Romper Stomper Music Credits

Original Music by John Clifford White

Orchestration by John Hawker Music Score Mixer Peter Palankay Music Engineer Mat Thomas Vocals John Clifford White Guitar John Hewett Bass Guitar Chris Pettifer Drums Phillip Beard German Vocals Peter Pales

Music Recorded At Metropolis Audio

"Au Fond Du Temple Saint" from 'Les Pêcheurs de Perles' by G. Bizet Performed by Ernest Blanc and Nicolaï Gedda with the Orchestre du Théâtre National de L'Opéra-Comique Courtesy of EMI Music Australia Pty Ltd

Bizet:

The Bizet release used in the ﬁlm as background and foreground music dated to a 1961 LP release, subsequently released on CD: Lyrics in the ﬁlm:

(Timings refer to the Roadshow DVD release - and the lyrics are as they appear in the ﬁlm, not as might be heard on the soundtrack release):

1. Gabe sings to herself: c. 9’47”

While looking in the mall shop window and coveting the red jacket, Gabe sings:

“When I’m alone And see that it’s raining…”

2. Punks on the move: c. 14’19”

‘The Smack Song’ begins over the skinheads on the move:

When you see the yellow scumbuck coming up the road Will you turn the other cheek just like a gutless toad? Or will you stand your sacred ground Inform him of the facts Tell him he’s not welcome here Then give him several smacks Smack him if he’s yellow Smack him if he’s black Smack him ‘till he fucks off and doesn’t come back … Smack him in the bollocks Smack him in the head Smack him ‘till he really hurts Smack him until he’s dead …

(Music fades out under dialogue, then stops when Davey brings Magoo in to see Hando)

3. Skinhead party: c. 17’05”

‘Pulling on the boots’ accompanies the skinhead party:

Pulling on the boots, then tightening up the laces Shaving our heads, and strapping on the braces Now you are a skinhead, looking for a fight Skinhead, skinhead, running through the night Skinhead, skinhead, running through the night Making lots of trouble, starting lots of fights Skinhead, skinhead, getting really pissed Skinhead, skinhead, tattooed on my wrist! Lurking in the laneway, waiting for the scum Smash their yellow faces, kick their fucking bums When they plead for mercy, we will show none Skinhead, skinhead, 'til the job is done Skinhead, skinhead, putting in the boot Looking for a street fight, looking for a root Skinhead, skinhead, running through the place Skinhead, skinhead, stomping on your face! When the coppers see us, at first they pull the gun But when they see us come towards, then they start to run When we wear our badges it makes us feel proud Skinhead, skinhead, shout it out loud! Skinhead, skinhead, running through the night Making lots of trouble, starting lots of fights Skinhead, skinhead, getting really pissed Skinhead, skinhead, tattooed on my wrist! (The subtitles don’t assist with translating the German verse. This is taken from online sources and it can’t be guaranteed as the same transcript was inaccurate in relation to the English language verses:

Wir ziehen uns die Stiefel an Und schnuren sie uns zu Rasieren die kuppel Und schlagen sie uns ein Skinhead, skinhead, Ziehen durch die stadt Das ist ein skinhead Und warte auf dein kampf)

Skinhead, skinhead, running through the night Making lots of trouble, starting lots of ﬁghts Skinhead, skinhead, getting really pissed Skinhead, skinhead, tattooed on the wrist! Skinhead, skinhead, putting in the boot Looking for a street ﬁght, looking for a root Skinhead, skinhead, running through the place Skinhead, skinhead, stompin' on your face! Skinhead, skinhead, skinhead, skinhead... Skinhead, skinhead, skinhead, skinhead …

(even more repeats as the music fades out on Davey ﬁnishing with the punching bag, Bubs’ random sex and Davey copping a drink from above).

4. Skinheads on the move: c. 25’25”

As the skinheads head to the pub for a rumble against the Vietnamese Australians (quietly playing pool), the Fuhrer, Fuhrer song begins:

Fuhrer, Fuhrer, what have we done? Our land is being overrun By Jews and blacks and yellow scum Fuhrer, Fuhrer, what have we done? Fuhrer, Fuhrer, (under dialogue) Fuhrer, Fuhrer Fuhrer, Fuhrer, what do we do? Ever more we look to you Did your best to discourage the Jew Fuhrer, Fuhrer, what’ll we do? Fuhrer, Fuhrer, Fuhrer, Fuhrer (song returns to foreground over Vietnamese at pool table Our day will come We’ll crush the scum … (Music stops abruptly as pool cue hits ball)

5. Fourth Reich Fighting Men: c. 32’40”

As the rumble spreads into the street, and then the skinheads attempt to ﬂee the Vietnamese Australians by clambering into the warehouse, an ironic song begins:

Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's what we are We're living in the sewer but we're gonna go far You see our numbers growing, we’re shouting “Hurrah” Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are

We’re fighting the system, we’re fighting a war Ya think there’s not enough of us, there’s gonna be more We’re gunna change the country, we’re gunna change the law Fourth Reich fighting men winning the war

Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are We're living in the sewer but we're gonna go far You see our numbers growing, we’re shouting “Hurrah” Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are

We march so proud, carrying the flag Beating up the vermin, beating up the slag Beating up the fairies for dressing in drag Fourth Reich fighting men carrying the flag

Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are We're living in the sewer but we're gonna go far You see our numbers growing, we’re shouting “Hurrah” Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's what we are

At last united, fighting as one The fighting isn’t finished ‘till the job is done The battle isn't over 'till the war is won Fourth Reich fighting men fighting as one Fourth Reich fighting men, that's who we are We're living in the sewer but we're gonna go far You see our numbers growing, we’re shouting “Hurrah” Fourth Reich fighting men, that's who we are

Marching in the alleys, marching in the streets Terrorizing scum with the sound of marching feet When the marching’s over, it’ll be alright Everyone will live together in the Fourth Reich

Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are We're living in the sewer but we're gonna go far You see our numbers growing, we’re shouting “Hurrah” Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, that's who we are

(The song ends with constant shouting of Fourth Reich ﬁghting men, Fourth Reich ﬁghting men... etc until it disappears beneath the chaotic sounds of violence and shouting)

The Fourth Reich Fighting Men song returns brieﬂy c. 67 minutes into the DVD when the cops raid the warehouse and shoot little Bubs.

The title line of the song can also be heard at the climax as Hando tries to drown/strangle Gabe in the surf, as part of the surreal mix of effects and sound.

6. Gabe sings again: c. 57’50”

After smashing the toilet with a Buddha statue, Gabe and Davey head into the bedroom and she tells him to check this out, as she picks out a few chords on the piano:

Timmy and Ted went to bed Dressed in red dressing gowns

Dialogue explains the reference: Davey: Who’s Timmy and Ted? Gabe: My cats ...

(Below: Gabe at the piano)

Soundtrack release:

The soundtrack has been pirated and released in many forms. These details relate to the original release:

CD PTR002 Picture This 1992

Composed by John Clifford White (Screensong), except “The Smack Song” lyrics by John Clifford White and Bill Murphy Orchestrations by John Hawker Produced by Doug Brady and John Clifford White All selections recorded and mixed at Metropolis Audio, except “Wild Animals 2”, at Track Rite Sound The Romper Stomper Orchestra and Band: Andrew Baldwin, Doug Brady, John Hawker, Tom Kehoe, Frank Lipson, Mat Thomas, Peter Palankay, Harry Vogelsanger Prologue Romper Stomper Theme Pulling on the Boots Skinheads Go Shopping/Gabe Sees Swastika Mein Kampf Fuehrer Fuehrer Let’s Break Some Fingers/Brawl Crawl The Smack Song (Lyrics by John Clifford White and Bill Murphy) Tonguey for the Skins/Nightmare for the Hippies At the Mansion We Came to Wreck Everything Wild Animals 1 Bubs Dead/Gabe Finds Davey Gabe and Davey Fourth Reich Fighting Men Night Drive On the Beach Wild Animals 2 Fourth Reich Fighting Men Reprise The Dead Nazi March

Composer John Clifford White:

(For a discussion of composing the score for the ﬁlm, see this site’s ‘about the ﬁlm’ section).

John Clifford White had previously worked with director Geoffrey Wright on Lover Boy, before going on to craft perhaps one of the best scores for an Australian ﬁlm with his brooding, pulsating work for Wright’s ﬁrst full-length feature, Romper Stomper (incidentally bringing fame and controversy to Russell Crowe in his best early role, as a neo-Nazi skinhead thug).

White was involved in a set of questions put by Cinema Papers in the May 1988 issue (the other composers were Peter Best, Bruce Rowland, Bruce Smeaton and Paul Schutze).

This would have been about the time that White had worked on the score for Lover Boy, and though he doesn’t directly discuss the ﬁlm, his answers provide some background to his work.

The ﬁrst question was in fact about musical background, and why he decided to compose for ﬁlm:

I used to do radio productions with a friend in high school who had a tape recorder. I used to choose the music for it, and progressed to making a standard 8 movie. My teacher suggested I have a shot at Swinburne Film School. Back then they had about 600 applications and only took in 15. They liked the film I did at school and I was accepted. I was always interested in film editing and music, but I didn’t know which I liked better. At film school, the lecturer said, “Hands up everyone who wants to be a director.” Everybody puts their hands up - everyone’s going to be a director. He notices this hand down at the back. “Why isn’t your hand up, John?” “Oh, I want to work in sound.” Of course everyone laughs. “What do you want to work in sound for?” “Well, if everyone else is going to be a director, there’s got to be somebody to put the sound track on.” I started scoring short films, and did a TV feature called Taxi. I was 19 at the time and got $40 for it! I also got a song into the Australian Song Awards. After Swinburne I did music editing for Cop Shop, some of The Sullivans, Prisoner and Carson’s Law.

The next question asked about involvement with director or producer:

Depends on the actual person. Some of them will spend a lot of time with you and say, “This is what I want, and if you’ve got a couple of hours, can we go through the records now?” And some of them come in and say, “Well, there’s the show! It’s not very good but I know you’ll help it, and then walk out! And then you look at it and say, “No wonder they didn’t stay around!”

The next question concerned the working budget:

It depends on the project. There is a budget and it is worked out, but the accountants usually don’t tell you how much it is. They only let you know if you’ve gone overboard. Film and television library disks of stock music cost about $40 for 30 seconds, so it sort of stacks up. For music editing, I charge by the hour, but for scoring I give them a quote. However, it does depend on the subject matter. I mean, if someone wants the London Symphony Orchestra, they’re going to have to pay for it! If you quote $6000, you’ve got to stress to them that they’re not going to get an orchestra for that!

The next question concerned major disadvantages encountered as a ﬁlm composer:

Oh yeh - money. I was told as a teenager, “If you want to make money, become a real estate agent!” If you’re a John Williams you’re going to make a lot of money, and it even took him 30 years to get where he is. He started out doing the theme to Lost in Space! The biggest problem, however, is getting the ﬁlm late in the whole stage and having very little time to do the music.

The ﬁnal question concerned the role music played in the success or failure of a movie, and whether the composer received sufﬁcient recognition for his or her contribution:

The role music plays is huge - absolutely huge. There are some great films that don’t need music such as The Hill, where you get the impression there’s music but there isn’t. Throughout the movie in the background is the soundtrack of soldiers marching around yelling ‘Hup! Hep’ etc which is a kind of music. Another film that hasn’t got music but you think it has is Hitchcock’s The Birds, and in a sense there is a score because the soundtrack is electronic squeaks. Herrmann got into something that they had to put a stop to after a while because he was experimenting with specific sub-sonic tones. There were some that would make people cry, some that would make people laugh, some that would make people downright suicidal. It was a bit like subliminal advertising, and eventually it was stopped because it was considered too dangerous and unpredictable. Some people are very ignorant about the importance of music to film, but some are brilliant, like Stanley Kubrick. He might spend four to five years doing his projects, and he spends as much time with the music as he does with the picture. For years the film scorer was regarded as the guy who comes to paint the house when it’s finished. However, I do believe that scorers are getting more recognition nowadays. I was really complimented one day when someone said they didn’t hear the music in my show. They said, “Why didn’t you put any music on?”, and I said, “It is there!” That’s the best thing that a scorer can be told. If they notice it and they’re supposed to - like the theme - then great. But if they’re not, and they say, “Gee, I really liked that music over the tender love scene”, then I’d say, “Sorry, I’ve done wrong.” It’s supposed to be a part of the picture. Bernard Herrmann was asked what he thought music’s role was, and he said, “It should be an invisible shroud that comes out of the screen and links the people on the seats to what’s on the screen.” I think it gets back to getting into the soul of the thing, not just following the action. You pretend the thing has a soul, and you get into the mood and the atmosphere - the psyche if you like.

Clifford White at one point turned his hand to comedy writing. His co-author on the book, William K. Halliwell, can brieﬂy be seen in Romper Stomper playing a derelict wino in a shopping mall. More details of this 1983 Sun book at Trove here:

(Below: John Clifford White) (Below: John Clifford White in later times at a Crawfords’ Homicide reunion party, 2014, in the second still with Steve Lambeth, and in the bottom still with actor Gerard Kennedy)