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You ask me if I'll feel pride when our country's flag is raised
above the winner's rostrum and our national anthem's played;
while the winners stand with flowers in hand and medals 'round their necks,
we can all share in their glory but not their sponsors' cheques.

And the press will call them heroes; we'll puff out our collective chest
for living in a land that breeds the fastest and the best;
and while I dip my old Akubra to their talent and their skill,1
I can't call them heroes and guess I never will.

But you asked me the question, so I'll tell you no lies:
I'll feel many, many things, but I won't feel pride.

You see, last year, in Victoria, down a smoke-filled forest track,
some real heroes and real heroines tried to turn the bushfire back;2
all through the day they fought the blaze, exhaustion, heat, and fear,
ordinary Aussie men and women; CFS volunteers.3

But the fire turned like a cornered snake; rolled down the mountain side;
and in that choking, smoking, hell, five brave men died.
Not for medals, not for money, not for glory, not for fame.
And tell me who amongst you now remembers their names.

But I want to run to mountain top and shout their names out loud;
they made me feel Australian, and that made me feel proud.

Now the volunteers got lots of press who said the tragedy had shown,
Australians still would give their all to save their neighbors' homes.
They got thanks and praise and eulogies for their true-blue Aussie pluck;4
they got everything but money to buy new and safer trucks.

For every gold Olympic medal that we won four years ago,5
someone worked out each one cost fifty million dollars or so.
Seems like a hefty price to pay just to flaunt our pedigree;
somewhere our values have gone to hell, but maybe it's just me.

Black smoke for the funeral pyre, white ash for the shroud;
feel anger, grief, and pain, and lost, but feel proud.

Not for medals, not for money, not for glory, not for fame.
They don't see themselves as heroes, and wouldn't answer to the name.
It's been much abused and overused but I use it nonetheless
for every man and woman in the Australian CFS.

No fist raised in fleeting triumph above the cheering crowd;
just years of quiet courage that should make us feel proud.
Yes, I want to run to mountain top and shout their names out loud;
they made me feel Australian, and that made me feel proud.


1.
Akubra is an Australian hat manufacturer, and slouch hats are commonly called ‟akubra”.
2.
Bushfires are common, destructive events in Australia.
Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia; in December 1998, a bushfire in Linton, Victoria, killed 5 firefighters.
3.
Aussie = Australian.
CFS = South Australian Country Fire Service.
4.
Since blue is the main color of the Australian flag, true blue indicates someone who is Australian through-and-through.
5.
The song is from 1999, so this line refers to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The upcoming 2000 Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia.

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