"Gadigal Land" is a song by Australian rock band

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

featuring

Dan Sultan Daniel Leo Sultan is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for his second album, '' Get Out While You Can'' (N ...

, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and

Bunna Lawrie Coloured Stone is an Aboriginal Australian band whose members originate from the Koonibba Mission, west of Ceduna, South Australia. They first became known for their 1984 single, "Black Boy". The band performs using guitar, bass, drums, and A ...

. The song was released on 7 August 2020. It is the band's first single in 17 years, and is part of ''

The Makarrata Project ''The Makarrata Project'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian band Midnight Oil, released on 30 October 2020 by Sony Music Australia. The album is the first new material from the band since 2002's '' Capricornia'', their first studio album ...

'', a themed mini-album of collaborations with

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

artists. Midnight Oil has pledged to donate its share of any proceeds it receives from the song to organisations promoting the 2017 ''

Uluru Statement from the Heart The ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'' is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Conv ...

'', which called for the creation of a "First Nations Voice" enshrined in the

Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

. The song won Song of the Year at the

APRA Music Awards of 2021 The APRA Music Awards of 2021 are the 39th annual series, known as APRA Awards. The awards are given in a series of categories in three divisions and in separate ceremonies throughout the year: the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards and Scree ...

Background

The track takes its title from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

traditional owner Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title right ...

s, the Gadigal people (also spelled "Cadigal"), whose land extends from the

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

to South Head and through to the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

. A statement from

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...

explained: "It is a provocative recount of what happened in this place, and elsewhere in Australia, since

1788 Events January–March * January 1 – The first edition of ''The Times'', previously ''The Daily Universal Register'', is published in London. * January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fourth U.S ...

". The track lyrics use a play on the traditional

Welcome to Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is an event intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular A ...

. In a statement, the band said regarding the song:

"We've always been happy to lend our voice to those who call for
racial justice Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...
, but it really feels like we've reached a tipping point. We urge the
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
to heed the messages in the ''Uluru Statement From The Heart'' and act accordingly. Hopefully this song and ''
The Makarrata Project ''The Makarrata Project'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian band Midnight Oil, released on 30 October 2020 by Sony Music Australia. The album is the first new material from the band since 2002's '' Capricornia'', their first studio album ...
'' mini-album we've created alongside our First Nations friends can help shine a bit more light on the urgent need for genuine reconciliation in this country and in many other places too".

The song includes a verse written and spoken by Gadigal poet Joel Davison, who told ''

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

'' the experience was "validating" as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and language revivalist. Davison said: "It was kind of wild being contacted by their manager, and at first I thought it was a

scam A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their Trust (emotion), trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence ...

or something. I didn't know what to think. He expressed gratitude for his inclusion in the song, stating: "I'm glad that I was able to be there to make sure that the language of my Gadigal ancestors was heard on this track".

Live performances

Midnight Oil played the song at the 17th Annual National Indigenous Music Awards on 8 August 2020.

Critical reception

Tom Breihan from ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' described the song as "a big, bouncy rocker that sounds a whole lot like an arena jam", adding, "like so many Midnight Oil songs before it, the track is all about how Australia belongs to its Aboriginal people and about how white colonizers should get the fuck out". Michael Dwyer of ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' said: "Propelled by the Oils' unmistakable brass-studded attack, it is an uncompromising song of rage on behalf of the First Nations people acknowledged in the song's title and represented more broadly by the guest performers".

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Sony Music Australia singles Midnight Oil songs Songs about indigenous peoples Songs about Australia Songs about racism and xenophobia APRA Award winners Songs written by Rob Hirst