He was born in Peebles, Scotland, and emigrated to Australia in 1969.
His best-known song, written in 1972, is "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", a haunting evocation of the ANZAC experience.
Some idea of the breadth of his work can be gained from the fact that his next-best-known song is "The Aussie Bar-B-Q", a cheerful ditty about a completely different Australian institution. His songs range between the two extremes, including bright comic songs, protest songs, and other serious considerations of the human condition. One the lighter end of the scale, two other well-known songs are his homages to departed pets, "Little Gomez" and "Nobody's Moggy Now".