John Foreman, the acclaimed Australian musician who captured the spirit of the nation with his composition for the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, has shared the story behind his composition with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"Looking back on the lead up to the year 2000, we were all very excited in Australia about the fact that the Olympics was coming here. And I remember sitting on an airplane reading a magazine that was talking about how every songwriter in the country was writing a song and submitting it to SOCOG (organizing committee), hoping to be the big song that was included in the opening ceremony. So I thought, look, what have I got to lose? I'll sit down, I'll see if I can come up with something and send it in and see what happens," said Foreman.
Foreman said he wanted his song to be versatile enough to be performed many different ways.
"Musically, I wanted it to be a melody that could either be played on a cello by itself, or sung, or played on a piano or an electric guitar, and that it would have a sort of classic shape to it," said Foreman.
"What I was thinking when writing the lyrics in particular was, if you could have the attention of the world for three and a half minutes, what would you say?" said John.
All of his efforts paid off when the melody echoed through Stadium Australia.
"The song had been previewed just a little bit. It had been released just a few days before the games, so there was a little bit of anticipation leading up to it, but it really was such a euphoric feeling," said Foreman.
For Foreman, the Olympics is not just a celebration for world athletes but also a monument to the history, culture, and national pride of all host countries, including his own.
"And I think whenever a country experiences an opening ceremony, there is a feeling of pride and euphoria because the Olympic Games, obviously, is a celebration of sport first and foremost. But the opening ceremonies and the closing ceremonies are a chance for a country to display its cultural identity, its musical identity," said Foreman.
"Every time the Olympics rolls around, it brings me back to that moment. It makes me, think about how lucky I was to be part of that and how proud we were as a country on that night to say to the world, look, this is Australia, this is, an opportunity for us to show you who we are as a nation," he added.
Composer of Sydney 2000 Olympics anthem remembers special time for Australia
