Australian country music link Australia's vast distances. Isolation and loneliness of life in the Australian bush has been another theme. For much of its history, Australia's bush music belonged to an oral and folkloric tradition, and was only later published in print in volumes such as Banjo Paterson's "Old Bush Songs", in the 1890s. Waltzing Matilda, often regarded as Australia's unofficial National anthem, is a quintessential early Australian country song, influenced more by Celtic folk ballads than by American Country and Western music. The lyrics were composed by the poet Banjo Paterson in 1895. This strain of Australian country music, with lyrics focusing
The Axis of Awesome song "Waltzing Matilda" and "Down Under" by the Australian band Men at Work. The medley usually starts with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". The song always concludes with the chorus of "Scar" (by Missy Higgins), except with the final line changed from "Could you leave me with a scar?" to "That's all it takes to be a star" (referring to the four chords themselves). On 20 July 2011, the Axis of Awesome released an official music video for "Four Chords" on their YouTube channel. Songs in the official music video: Other songs that have been played in the medley: The Axis