From Little Things...

There are several ways to cover a classic song.  You can do the tribute, where you try to sing the song as close to its original as possible.  You can do a complete makeover, where you turn a song in one genre into one in a completely different genre.

Or you can do this...

'From Little Things Big Things Grow' is a classic Aussie song celebrating one of the pivotal events of Aboriginal Australians' struggle for land rights, the Wave Hill walk-off.  In 1966 the Gurindji, led by senior elder and law-man Vincent Lingiari, walked off Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory in protest at their poor working and living conditions on their own country.  They stayed on strike until 1975 when the Whitlam Government finally granted them title over the land - or perhaps it would be better to say, recognised their ongoing ownership.  

Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly wrote the song in 1991 and released separate versions of it over the next year or two.  Since then they've often performed it together, taking turns to sing the verses like here at Gough Whitlam's memorial in 2014.  Many people have covered it over the years, mostly in this classic folk-ballad style with more or less force and passion.  I even took part in a performance of it myself some years ago as part of the Brisbane Reconciliation Choir.  

This year I've been blow away by a totally different take on the song, by Electric Fields.  Here's the version I first heard, from the ABC music show The Sound.

Electric Fields is made up of Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross.  In recent years they've been building their reputation in clubs around Australia and on the global WOMAD circuit after first coming to public attention via separate appearances on a TV talent show.

There's a lot to love about this rendition, but what it comes down to for me is that it lives its own message.  Back in 1991, never mind in 1966, you rarely heard a contemporary song in any of the First Nations languages (Yothu Yindi being a notable exception) and Kev Carmody himself writes and works entirely in English.  But the cultural pathway he forged, and which other musicians followed, eventually brought other languages into the mix.  So here Fielding, who is an Anangu Pitjanjatjara man from remote South Australia, has translated part of the song into Pitjanjatjara.  Hearing it in a First Nations language is a revelation, a powerful assertion of cultural survival built on Vincent Lingiari's bold claim of sovereignty over his own country.

And then, of course, there is the voice of Vincent Lingiari himself, sampled from an interview he gave during the strike all those years ago, asserting his hereditary title.  Carmody and Kelly sang about him, but he was quite capable of speaking for himself and here he is.  

And then, while Lingiari is promoted, as it were, Gough Whitlam is demoted.  In fact, this had already happened by the time Carmody and Kelly sang the song for the man's memorial, with the phrase 'his name was Whitlam' replaced by 'he came with lawyers' so the tall stranger remains nameless.  Perhaps Carmody and Kelly meant it as a sign of respect, not saying the name of the recently departed, but it means that the only non-Aboriginal person named in the song is the villain, Lord Vestey.  Lingiari is the sole hero here.

Lastly, of course, is the fact that in Fielding and Ross's hands, aided by their better known sidekicks, the song itself just keeps on growing, starting as Carmody and Kelly's acoustic ballad then growing bit by bit until by the end it is a tidal wave of sound.

This is indeed what has happened and is continuing to happen.  More and more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians have made their way into the mainstream of Australian music.  And thanks to the example of Vincent Lingiari and others, more and more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have asserted their ongoing sovereignty over their country.  Almost 20 years after the Gurindji won their battle, Eddie Mabo won his in the High Court and now native title is recognised all over Australia.

These victories have been won by Aboriginal people fighting for their rights and their legacy, but they have also been supported by non-Aboriginal people who have been prepared to listen and help.  Carmody and Kelly have Lingiari saying, 'we have friends in this hour in the cities and towns'.  Eddie Mabo talked his situation over with historian Henry Reynolds before launching his legal action.  Paul Kelly listened to Aboriginal voices and worked with Kev Carmody to tell the story of the Gurindji and Vincent Lingiari.  So it is here, with Michael Ross working alongside Zaachariaha Fielding to bring their re-imagining of the song to life.  

There is a long way to go.  That notorious 'gap' has not been closed.  Aboriginal people continue to be imprisoned at unconscionable rates.  We continue to think it is OK to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act in order to intervene in the lives of Aboriginal people. We continue to think that telling Aboriginal people how they can and can't spend their money is somehow helpful.  

Nonetheless, there has been progress, there have been gains.  People are still fighting.  From little things, big things grow...