Australia has never been short of rock songs that have been adopted as de facto national anthems, from Men At Work’s iconic ‘Land Down Under’, to tunes like ‘You’re The Voice’ by Farnesy of ‘Working Class Man’ by Barnesy.
But bona fide (almost) Australian Idol, Shannon ‘Nollsie’ Noll, reckons it’s been far too long between drinks when it comes to world-shaking rock songs that capture the pride he feels whenever he bares the Southern Cross tatt on his chest.
Speaking to News Corp, Nollsie said a song like this is long overdue, and he’s asking for a track that truly celebrates “the country I love”.
“It hasn’t been done for a long time,” he claims, “not since ‘Solid Rock’ or ‘This Is Australia’ or Midnight Oil; only in country music.”
“The times we live in now, there are a lot of people out there who would love to see a song like that. People are gun-shy of being patriotic. I just love where I come from and love the country we live in and I think it’s OK to say that.”
Noll has of course tried his hand at belting out this sort of track himself more than once, starting with his famous rendition of Moving Pictures track ‘What About Me’, and more recently with his country-tinged, ute-powered ‘Who I Am’, which failed to make the same sort of impact.
The 2003 Australian Idol runner-up also claimed that it wasn’t just his love of country, but also the birth of his daughter, that stopped him from pursuing the “Holy Grail of an overseas career”.
For now, check out his brand new crack at an Aussie anthem below, complete with 100% authentic, not at all impersonated audio commentary.
