How are Corroboree songs Composed

According to historical accounts, corroboree songs originate from two primary sources: life experiences and direct revelation from the spirit world.

Taplin wrote: “Their songs consist principally of words descriptive of incidents of travel or hunting or war… A party will go to the country of another tribe; then one of them, who has the talent, will make up a song, descriptive of what they saw, and the adventures which happened to them.” 

Lorimer Fison and Howitt mentioned “the Birraarks (men of high intelligence) who received corroboree songs and dances from the “ghosts” of ancestors in “cloudland.” They also quote the Rev. Julius Kuhn regarding the Turra tribe: “There were ‘Gurildris,’ men who professed to learn corroboree songs and dances from departed spirits. They also professed to learn songs for the dead, which were sung to make happy the departed who were gone to another country to live for ever.”

Vivienne observed the extemporaneous nature of the songs, noting: “They are very fond of music and dancing, their songs being chiefly extempore. The dances, or corroborees, are adapted to the various circumstances of their lives—marriage, birth, death, war or hunting.”