| Midnight Oil – Truganini Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Sorry to disappoint, but this song is not about burning the Union Jack. Nor do I interpret these lyrics as exclusively advocating someone's rage that we aren't a republic yet. This song is essentially a song about the need for change. The first para begins by explaining that there is currently a lack of vision within Australia, and that we are essentially going nowhere...moreover, that we are quite happy about such a circumstance: "We'll be staying at the Roma Bar Till that monsoon passes on" To my understanding, the Roma Bar is a popular cafe in the NT for pollies and artists, and I believe the lyricist is implying that when the going gets tough and things begin to heat up or are becoming too pressing...when a monsoon hits...everyone that talks about change doesn't act upon their intentions, rather, they continue to simply talk about it over a cup of coffee. "The backbone of this country's broken The land is cracked and the land is sore Farmers are hanging on by their fingertips We cursed and stumbled across that shore" When a colony was first established in Australia, the nation was essentially an agrarian one, and even prior to this: the Indigneous peoples had a strong connection to the land, not to the idea of a nation: a flag. There was a great rush for land, for farming, for mining and such activities...therefore the lyricist connects Australia's current situation and future path to our past...the land is cracked and broken as we have neglected it, and those that are supposed to work it, and to practice their culture upon it and for it, are broken. It seems as if we have left some people behind as Australia's directionless freight train ran forward....and whats more is that we cursed and stumbled across that shore for our masters of that time who were meant to protect us. I believe that the 'shore' refers to Gallipoli and the casualties Australia suffered for the sake of our British officers. "Somebody's got you on that treadmill, mate And I hope you're not beaten yet" Even though things are so chaotic and directionless, and we work everyday without knowing what we are working for, the lyricist is hoping that the average Australian hasn't become completely apathetic and conceeded that the system has defeated them and that they cannot change anything about it themselves. This is the clinching point: whether or not we are apathetic or see the potential for change....and for this reason, its why the lyricist isn't advocating that we should burn the Union Jack. He hasn't said to burn it, rather: to let it burn. According to this, the lyricist believes that the signs and symptoms for change are already there...we just need to realise them and stop fighting against change, rather, to let it happen...to let the Union Jack burn rather than running around with a bucket of water trying to save a decrepit system from the flames of change. Because if we remain conservative and try to keep things as they were and are, then we are justifying the injustices in our nation's past: the extermination of the Indigenous people's of Tasmania (represented by Truganini), failing to constitutionally recognise the Indigenous peoples as citizens of their own country until the 70's (represented by Namatjira). The individuals apathy or their conservatism is therefore merely justifying the injustices in our past. If we truly saw them as injustices, then we would let the symbol under which such injustices were carried out, the Union Jack, to continue burning and pass from our lands... Hope it helps |
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