Great Southern Land

"Great Southern Land" is a song by Australian rock band Icehouse. It was released in August 1982, as the lead single from their second studio album Primitive Man.[1] It peaked at No. 5 on the Australian Singles Chart,[2] it was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein,[3] and remains their most popular song according to listeners of Triple M in 2007.[4]

This article is about the 1982 single. For the 1989 compilation album, see Great Southern Land (album). For other uses, see Great Southern Land (disambiguation).

"Great Southern Land"
Great Southern Land (12" vinyl) - Regular Records
Single by Icehouse
from the album Primitive Man
A-side"Great Southern Land"
B-side"Uniform"
Released3 August 1982 (1982-08-03)
1989
GenreNew wave, synth-pop
Length3:22 (7")
5:14 (LP)
LabelRegular Records
Chrysalis Records
Songwriter(s)Iva Davies
Producer(s)Iva Davies, Keith Forsey
Icehouse singles chronology
"Love in Motion"
(1981)		 "Great Southern Land"
(1982)		 "Hey Little Girl"
(1982)

At the 1982 Countdown Music Awards, the song was nominated for Best Australian Single.[5][6]

It was re-released in the U.S. on Chrysalis Records in 1989 as both a 7" and CD single, to coincide with the U.S. release of the compilation album, Great Southern Land.

On 5 September 2011, "Great Southern Land" re-entered the Australian (ARIA) Singles Chart at No. 66.[7]

There are two versions of the music video. The Australian original version, was filmed at the disused Jones' quarry in Wahroonga in 1982, with solarised clips of the band in daylight and surrounded by camp fires at night. The USA version was made in 1989 for the movie Young Einstein and it has Iva Davies walking around Myall Lakes National Park.[8]

In November 2014 the song was selected for inclusion on the Australian National Film & Sound Archive's "Sounds of Australia" list.[9]

The song is also used as the walk out tune for the Australian cricket team for their home matches during the Australian summer.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Great Southern Land" was ranked number 4.[10]

Remixes

In 1993, producer Bill Laswell set up a 16-minute remix with Aboriginal Australians, Parliament-Funkadelic alumnus Bernie Worrell and the avant-garde guitarist Buckethead for inclusion on the 1994 remix compilation Full Circle. An edited version named "Byrralku Dhangudha", with the Aboriginals partly singing the chorus in their own language was included on the EP Spin One in 1993. The same edit was released as a single in Germany in 1994 as "Great Southern Land (1994 version)".[11] Another remix version by Endorphin was released on the Icehouse album Meltdown in 2002.[12]

In 2012, Tourism Australia collaborated with Iva Davies to create an online video clip to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The clip includes famous musicians such as Katie Noonan, Cut Copy, Van She and Eskimo Joe, along with everyday Australian characters including an oyster farmer from Barilla Bay in Tasmania and a local choir from the Blue Mountains.

Track listing

All tracks written by Iva Davies.[13]

7" single (Australian release)
  1. "Great Southern Land" - 5:07[14]
  2. "Uniform" - 4:03

12" single (Australian release)
  1. "Great Southern Land" - 5:05
  2. "Uniform" (extended mix) - 6:02

7" single (U.S. release)
  1. "Great Southern Land" (edit)
  2. "Great Southern Land" (album version)

1994 single (German release)
  1. "Great Southern Land" (1994 version) - 3:47
  2. "Dedicated To Glam" (12" mix) - 4:25
  3. "Great Southern Land" (original version) - 5:16

Charts

References
  1. Holmgren, Magnus. "The Flowers / Icehouse". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 147. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  3. "Young Einstein soundtrack listing". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 12 June 2008.
  4. "Triple M's Essential 2007 Countdown". Triple M. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
  5. "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  6. "Final episode of Countdown". 1970scountdown. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  7. "The ARIA Report Issue #1123 – Week Commencing 5 September 2011" (PDF). ARIA, via the National Library of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  8. "THE ICEHOUSE STORY - Icehouse On Video". Spellbound-icehouse.org. 19 July 1987. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  9. "Four Iconic Bands Become Part of the NFSA's Sounds of Australia" (PDF). Nfsa.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  10. "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  11. "Iva Davies & Icehouse - Discography". Spellbound-icehouse.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  12. "Meltdown credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  13. "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2007. Note: requires user to input song title e.g. GREAT SOUTHERN LAND
  14. "Icehouse - Great Southern Land (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  15. "Charts.nz – Icehouse – Great Southern Land". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  17. "Kent Music Report No 445 – 3 January 1983 > National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report, via Imgur.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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