(1916)
served an explicit role as propaganda and recruitment tools, often glorifying the sacrifice, mateship and heroism of the young men who enlisted. Some, like the Boer war-era Sons of Australia
, predate the commonwealth, with a call to patriotism that came firmly couched in the language of empire: (“Sons of Australia / Are your pulses thrilling? / Thrilling at the chance to thrash / Your empire’s foes”)
.
But not all wartime songwriters viewed Australia’s role in a contest of European imperial powers so sunnily.
Mark Erickson and P. Clay-Bealer’s Only One of the Toys (1914) speaks to the futility of the conflict, framing Australian soldiers as the disposable playthings of imperial command: “No command is mine / Just a number in the line / For I’m only one of the toys.”