Editing Christmas music (section)

===Australia===
Situated in the [[southern hemisphere]], where seasons are reversed from the northern, the heat of early summer in Australia affects the way Christmas is celebrated and how [[northern hemisphere]] Christmas traditions are followed. [[Australians]] generally spend Christmas outdoors, going to the beach for the day, or heading to campgrounds for a vacation. International visitors to Sydney at [[Christmas and holiday season|Christmastime]] often go to [[Bondi Beach]] where tens of thousands gather on Christmas Day.
[[File:Blandfordia nobilis Berowra Valley.JPG|thumbnail|right|upright|''Blandfordia nobilis'', or Christmas Bells, of eastern Australia]]
The tradition of an Australian Christmas Eve carol service lit by candles, started in 1937 by Victorian radio announcer [[Norman Banks (broadcaster)|Norman Banks]], has taken place in [[Melbourne]] annually since then. [[Carols by Candlelight]] events can be "huge gatherings . . televised live throughout the country" or smaller "local community and church events." [[Carols in the Domain]] in Sydney is now a "popular platform for the stars of stage and music."

Some homegrown Christmas songs have become popular. [[William G. James]]' six sets of ''Australian Christmas Carols'', with words by John Wheeler, include "The Three Drovers", "The Silver Stars are in the Sky", "Christmas Day", "Carol of the Birds" and others. "Light-hearted Australian Christmas songs" have become "an essential part of the Australian Christmas experience." [[Rolf Harris]]' "Six White Boomers", [[Colin Buchanan (entertainer)|Colin Buchanan]]'s "Aussie Jingle Bells", and the "Australian Twelve Days of Christmas",<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/christmas-season-celebrations |title=Christmas season celebrations in Australia |website=australia.gov.au |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |location=Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402150537/http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/christmas-season-celebrations |archive-date=April 2, 2016 |access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref> proudly proclaim the differing traditions Down Under. A verse from "Aussie Jingle Bells" makes the point:
<poem>
Engine's getting hot
Dodge the kangaroos
[[swagman|Swaggie]] climbs aboard
He is welcome too
All the family is there
Sitting by the pool
Christmas Day, the Aussie way
By the barbecue!<ref>[http://silver-mg.com/Xmas/Aussie_Christmas.htm Merry Christmas From Australia] website by 'Silver'.</ref>
</poem>

"The [[The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|Twelve Days of Christmas]]" has been revised to fit the Australian context, as an example: "On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 12 parrots prattling, 11 [[numbat]]s nagging, 10 lizards leaping, 9 [[wombat]]s working, 8 [[dingo]]es digging, 7 possums playing, 6 [[brolga]]s dancing, 5 kangaroos, 4 koalas cuddling, 3 [[kookaburra]]s laughing, 2 pink [[galah]]s, and an [[emu]] up a gum tree."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://alldownunder.com/australian-music-songs/twelve-days-of-christmas.htm |title=Australian version of the song Twelve Days of Christmas |website=ALLdownunder |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref>

Other popular Australian Christmas songs include: 'White Wine in the Sun" by [[Tim Minchin]], "Aussie Jingle Bells" by Bucko & Champs, "Christmas Photo" by [[John Williamson (singer)|John Williamson]], "Go Santa, Go" by [[The Wiggles]], and "Six White Boomers" by [[Russel Coight]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lowry |first=Bryce |url=http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/10-greatest-ever-australian-christmas-songs/ |title=10 greatest ever Australian Christmas songs |date=December 12, 2017 |work=Australian Times |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The Australian carols that do exist are mostly novelty re-workings of existing songs with the holly and the ivy replaced by gum trees and wattle. Santa swapping his fur hat for a corked [[Akubra]] and a token Aboriginal word is deemed sufficient to localise the celebration of the day a Middle Eastern tradesman wasn't actually born.<ref name="Anderson">{{Cite web |url=https://dailyreview.com.au/how-to-make-gravy-australias-only-christmas-carol/1555/ |title=How To Make Gravy: Australia's only Christmas carol? Daily Review: Film, stage and music reviews, interviews and more. |last=Anderson |first=Ben |date=2016-12-23 |website=dailyreview.com.au |access-date=2017-12-23}}</ref>|sign=Ben Anderson|source=''[[Daily Review]]''|title=}}

"My Little Christmas Belle" (1909) composed by Joe Slater (1872–1926) to words by Ward McAlister (1872–1928) celebrates eastern Australian [[flora]] coming into bloom during the heat of Christmas. ''[[Blandfordia nobilis]]'', also known as Christmas Bells, are the specific subject of the song—with the original [[sheet music]] bearing a depiction of the blossom.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Slater |first1=Joe |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/40132773 |title=My little Christmas belle |last2=McAlister |first2=Ward |date=1909 |publisher=Melbourne : published by A.M. Dinsdale by arrangement with Mr. Joe Slater}}</ref> Whereas "The Holly and The Ivy" (1937) by Australian Louis Lavater (1867–1953) mentions northern hemisphere foliage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lavater |first=Louis |title=The holly and the ivy [music] : Christmas carol |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-174316239 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023042703/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-174316239/view |archive-date=23 October 2023 |access-date=December 24, 2017 |website=TROVE: National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Australian singer-songwriter [[Paul Kelly (Australian musician)|Paul Kelly]] first released "[[How to Make Gravy]]" as part of a four-track EP November 4, 1996, through [[White Label Records]]. The title track, written by Kelly, tells the story in a letter to his brother from a newly imprisoned man who laments how he will be missing the family Christmas. It received a Song of the Year nomination at the 1998 [[Australasian Performing Right Association]] (APRA) Music Awards. Kelly's theme reflects a national experience with Christmas:

{{Blockquote|text=A lot of the early imagery of Christmas in Australia is related to isolation and distance. You’ve got ''[[the Sydney Mail]]'' in 1879 saying ’The revels of Christmas tide cannot endure the ordeal of immigration’. It's that sense that it's alien here and we’re so conscious of being away from family and that figures very prominently in the imagery of Christmas back in that time.<ref name="Anderson" />|sign=Nicholas Brown|source=[[Australian National University]]}}