Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

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Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport was a song by Rolf Harris written in 1957, inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypsos, which became a hit across the world in the 1960s. It is about an Australian stockman on his deathbed, the song is one of the best known and most successful Australian songs after Waltzing Matilda. It peaked at Billboard position #3 in 1963. Harris re-recorded it along with The Wiggles in 2005. It is still popular today as a children's song.

The Stockman instructs his friend to take care of this affairs. The first of these is to tie his kangaroo down, since they jump around. "Sport" is a slang term for a friend. His last wish is to "Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred". The second to last verse was removed circa 1960, because of its use of the word Abo, a now offensive slang term for Australian Aborigines, and because of its implied racist context. The lyrics of this verse (not found on Rolf Harris' official website) are as follows:

Let me Abos go loose, Lou
Let me Abos go loose
They're of no further use, Lou
So let me Abos go loose.

The verse appears to refer to Aboriginal servitude and captivity in a whimsically approving manner. Most of the rest of the song refers to animals in captivity. The offending verse did not feature in later versions of the song. In 2006 Harris expressed his regret about the original lyrics ^[1].

On March 8, 2007, KRVI of Fargo, North Dakota began repeatedly playing the song nonstop as a stunt between changing formats, until March 12, 2007.