do this anymore because it reduces the sugar content of the cane. The reason it was burned in the old days was that the cane was cut by hand, and burning killed all the rats and snakes in the field. However, this is a spectacular sight and I would highly recommend you search for a sugar cane fire video. It's not unique to Australia, but majestic anyhow.
Yep..Out on the patio we sit.. And the humidity we breathe...we Watch the lightning crack over canefíelds, and laugh and think this is Australia. ♥️♥️ I grew up on canefíelds in tropical north Queensland. ♥️♥️
There's nuthin like sitting on a patio (verandah) watching lighting strike over the sugar cane fields and listening to the cars driving over the cattle grates... With a XXXX or now a Great Northern...
We were certainly spoilt with every genre of music that exists. Australian bands ramped out everything from rock to ballads. Everyone's taste was catered for. Sure we went through the 50's with rock and roll. Then 60's the surfer's sounds and more faster with Stevie Wright and the Easy Beats. Johnny O'Keefe what a legend, Daddy Cool who could forget the smooth sound to Eagle Rock a song still close to many and The Master's Apprentice's all rocked on, who could forget ! Then the '70's highlighted the disco era. Axiom, Split Enz, Normie Rowe and Split Enz. Not forgetting Johnny Farnham climbing up the ladder. Still in the background was Aussie bands testing out the pub crowds with their hopeful hit's. Most making their bands part of the Australian Music scene entertainment heaven and the rest is history ! Australia made it's mark on the world. The world was hearing us from "Down Under" and loving it !!!!!
I Love this song! Another couple to try one day is GRAHAM CONNERS " Let The Canefields Burn" ,"Cyclone Season", " A Little Further North Each Year" ( I love >) "Sicilian Born"
Happy Arvo! This is so iconic! It’s my youth. Getting up early on Sunday morning to watch the Top 100 on “Rage” on “Aunty”. I highly recommend watching John Farnham, “You’re The Voice” LIVE. John Farnham IS “The Voice”. He’s just undergone major surgery on his mouth. I wish him all the best.
80s Aussie classic songs you have to hear. Soul Kinda Feeling by Dynamic Heptonics. Electric Blue by Icehouse. Live it up by Mental as Anything. RU-vid will send you down the right path if you look these up.
It is my understand that to get that guitar sound they got Reg Mombassa (real name Christopher O’Doherty, - born in New Zealand) who was the lead guitarist for the Australian band Mental As Anything.
That takes me back. Summer of ‘93. Cruising down the road on the south coast of NSW in an old EJ Holden station wagon with that skinny blonde in the passenger seat I was gunna ‘get to know’ for the first time. She was rockin’ out to this while the lightning flashed out at sea. I can still smell the sea air, feel the breeze on my face and remember the anticipation of what we were gonna do in the back. 😅
I really love your reactions to Aussie content, Ryan, and it's great to hear how perfectly you understood the tone of this song too - I feel like you have a bit of the Aussie spirit in you, maybe. :) Aussie pub rock is a rabbit hole you should really go down - I swear Aussie rock of the past has the most unique and iconic sound due to our country's situation somewhat isolated from the rest of the world (makes us fiercely proud of what we have, and willing to stick together and help each other out), there's never been anything quite like it. It also really encompasses the general Aussie spirit - free of unnecessary frills while being honest and down-to-earth. I find it can be a refuge from the complexity and BS of the modern world. Anyway, please listen to more when you get the chance! Maybe some Midnight Oil (a huge activist group of the 80s - 'Beds are Burning' and 'Forgotten Years' are two great choices (the second one is one of my absolute favourites - with a message anyone can take to heart), INXS ('Never Tear Us Apart', 'Suicide Blonde'), John Farnham (who has fantastic live performances - he's a national treasure), Jimmy Barnes/Cold Chisel (many good choices from them). In fact, Farnham and Barnes did a great song with guitarist Jimmy Diesel called 'When Something Is Wrong With My Baby' that's REALLY worth checking out! Other people have mentioned some great options too! Oh! I remembered you asked for links. Here are three: John Farnham - You're the Voice (live): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6m2m_9Uijso.html Midnight Oil - Forgotten Years: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-X9eap_cKLP4.html When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Farnham, Barnes (you can also find a live - 2nd video in the search - which is also good): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ihsfx1LuoKc.html Never Tear Us Apart - INXS: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_VU9DjQpvMQ.html
Im a new sub from Melbourne. Really enjoying your reactions. Im like you but I love southern states of USA rather than Australia. This was one good song for Australia. Maybe check out The Tenants You Sh** Me to Tears song 😂 oh and Great Southern Land by Icehouse
I’m glad I found you look up home among the gum trees by John Williamson he is a well known Aussie singer he also sings true blue. Which is another song which is about mateship which us Aussie stand by he sings on Australia Day on TV 📺. He has a real Aussie accent thick he is a real Aussie story teller also. When I traveled the world this song so reminded me of home. Starya or men at work 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
80s music in Australia and the UK was outstanding. I agree. Check out Great Southern Land by Icehouse. Oh, you don’t need to go to the outback. Anywhere outside of a city is still great driving with windows down and music full tilt.
Hey Ryan, Ozzies love their music. Here are some suggestions. Paul Kelly, how to make gravy (Australian Xmas song) The Go Betweens, streets of your town The Radiators, Comin Home Cat Empire hello Australian Crawl, reckless The Whitlams, I make hamburgers I hope this will get a collection together for you. Cheers Adam
One of my fave lyrics ... "The block is awkward - it faces west, With long diagonals, sloping too." Apparently they actually built on it - probably with "silent hardiflex" or "brick veneer" 😍
As someone who lived in a house that faces west, I can confirm that is the worst config for an Aussie house. Hot as hell in Summer & freezing in winter. This song is basically if you turned an Aussie Summer into a song. Our summer is over Xmas, & the long school holidays are slow & 'heavy' like the song says.
@@scattysafari7742depends where you live mate. In Western Australia facing east or north is the worst. Especially in summer. We're just onto our 3rd consecutive day of 45C 😂.
Yes it's a banger like you You need to find the one with film clip shows you what he singing about It's working up in tropical part of Australia 🇦🇺 QLD out in cane fields they set fire to them to crystal's the sugar and safer for the worker as all the snakes and other deadly animals leave during the fire then get cut and processed It's a cool video I'd call it a type of funk music 🎶 Cheers mate your a good bloke from what I can see Also hi miss Ryan if your reading thanks for sharing you other half with us hope to,see you one day I'm guessing you the strong woman behind the man to make him better
I think I hear the sounds of then, And people talking, The scenes recalled, by minute movement, And songs they fall, from the backing tape. That certain texture, that certain smell, To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets, In brick veneer on financed beds. In a room, of silent hardiflex That certain texture, that certain smell, Brings home the heavy days, Brings home the the night time swell, Out on the patio we'd sit, And the humidity we'd breathe, We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think, this is Australia. The block is awkward - it faces west, With long diagonals, sloping too. And in the distance, through the heat haze, In convoys of silence the cattle graze. That certain texture, that certain beat, Brings forth the night time heat. Out on the patio we'd sit, And the humidity we'd breathe, We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think that this is Australia. To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets, In brick veneer on financed beds. In a room of silent hardiflex That certain texture, that certain smell, Brings forth the heavy days, Brings forth the night time sweat Out on the patio we'd sit, And the humidity we'd breathe, We'd watch the lightning crack over canefields Laugh and think, this is Australia. This is Australia etc.. Source: LyricFind
