Are there any "Australianisms" in lyrics that we can explain to you non-Australians?

I don't think this is an Australianism. It's a reference to the sexual act, which Frank Zappa called in one of his videos "horizontal dancing".

 

And what about the "internet restaurant" part ?
Seems that was remarkably prescient of her !

Seriously though, that the "betting a kangaroo" might be referring to a coin .... that really does give it a possible different meaning that I'd never heard before. Interesting.

 

And what about the "internet restaurant" part ?
Lyrics online suggest that this line in Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" doesn't predict future web behaviour, it's a more traditional restaurant with low-lighting...

I took you to an intimate restaurant
Then to a suggestive movie
There's nothing left to talk about
Unless it's horizontally​

Yes, I think Mylene's interpretation [post #370] of the "betting a kangaroo" referring to the old Australian penny is accurate (pic of the coin below).

 

Where's the bloody EGG?

 

Olivia Neutron Bombs Physical was written by Stephen Kipner / Terry Shaddick. You are giving her credence for something she didn't write

 

I think you are placing way more significance to the use of two distinctive Aussie words thrown together in a song that attemps a bit of Australiana.
Little advanced from rhyming moon with june

 

The lyrics to Olivia Newton-John's "I'll Bet You A Kangaroo" are not an example stream of consciousness prose where words are just thrown together (like some of Dylan's mid 60's work). The song has somewhat of a narrative, so the songwriters would had not used the words randomly, even if they were also a vehicle to work in a few Aussie words.

Australians have a long tradition of using colloquial terms for money, eg., in the old days "quid" and "bob" were very commonly used for a pound and a shilling. Nowdays Australian notes tend to be referenced by some by their colours: "pineapple" for the $50 note, "lobster" for a $20, etc. We have a big country, so this slang may not be uniformly used or known over the continent, and like all language, may be pertinent for certain time periods. The two references below to Australian money slang is not consistent, as evidence of this variation. And I have only recently become aware of what a "pineapple", etc. can mean, so it's not a universal slang.

So although I haven't heard of "kangaroo" being used for the penny, I think it is conceivable that it is a term that may have been used. It is also conceivable that the songwriters "coined" the term for the song, believing that many Aussies would be able to work out the meaning.

Prawns, Lobsters and Pineapples - An Appreciation of Aussie Currency | Yoke
Slang terms for money - Wikipedia

 

I have never heard that used.

 

That floods back the memories, using 'lobster' and 'pineapple' for labelling our notes.
Havn't heard anybody use that terminology in decades!

 

how many kids and teenagers knew what the phrase “so we tanned his hide when he died clyde and that’s it hanging in the shed” meant? I thought then he got some kind of spanking or maybe folks didn’t think about it. Ten years ago i started working in a logging exhibit at the adirondack museum and there was hemlock bark on a sled. What the song means is that, like animal hides, the singer had his hide tanned like leather and hung up to be used and remembered. Before chemicals developed in the 1890s, hemlock bark was chipped, thrown into water vats for its tannin to be used for hides to be soaked in. So there.

 

Only to play beatles tracks like rev 9.

 

He was with the BBC on and off from the early 1950's to 1968, but . . . his last shows (from the early 1980's) did seem to be made on autopilot. I saw this same syndrome in the States with the likes of others who continued past their prime - namely, Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.

 

That’s hilarious! I first heard “Sheila” used as slang for a hot woman in ‘74 when I was living in New Zealand. An Australian fellow named Bob Hudson had a pop hit titled “The Newcastle Song”, and that’s where I first heard it. The song was a hit in both Australia and New Zealand, and a big one at that! It was all over the radio! I still regard it as one of the funniest records ever!

 

"Sheila" is very dated slang. You might hear it in an outback country town, hardly ever in the city. "Bloke", on the other hand, is still in fairly common use.

The Newcastle song, I'm afraid, is full of the cringe factor. It comes across as someone trying too hard to sound Aussie.

 

This might be more of a US thing due to Deniz Tek's involvement but what exactly does "TPBR" stand for in Radio Birdman's "TPBR Combo"? I always thought "Ten Pabst Blue Ribbons" would make most sense.

 

LOL!!! Well, I met my share of Ozzie Bogans who sounded exactly like that in the Newcastle song! It was a different world 40+ years ago! LOL!

 

Sorry, it's not about music or songs, but I've just binge-watched the series LUNATICS on Netflix and I thought I was gonna die laughing !
That guy doing all the characters (and the series itself) is a genius, right ? Is he big in Australia ? (I suppose so - well I think he deserves to be).

 

Chris Lilley has produced quite a few series in Australia - all with him playing the lead characters, and being very politically incorrect. The style is the same in all his series, although they may have different settings/characters. He has a strong following, but I wouldn't say that he is huge. His type of humour polarizes the viewing audience. Although I think he's clever, I've never warmed to him.

 

A one hit wonder by Rolf Harris in the 1960s, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" has his dying wish, "Tan me 'ide when I'm dead Fred", he dies and a voice comes in singing "So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde, and that's it hanging in the shed." I and millions of other kids buying this then had a view of why are they spanking him when he's dead? Well, he wanted his skin to be useful, so with the same tanning process making cowskin into leather , he wanted to have his skin useful , so they made leather of it, hanging it in the shed. If you bought this record in your youth then, did you know about tanning or spanking yer hide?

 

It would never have occurred to me that "tanning the hide" in this song could mean anything other than drying it out. It would be common parlance in rural Australia, and I'd be surprised if the practice was not also common in the US.

 

Not to teens buying the record then. I work at the logging exhibit at the adirondack museum and most older folks like me, after explaining hemlock barks’ use in tanning until around 1900 when chemical salts were used, hardly any knew the tanning reference in the song, most were familiar with the term for spanking. I explain this before a sled of peeled hemlock bark. I would also doubt teens today know how cowhide becomes leather. Just my experience with folks today.

 

It's a great song, I still love it

 

All true but Rolf and hide tanning don't sound a good mix in 2019!

 

Probably most kids today don't even know what a spanking is, let alone having ever received one.

 

Err....they may think it is a solo recreational activity these days?