Songs of Anzac

Music has a way of evoking emotion, connecting us to a moment in time or sometimes to someone we’ve never met. Music ensures we never forget.

The songs of Anzac Day in particular bring about a special set of emotions and take us back to the battlefields where so many of our own fought and fell.

James Blundell’s family inspirations 

Almost Anzac Day is one of those songs, from award-winning country music artist James Blundell. Written by Terry McArthur and Mika Koukkanen, the song reminds us of the toll of serving your country. 

James Blundell’s family inspirations ‘Our family has been involved in service for generations,’ says James. ‘My brother and I have been the first to not serve. My father and grandfather both served, and my grandfather saw major conflict in the Second World War. My oldest mentors have also been returned service personnel from the Second World War. 

‘They’ve always inspired me with their resilience and stoicism, but I’ve also seen the struggle.’ 

James thought his life would be all horses and cattle after growing up on a farm in Stanthorpe, Queensland. However, after he started singing in his early twenties, he travelled a different path. 

‘Music’s been in my life right from the start,’ he says. ‘I can’t remember ever not playing the guitar – I picked it up when I was 4 and it just became a lifelong passion. I’ve been privileged to perform in several theatres across the last 20 years where we have been deployed as a nation. In every single instance, I come away from there thinking that the people who represent us in uniform abroad are some of the best in Australia. They have an ironclad reputation for being hard and fair, incredibly efficient soldiers.’ 

James has always been very appreciative of those who wear Australia’s uniform. He’s been an ambassador for the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia for many years. His passion to share the difficulties faced by those who serve and return from service is evident in many songs he’s released over his musical career. 

‘The minute I saw the lyrics for Almost Anzac Day, which articulated a reality for so many, I was reminded of my work with veterans over the last 30 years. I felt compelled to record the song. I’m a big fan of the song and I get a thrill out of performing it every time.’ 

The launch of Almost Anzac Day at Hyde Park Memorial in Sydney in April 2024 was an enormous success. All proceeds from the sale of the single are donated to not-for-profit SMEAC Veteran Hub. 

Amanda’s song from the heart 

When Amanda Heartsong left the military, she never thought she would become a singer and songwriter. It hadn’t crossed her mind that she would be able to express her experiences through music. 

‘I started in the military quite young – in the air training corps from my teenage years and the Air Force for 15 years before being medically discharged after Afghanistan,’ Amanda says. 

In 2007, Amanda, also known as ‘Helmi’, deployed to Iraq. When she returned home, she had her son. That changed everything. 

‘Afghanistan was my first deployment after my son was born and it really affected me,’ she says. ‘Some of the things we saw there were horrific. I thought about dying over there and my son being left without a mum.’ 

After Amanda was discharged, she stumbled into a musical career, attending the Country Music Academy in Tamworth where she started songwriting. It was here that Amanda wrote a song that drew on all these experiences – I can’t come home from the War (The War Song). 

In the song, Amanda asks her father to be her pallbearer as she contemplates ending her own life. ‘When I returned from Afghanistan, I was in a dark place and I attempted suicide,’ she shares. ‘My dad was there when I woke up in the hospital and he was beside himself. He couldn’t imagine what I was going through.’ 

'During an online songwriting retreat with the academy, I realised he would have been my pallbearer if things had been different in that moment. With that thought, the song just came out. Writing a song about the experience was like exposure therapy, helping me re-live the experience in different forms. When I play it on stage, I have the memory of people and their responses rather than the memory of war. Even when I recorded it, I had the memories of being in the studio rather than the memories of war.’ 

Amanda feels her experience after the military changed her perspective on Anzac Day. It is no longer just about being proud of the country and mateship. 

‘When I got out of the Air Force and my partner had taken his life, Anzac Day took on a whole new meaning. I couldn’t function, let alone go to any marches after that. Anzac Day would only make me think about how all those young men, some as old as my own son now, would have felt. They probably thought they were so lucky to sign up with their mates and then they actually had to face the reality at that beach in Gallipoli. 

‘For 10 years, I couldn’t move past it. Then eventually, I was invited to sing the National Anthem at my local RSL and I was reminded again of how important it is. I still think about the trauma of those soldiers in Gallipoli, but now I can associate Anzac Day with mateship and community again.’ 

Peter Campbell’s tribute to uncle Jimmy  

Anzac Day is one of Peter Campbell’s favourite days of the year. If he had to choose to wake up in a loop repeating the same day over and over again, it would be Anzac Day. 

The Toowoomba singer songwriter started out in a cover band as a teenager before joining the Army and then the Police Force for 25 years. Eventually, he fell right back into music. 

Peter was inspired by his great uncle’s story to write The Lost Soldier with help from his friend Brendon Walmsley. The song won the Anzac Song of the Year Award at the 2020 Tamworth Songwriters Association Awards. 

‘I remember mum talking about Uncle Jimmy who served with the 31st Battalion and was killed in the First World War at the Battle of Fromelles,’ says Peter. ‘His body was never recovered.’ 

Peter is a former soldier from the 8th/9th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (8/9 RAR) himself and came up with the idea of the song while at the 2014 Anzac Day march in Toowoomba. He wrote the chorus in his head and, after the march, rushed off to write it down. But with no pen or paper to be found, he ended up sending it to a friend in a text message. 

Through the song, Peter was inspired to tell the story of Private James Stephen Farrell (Uncle Jimmy) writing to his family from the battlefields, when one day his mail stops arriving at the homestead. A story familiar to so many. Sadly, the family come to find that their son has been lost, never to return home. 

A series of eerie coincidences followed as Peter unravelled the story of Uncle Jimmy to include in the song. 

‘As part of the promotion for the song, I was featured in the local paper and that’s how I met my distant cousin, Brett Farrell, who was also related to Uncle Jimmy,’ Peter recalls. ‘As it turns out, Brett and I have been living parallel lives. Brett also served in 8/9 RAR, used to live in the same suburb as me, went to the same primary school as my kids, and played in the same rugby club as my son. To top it off, Brett’s sister married the guy who stood next to me in roll call at school every morning! 

‘It’s been an interesting journey. I would never have met my distant cousins if I’d never written the song. We’ve become good friends and are in regular contact.’ 

When Commonwealth soldiers were discovered in a mass grave near Pheasant Wood in Fromelles, Peter provided a DNA sample in the hope one could be his Uncle Jimmy. However, it didn’t match any of the bodies they identified. 

Peter keeps the memory of his great uncle alive through the song. Lost but never forgotten.  

• You can listen to James Blundell’s ‘Almost Anzac Day’ via his website (www.jamesblundell.com.au).
• Amanda Heartsong’s ‘The War Song’ is available on Spotify. 
• Peter Campbell’s ‘The Lost Soldier’ is on YouTube.

If you need support, Open Arms Veterans & Families Counselling is available 24/7 on 1800 011 046.