Why is the focus on cows in this clip about bananas?
That’s a good question. Particularly since cows aren’t mentioned in the song.
THE STORY IS THIS
I took the film you see in the clip while walking between the towns of Kiama and Gerringong in New South Wales.
I saw this small herd sheltering from the hot sun under some small trees in the green, green grass.
I perched my pocket camera on the thickest branch of a bush and filmed them. It was a little bit breezy, so the branch swayed, hence the unsteady clip.
These cows look so contented!
ALBUM
Six months later, when I released this song in the album Back In Your Own Backyard, I chose the film to accompany this upbeat version of ‘Yes, I Have No Bananas’ because of the tension between the fast tempo of the song and the laid-back ‘tempo’ of the cows.
I also like that, to my not pitch-prefect ears, that where I placed the moos the cows make in the beginning of the mix, the note seems to be close to the same note as the banjo makes, just a bit flat and an octave down.
The song is in Bb. The cow is mooing in B very b
BAND
Greg Poppleton – 1920s vocals
Geoff Power – sousaphone, trumpet and trombone
Paul Furniss – alto sax and clarinet
Grahame Conlon – Spanish guitar
Lawrie Thompson – drums and washboard
Actor - Singer - Voiceover 