Jindabayne, Canberra /Glas Slovenije/ - Ulick O Boyle je veteran
Snowyja, ki je v preteklih letih napisal veliko pesmi o možeh Snowyja.
Pred kratkim je izšla CD skupine The Settlers Songs of the Snowy Mountains. 
Za
nas Slovence je zanimivo to, da so Ulick in njegovi The Settlers izdali
kaseto Snowy Rambler s pesmijo Old Slovenia že oktobra leta 1990, ko Slovenija
še ni bila samostojna država. Zanimivo je tudi to, da tega nihče od Slovencev
ni odkril dolgih devet let. Ulicka je in njegov ansambel je srečal na pikniku
v Jindabaynu Florjan Auser 17. oktobra letos in s kamero posnel pesem
Old Slovenia, ki jo je ansambel tam zapel. Florjan je pesem uvrstil v zgodovinsko
oddajo o 50-letnici Snowyja na TV 31 Sydney v ponedeljek, 1. novembra,
na melbournški slovenski oddaji TV 31 pa bo na sporedu 9. novembra.
Why the song "Old Slovenia"
The origins of this song go back to 1962, when I was working as a first
aid officer up in Bogong Creek on the Khancoban side of the Snowy Mountains.
A fitter and turner came into my little post to have his injured hand checked.
He had been of work for eight weeks and was the returning to work. His
name was Emil Antoncic, and we became good friends and have been so ever
since. I will always remember the time my old bomb of a car broke down
just when I neded it to visit my family thirty miles away. I had only known
Emil a week or two, but without hesitation when I told him my problem,
he declared "No problem! - Here are the keys to my volkswagen!" You have
to like someone like that!
During the quiet times at work he told me of his origins. He
came from Slovensko Primorje and he told me a lot of his country. We have
stayed in touch all through the years and Emil recently drove all the many
miles from Blackwater in Queensland to join in the Snowy 50th Anniversary
Celebrations.
Some years ago another Snowy friend was the president of the
Slovenian club at Canberra. His name was Roman Bicak. He also told me a
lot about the places and history of his country. Sadly he died a few years
ago. He is missed.
One day I was plucking at my guitar and thinking of Emil and
Roman, and then I remember Eddie Svent, Roman Iskra and Emil Lican...fellows
I'd known up in those cold hills so long ago - and they were all Slovenians!
And so, somehow, the words came into my mind... and the melody for
the verses was born. The music which I used for the chorus of the song
comes from an old Polish folk song of the 18th century...
And so, by a process of cross fertilisation, this song came into being.......
Regars Ulick O'Boyle
Old Slovenia
I see it all today
tho' it's ten thousand miles away:
a castle by the caves of old Postojna,
as I work the Snowy Scheme
in my mind as in a dream
rise Triglav and
the mountains of Slovenia.
I chose to leave my home
to Australia to roam
and seek my fortune in the
Snowy Mountains.
I was a miner number one,
on the drill I was 'THE GUN',
as my tungsten tore
the granite out in fountains.
Where the land is sown
with churches,
that's where I long to be.
Where Pegam and Lamberger
wrote shining poetry.
Where freedom's light is brightest
in the mountains of Carinthia,
some day I will return
for in my heart I yearn
for my Slovenia.
Far beneath the Geehi wall
of ice and snow so tall
is the tunnel I must enter
in the morning.
Oh, a Sunday goes too fast
for dreaming of the past
and the Manhaul blows it's horn
without much warning.
A bed a locker and a broom
in my Snowy Mountain room
on Sunday with a flagon full of vino.
But I miss the wine 'sezana',
red 'teran' nad good 'vipava'.
Yes, Slovenia is where I long to be now.
Again lake Bled I see
with it's ancient monastry,
lake Bohinj and Jesenice
those places from the past
for me for ever last
Podsreda, stari Rajhenburg
and Brestanica.
Well the wine is almost gone,
for the time is moving on,
the winter sun is out
of sight around me
and I'am feeling kind of sad
kind of blue for what I had
and left, to find
whatever else has found me...
... Some day I will return
for in my heart I yearn
for my SLOVENIA...
