Clip description
Willy (Rocky McKenzie), Uncle Tadpole (Ernie Dingo), Annie (Missy Higgins) and Slippery (Tom Budge) travel north to Broome. In the combi they sing the Pigram Brothers’s song 'Feel Like Going Back Home’. Stopping for fuel Willy meets Roadhouse Betty (Magda Szubanski), who suggestively offers Willy ‘hot’ food. Uncle Tadpole steals from the shop and hides the food on Willy.
Curator’s notes
At the start of this clip, the characters in the combi van are singing 'Feel Like Going Back Home’. The song has a wistful, yearning melody that speaks of homesickness and longing to return to the characters’ home country. The song specifically refers to Broome and references home cooking ('fish soup and rice’) which makes it more relevant to these characters, rather than having them sing generic lyrics about missing home.
The characters express themselves through their performance of the song, with Annie being confident and carefree and Uncle Tadpole mischievously teasing Slippery, who is the uptight member of the bunch. Willy looks uncharacteristically relaxed, knowing he is returning to the safe confines of home where he hopes to see Rosie again.
Once the van stops for fuel and food, Willy is thrust back into the uncertain and threatening outside world. Much to his discomfort, Roadhouse Betty comically leers at him and Uncle Tadpole ropes him into stealing from the shop. Their frenetic getaway in the combi is in strong contrast to the relaxed mood set by the song at the start of the clip.