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Song Analysis Of Paul Kelly's Song Of Australian Identity

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Good morning/ afternoon Ms/Sir and boys, an identity can be seen as defining us as people and may be cultural, ethnic, religious, gendered, class-oriented or ideological. The Australian identity over time has been stereotyped and generalised to us being these people who are bronzed gods and live in the bush fighting animals, we also see stereotypes of us as a nation of drinkers and sports enthusiasts, but we all know this identity has been falsified and is not true for the majority of Australians. Australia is a country that can be described as diverse, multicultural and unique. I have been recently studying the work of Paul Kelly, in particular his song, from little things big things grow. The song tells the inspiring story of the Gurindji people's fight for equality and land rights in the 1960’s and 70’s. The lyrics in this song outline a radical change in the Australian identity, the idea that someone can have a view and from that create a movement of change. This song refers to how little ideas or view from a single person can create big changes that affect the way thousands of people live, this is shown in the title of the sing from little things big things grow. The back story behind this incredible song is about Vincent Lingiari becoming the head stockman of the Vestey brothers cattle station in Wave Hill, WA, and from that lead 200 aboriginal people in a walk-off strike away from the station. …show more content…

“Gurindji were working for nothing but rations, where once they had gathered the wealth of the land, daily the oppression got tighter and tighter” this quote from the song makes a general outline of the conditions that the Gurindji people were facing during this

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