Peter Barnes - 'Can you hear Australia's heroes marching?'

'Can You Hear Australia's Heroes Marching?' is a national war memorial
song and a tribute to the ANZAC spirit of mateship, courage and sacrifice.

New website for the song at http://www.australianwarheroes.com You can link to
the new website for the song or tell others about it. The success of the song meant
it was necessary to create a domain that was unique to the song and gave it a
permanent home on the Internet. The song has over a million hits online with this
website, YouTube, and other websites that include the song. Take a look at the new
website.

This website started back in the mid 90s, well before Google was even thought of. In
the beginning it was a website Peter Barnes put together for info about his advertising
and marketing business. Since 2001, the war heroes song has taken over more and
more of the website. As the website is now old, and image wise, out of date, it was
necessary to create a website for the song independent of this one. The website is
kept alive today, mainly because it still gets a lot of visitors looking for the song.

No recording or publishing company in Australia has shown any interest in the song
over the past eight years. If it wasn't for this website, our Australian war heroes would
have not been heard matching once again across our great land through this song.
The global aspect of the internet also allowed many people from other countries to
hear the song. For instance a publishing house in Norway asked for the song.

"The Norwegian publishing house Aschehoug is about to publish a new series of English schoolbooks for
8-10th grade in the Norwegian market. In this new series, called Key English, we want to make use of the
song "Can You Hear Australia's Heroes Marching".

Over 1,000 people a day view videos relating to the song on YouTube alone. Peter's
YouTube channel has passed one million video views, with most viewing videos
relating to the song. Click here to go to the YouTube channel. You can see videos of
the song for WW1, WW2, the Vietnam War and more.

The heroes song was created from Peter's experience in visiting the Adelaide River
War Cemetery (114 kms south of Darwin) in the Northern Territory and seeing the
graves of Australians who gave their lives in the service and defence of their country.
Peter felt he should do something within his capabilities to honour the memory of such
incredible sacrifice.

A total of 434 war graves marked by bronze plaques are contained in the Adelaide
River War Cemetery. The burials are made up of 14 airmen of the RAF, 12 unidentified
men of the British Merchant Navy; one soldier of the Canadian Army; 18 sailors, 181
soldiers and 201 airmen of the Australian Forces and seven men of the Australian
Merchant Navy. The Northern Territory Memorial to the Missing honours a further
292 Servicemen and women lost to the north of Australia. The adjacent civil section
contains the graves of the nine Post Office staff killed on 19 February 1942 during
the bombing of Darwin, one of 63 separate occasions from that date. The civilian
casualties of WW2 include those of 31 Indigenous Australians.

"To stand on my homeland, surrounded by our war dead, who fought heroically to
defend Australia and their loved ones down the track, was a profound experience
and initiated the creation of the song." - Peter Barnes

War Cemetery

NEW: You can watch a video of the Adelaide River War Cemetery here

Click here for the 4 minute version of the song (has additional words).

Click here for other inspiring Australian Songs by the author of the war heroes song
(this is a new website).

About the author...

Peter Barnes was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1953. His education included the Queen Street Public
Primary School, followed by five years at Ballarat Central Technical School, and he then completed one year at
the School of Mines Ballarat. He moved to Melbourne to work in 1972. To cut a long story short, Peter's career
eventually saw him attain the roles of general manager and creative director with leading advertising agencies.
Peter has lived and worked in the Northern Territory and now resides in South Australia. Today, he is the
owner of www.befoundonline.com.au

There are many songs that focus on war service by Australians. Some are anti-war, lamenting the waste
of life, like Eric Bogle's 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda'. Some songs focus on a particular war or
conflict, like John Schumann's 'I Was Only 19', which focuses on the Vietnam War. Many songs include
ANZAC, and focus on the Gallipoli campaign.

'Can You Hear Australia's Heroes Marching?' is different in many aspects. Being timeless, it covers all
wars and conflicts Australians have served in, and those that serve today. The song is stirring, uplifting and
memorable.

Many Australians who lost their lives in war weren't thinking they could save the world or defeat evil
regimes. As in the trenches of France, and the patrols in Vietnam, or on the Kokoda Track, Australians were
looking after their mates alongside them. Many Australian veterans march on ANZAC Day in memory of their
mates left behind, and the ones that have passed on before them.

The words (lyrics) to the song have been requested to be used or read at commemorative ceremonies.
You can click here to download the words to the song (pdf file).

Click here to go to home page.

ANZAC Day - April 25

Remembrance Day - November 11

Can You Hear Australia's Heroes Marching?

Concept, title, lyrics and copyright owner (author) of the song: Peter Barnes

Singer & music composition: Darren Mullan

Spoken words voice: David Hill

The song was produced and recorded at Quentin Eyers Music in 2001