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Women, Life and Liberty

Women, Life and Liberty
Choose! women life and liberty
- Or man-made catastrophe
(For Narges Mohammadi)

Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but her children received it on her behalf. This courageous woman has been imprisoned in Iran by 'old male Imams' who are determined to crush dissent.

One sad note about this song: the Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice competition has come to an end. The late great Alistair Hulett, is immortalised by many fine compositions, some of which have been posted on this site.
I entered this song in the last competition
Choose! women life and liberty
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2024/2/11 - 05:43
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The Donkeys of Palestine

The Donkeys of Palestine
The donkeys of Palestine
© 2023 Tony Smith

Donkeys have a reputation for being stubborn. Surely a situation which causes the deaths of thousands of children in Gaza shows powerful adults at their most unfeeling and unmoveable.
As Christmas draws near consider the donkey
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2024/1/13 - 21:44
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Not My King

Not My King
Monarchy is an outdated institution. Mature political systems do not require paternalistic figures – they consist of societies of people of equality. Democracy cannot exist without this equality.
Australians have had mixed histories when it comes to royalty. The Indigenous peoples have suffered dreadfully from colonialism and continue to feel its effects. People of Irish descent resent the division of their homeland. Those with Scottish ancestry are bitter about the British government’s refusal to allow an independence referendum. Those of us whose convict origins give us the status of what one prominent actor called ‘Australian royalty’ have no illusions about the motivations of ‘transportation’.
In 1975 ‘the crown’ dismissed our lawfully elected government. Since sycophantic media have maintained the monarchy as an easy means of selling their dubious products. At the end of the twentieth... (Continues)
Not my king
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2023/8/15 - 00:55
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Thomas O'Halloran

Thomas O'Halloran
Thomas the Martyr © 2022 Tony Smith

On 16 August 2022, elderly busker Thomas O'Halloran was murdered as he sat on his mobility scooter. This must have shocked buskers everywhere. Thanks to my partner Gene for her rendition of this song. [Tony Smith]
Ennistymon’s a township in west County Clare
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2022/10/1 - 02:24
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Sunflowers of Ukraine

Sunflowers of Ukraine
Sunflowers of Ukraine
© Tony Smith 2022
Let a million sunflowers bloom in peace
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2022/4/6 - 07:51
Song Itineraries: Wars in Ukraine
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Tears of Blue, Tears of Gold

Tears of Blue, Tears of Gold
Tears of Blue, Tears of Gold
© Tony Smith 2022

In early 2022, the world was shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What else can we do but write songs in support of those suffering?
All over the world tears are being shed
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2022/3/15 - 02:28
Song Itineraries: Wars in Ukraine
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Misty Eyed

Misty Eyed
Misty Eyed
© Tony Smith 2017

Although politicians have little respect in Australia, this does not prevent them lecturing other people about their behaviour. This song is in response to a warning that we should not become 'misty eyed' about asylum seekers.
Gene joins me in the chorus.
You claim compassion for refugees
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2021/2/1 - 04:32
Song Itineraries: Exiles and exilees
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Boats Have No Rights

Boats Have No Rights
Copyright Tony Smith 2015

When the Australian Government decided on its cruel policy towards asylum seekers, its slogan was that it was stopping the boats. Boats are impersonal and have no rights. It could not be honest and describe its policy as stopping the people in distress, could it?
As I sailed out in the Indian Ocean
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2021/1/29 - 02:37
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A Convict Love Token

A Convict Love Token
© Tony Smith 2018

Notes for A Convict Love Token

David Brown of West Sussex came across a coin etched by a convict ‘CG to SG’ in late 1830. He was able to trace a descendant of Charles Green because Warren Read had contributed research on his ancestor to the Hungerford Virtual Museum, In late 2017, Mr Brown came to Australia and presented the coin to Mr Read. It is now in the Camden Museum. The museum of Australia has a collection of similar coins – some 120 – which they call ‘leaden hearts’.

Charles, of Kintbury Berkshire, was in prison for his part in the rural protest movement known as the Swing Riots. Their leader’s nom-de-guerre was Captain Swing. These protestors, like the Luddites in urban areas, took direct action against the machines which threatened their way of life. They smashed threshing machines and burnt haystacks.

Charles etched the coin while awaiting... (Continues)
When my love this coin you see
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2021/1/24 - 03:00
Song Itineraries: The Luddites
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Witness K

I have written thousands of letters to foreign governments and embassies about cases which Amnesty International has identified as issues of concern. I wish that the Australian government had a better record on human rights so that I might not be accused of inconsistency.
Oh tell me Witness K
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2021/1/18 - 22:45
Song Itineraries: #freeAssange
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Home Schooling

Home Schooling
This is dedicated to all the teachers - and parents - who devote their time to getting children through the pandemic.
Home schooling my children
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2020/4/14 - 05:21
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Floating Hell

Floating Hell
Floating Hell
© 2020 Tony Smith

In Australia we are very conscious of the many infectious cases which are attributable to overseas travel.
My darling daughter Annabel
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2020/4/6 - 04:02
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The Lament of the Last Tissue

The Lament of the Last Tissue
© 2020 Tony Smith

Thorough hand washing and sneezing into your elbow are among the instructions for stopping the pandemic.
Someone on the wireless
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2020/3/30 - 23:59
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Statement Uluru

Statement Uluru
© Tony Smith 2019

Australian governments ask Indigenous people to tell them how to address the issues caused by dispossession. Patiently, Indigenous Australians consult widely and then make specific suggestions. Inevitably governments procrastinate and fail to act on these proposals. The latest of these the Statement from the Heart, delivered at Uluru, which emphasised the need for a Treaty, Truth and a Voice, is suffering the same fate as previous reports.
There came a statement from the heart
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2019/11/8 - 04:26
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All You Do Is Deny

David Attenborough recently told a British parliamentary inquiry that we need to do more to address climate change. He singled Australia out for particular criticism.
The weather is melting the polar ice
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2019/7/18 - 01:18
Song Itineraries: War on Earth
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Water Cannon

Water Cannon
In 2007 the government of New South Wales bought a water cannon. That it had never been used by 2019 shows that the purchase was unnecessary. The money could have bought two fully equipped emergency ambulances. The water cannon is a toy of the police state. The tune is Rosin the Bow.
It’s away with your batons and tasers
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2019/1/3 - 04:42
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Pushed

Pushed
Historians have barely begun to document the terrible effects on Aboriginal people of the European invasion of Australia since 1788. One problem is that the European approach to evidence relies heavily on written documents. Indigenous memory on the other hand is found in oral narratives. This song tells the story of a massacre in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales and of the conflict over what counts as evidence. It is time we abandoned our patronising attitudes and acknowledged the validity of Indigenous epistemology.
Some young men escaped
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2018/12/29 - 22:20
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Offshore Detention

Offshore Detention
© 2018 Tony Smith

Australia's policy on asylum seekers and refugees has been condemned by experts in the law, medicine, psychiatry, economics, politics and ethics. It is possible that our inhumanity could one day make us liable to criminal prosecution and to pay compensation to its victims. I thought I had best record this song before the dozen is outdated. [Tony Smith]
Australia plays a deadly game
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2018/6/28 - 04:46
Song Itineraries: Exiles and exilees
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This Heroes' Land

This Heroes' Land
This Heroes’ Land
© Tony Smith 2017

During war time, Indigenous Australians have served gallantly in the armed forces. Until recently they were barely recognised. But an even greater injustice occurred when the children of some serving soldiers were forcibly removed to institutions.
Barney and Jess were teenage friends
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2017/9/23 - 06:19
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Wiradjuri Country

Wiradjuri Country
Wiradjuri Country
© Tony Smith 2013

I live on land in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. The land was taken by force from the Wiradjuri people.
The song is my attempt to acknowledge the history of dispossession.
I used the tune to 'Joe Hill' after hearing Paul Robeson sing this union song.
The place I live in has a past
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2017/9/22 - 02:48
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Incident, Wallis Plains, 1826

Incident, Wallis Plains, 1826
Incident, Wallis Plains, 1826
© Tony Smith 2017

John Eckford, brother of my 3 x great grandmother Jane, had an eventful life. Born in 1801, he was involved in the mistake which led to his father William being condemned to death for sheep stealing. He was appointed Constable at Wallis Plains (Maitland) in 1825.
Following violence between settlers and Aboriginal people, Governor Darling despatched Lt Lowe to the ‘frontier’. Colonial Secretary Bathurst issued orders that the raids of the locals should be repelled just as would raids by any other ‘state’. Aboriginal people were to be considered invaders in their own land.
Lowe was committed for trial following the summary execution of a prisoner ‘Jacky Jacky’. He was quickly found not guilty by the jury which consisted mainly of army officers. During the trial, the question arose of whether Aboriginal people were subjects of the crown and... (Continues)
Come hearken to my story, the saddest of tales
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2017/9/20 - 23:30
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The Slaying and the Paying

When the Australian government wanted to introduce conscription to boost recruitments in 1916, the editor of the Australian Worker pointed out that workers volunteered in much greater numbers than either politicians or members of the Chambers of Commerce. Workers, whose wages were frozen, made double sacrifice in the war. They did the slaying and the paying, while their 'masters' stayed home and increased their profits.
In this bloody war my boys
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2017/4/26 - 10:50
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)
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When Can I Marry

When can I marry?
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/4/13 - 23:56
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Let's Hear It for the Politicians

Let’s hear it (for the politicians)
Tony Smith 2015
When relations with our neighbours are really tense
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/3/31 - 23:16
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)
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The Soldier's Dream

The Soldier’s Dream
© Tony Smith 2015
Oh once there was a desert war and it was a time of joy
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/27 - 10:11
Song Itineraries: Heroes
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The Human Shields

The human shields © Tony Smith
2016
Early in the century and early in the year
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/26 - 04:27
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War to End All Wars

War to end all wars © Tony Smith 2014
In nineteen hundred and fourteen
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/25 - 23:16
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)
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Domestic Terror

Domestic Terror
© Tony Smith 2015
In Martin Place with Christmas looming
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/25 - 03:07
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Sallys Flat

Sallys Flat
Sallys Flat
© Tony Smith 2016

Sallys Flat

A SMALL town 260km west of Sydney could become the dumping ground for two Olympic-size swimming pools of nuclear waste under a Federal Government proposal.

Sally’s Flat in central west NSW is one of six towns short-listed to house a national radioactive waste management facility.

The town is just 15km from the historic gold mining village of Hill End, a popular tourist site near Bathurst that draws thousands of visitors every year, including school groups.
At Sallys Flat the people are rising
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/24 - 21:20
Song Itineraries: No Nukes
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The White Feather Brigade

The White Feather Brigade
The White Feather Brigade
© Tony Smith 2015
The enemy troops use bayonets and gas
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/24 - 04:06
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)
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Conscription of Wealth!

Conscription of wealth
© Tony Smith 2015
Do you remember what happened that night
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/24 - 00:37
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)
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The Last Man and the Last Shilling

The Last Man and the Last Shilling
With war looming in Europe in 1914 Australian political parties competed to outdo one another in expressing loyalty to Britain in what was essentially a 'khaki election'. Labor Party leader Fisher promised that Australia would support Britain to the last man and the last shilling.
A bloodied young digger lay dying
(Continues)
Contributed by Tony Smith 2016/1/22 - 10:44
Song Itineraries: World War I (1914-1918)




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