Australians love a good controversy – so one should not be surprised that a favorite children’s song, sung in English-speaking countries ’round the world, has come under fire for the use of the word “gay.”
The 75-year old song, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” was penned back when gay meant happy, but that’s no longer always the case. And now a primary school in Victoria has insisted on changing the line “Gay your life must be” to “Fun your life must be.”
According to the Sun Herald, the school principal was listening to an old tape of the song when the word “gay” suddenly sounded shocking in this day and age.
“…I just suggested to kids, ‘Nowadays that [gay] can mean different things, so let’s just sing a fun old time’,” he said. According to the principal “some children use the word ‘gay’ to bully others without knowing the meaning of the expression.”
The principal has inserted the word “fun” where the word “gay” used to be, but the controversy does not end there. Again, according to the Sun Herald, Crusader Hillis, from the gay and lesbian advocacy group the Also Foundation, said the ban was absurd.
“Kids in schoolgrounds say ‘That’s so gay’ and that’s all fine. That’s just the way that language is,” he said.
Mr Hillis said that banning words because they had multiple meanings was wrong.
“I don’t think that’s a very good message for kids to have, particularly when they’ve been working really hard to bring in respect and diversity into schools,” he said.
“They’re drawing attention to it and being a bit stupid”.
Ouch. That’s another name we shouldn’t call people on the playground.
Meanwhile, just to stir up a little more controversy, it’s been pointed out that the principal’s changing of the lyrics is a copyright breach. At this point, however, Larrikin Music, which holds the copyright, is not going to sue. This might be because the company is currently still in court with rock band Men at Work, who the company claims infringed the copyright of the Kookaburra song by including a riff in the early ’80s hit “Down Under”.
Source: Sun Herald, “School Changes Words in Song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.”
Kathy Drasky regularly writes about online culture. Her marketing and communications work with the ANZA Technology Network, Advance Global Australians and with various Australians and Australian enterprises has led to at least a dozen trips Down Under.
An accomplished digital photographer, her photos have appeared in 7×7 Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Google Schmap.
