Garrett is certainly singing from his own perspective, and he's said this is one of his favourite Oils songs, and a tribute to his parents and grandparents, especially his mother.
His grandfather did die in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru (as did the uncle of Kim Beazley, who was also in the parliamentary Labor party with Garrett). The Montevideo Maru was lost in WW2 with hundreds of Allied prisoners of war aboard.
Garrett is certainly singing from his own perspective, and he's said this is one of his favourite Oils songs, and a tribute to his parents and grandparents, especially his mother. His grandfather did die in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru (as did the uncle of Kim Beazley, who was also in the parliamentary Labor party with Garrett). The Montevideo Maru was lost in WW2 with hundreds of Allied prisoners of war aboard.