Penelope swales
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The Goddess of Harkaway
by Penelope Swales This song was written for my yoga teacher, who became my friend. When I started going to her classes, I sort of got a glimpse that she was going through a rough time. But despite that she always had something good to give to her class. Continue reading
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Weepy Jamie
by Penelope Swales I wrote this after my first trip to London. It was originally recorded as part of a song called Lost in London. Composed in 1996. Continue reading
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Captains of Industry
by Penelope Swales This song is about the paradox of relying on big business to tackle climate change because governments aren’t doing anything about it. Composed in 2022. Lyrics Verse 1 Captains of Industry I’m tending my silverbeet Aware of a shift in the world Not just down here with the roots and the hyphae Continue reading
About Melbourne Tune collection
Melbourne Tune Collection records and publishes original folk tunes and songs from around Australia.
I started this project after realising that I barely knew any Australian folk tunes, even though I’ve been playing the fiddle for almost two decades. It wasn’t that Australians weren’t writing tunes, it’s just that there was limited publishing opportunities for them.
I thought maybe if I collect these tunes and put them together, they would have a better chance of getting played. So in early 2019 I set off with my camera and recorder, first around Melbourne, then across Australia.
This site is the result of these travels. Its purpose is to make Australian folk music as accessible as possible and promote the incredible music that’s being written today. I genuinely believe that there’s something special happening in the Melbourne and Australian folk music scenes right now.
I hope you enjoy playing through these tunes as much as I have!
Katherine Oleinikov
Melbourne Tune Collection 