THIS song holds great memories for me, and I hope it brings the same to you.

In the late 1960s, during trips from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, my father in his deep voice would sing the ballad (the old-fashioned Ford version) to amuse myself and four siblings who sat bunched up in the back of the car happily singing along.

Along the Road to Gundagai was written by broadcaster, singer, composer and performing artist, Aussie Jack O'Hagan in 1922. He was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne, in 1898 and died in 1987. In an interview in 1982, he recalled writing his first song with pianist composer Henri Penn in 1917.

Along the Road to Gundagai, gained fame in 1931 when it was recorded by an Australian in London, the baritone ballad singer Peter Dawson. It is said to have sold more than 50,000, 78rpm shellac discs in three months.

Along the Road to Gundagai was among 600 songs written by O'Hagan including Our Don Bradman and Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox

Our Don Bradman was written in time for the broadcasting of the 1930s Ashes Test Series between England and Australia. The song struck a chord with the nation and within a week sold more than 40,000 copies of sheet music.

After World War 2, O'Hagan moved into a successful career in advertising and wrote jingles until 1965. He was awarded an OBE 1973,　

ALONG THE ROAD TO GUNDAGAI

There's a track winding back

To an old-fashioned shack

Along the road to Gundagai.

Where the blue gums are growing

And the Murrumbidgee's flowing

Beneath the sunny sky,

Where my daddy and mother are waiting for me

And the pals of my childhood once more I will see.

Then no more will I roam when I'm heading right for home

Along the road to Gundagai.[9]

OLD-FASHIONED FORD VERSION

There's an old-fashioned Ford made of rubber, tin and board,

Along the road to Gundagai.

Oh, the radiator's hissing, and half the engine's missing,

The oil tank's running dry. There's water in the petrol

And sand in the gears, and it hasn't seen a garage for more than forty years;

But, oh my lord how we roared in that old-fashioned Ford

Along the road to Gundagai.