“You see, I understand them and their lives, and they know it.” — Banjo Paterson | V2Melody

“You see, I understand them and their lives, and they know it.”

Explaining the bond between his writing and the people of the Australian bush · Interview with Bernard Espinasse, Table Talk, 31 January 1896

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About Banjo Paterson

Banjo Paterson

17 February 1864–5 February 1941

Andrew Barton Paterson, known to generations of readers as “Banjo” Paterson, was born on 17 February 1864 at Narrambla station, near Orange in New South Wales. He died in Sydney on 5 February 1941, twelve days short of his seventy-seventh birthday. Between those dates he became one of the most familiar literary voices…

More by Banjo Paterson

Poems by Banjo Paterson

More remarks by Banjo Paterson

“I meet all sorts of people from Field Marshals to buffalo shooters and I would like to try getting interviews with them and working in as much information as possible about their lives.”

Expressing his fascination with lives and experiences drawn from every level of society · Letter to Major W. T. Conder, 17 November 1934

“Our ruined rhymes are not likely to last long, but if there is any hope at all of survival it comes from the fact that such writers as Lawson and myself had the advantage of writing in a new country.”

Suggesting that literary survival may depend as much on historical circumstance as artistic greatness · Retrospective prose essay, Looking Backward

“I hope to rescue these rough bush ballads from oblivion.”

Defining his mission to preserve Australia's disappearing folk tradition · Introduction to Old Bush Songs, 1905