James Barr (composer) James Barr (composer) James Barr (1779–1860) was a Scottish composer who composed the tune which inspired the tune now used for the Australian traditional song "Waltzing Matilda." Born in Tarbolton in South Ayrshire, Barr taught music and worked for a publisher in Glasgow. Barr set several poems by his friend Robert Tannahill to music. According to Christina Macpherson, "Waltzing Matilda" was created in the sitting room of Dagworth Station in January 1895 with the help of a young solicitor and poet, "Banjo" Paterson. Tannahill wrote the words in 1805 and in 1818 Barr set them to music, possibly based on
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (Good Charlotte song) the global obsession with fame and the way that celebrities are not appreciative of how fortunate they are. The song has references to a number of celebrities within the lyrics. Johnnie Cochran, a famous attorney who represented (amongst others) stars such as O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown. He is mentioned in the lines ""Well did you know when you're famous you could kill your wife / and there's no such thing as 25 to life / as long as you got the cash to pay for Cochran"." A former mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion