In the ‘Year of The Voice’ I thought we should remember the great and lasting changes that were the result of the Mabo victory of more than 30 years ago. Eddie Mabo and the Mer elders stood their ground, and with a crack legal team the fiction of terra nullius was extinguished, and a ‘native title’ formally recognised. I love Hamish’s swing on this track, and Jim’s lap steel - it sets a gentle, unhurried…island mood. Jim’s high b/vox and chorus guitar complete the picture. - Rob Hirst
Lyrics
Queensland, 1982
The elders of the Murray Islands, they said
There’s something we must do
Fiction, there’s a legal fiction
Of an empty land
Fight them, we’re gonna fight them
Till the country’s back in our hands
Eddie Mabo said, Eddie Mabo said
We are no longer, we are no longer shadows
We are no longer, we are no longer shadows
Later, ten years later, 1992
The High Court of Australia, they said
There’s something we can do
Fix this, we’re gonna fix this
This customary law
Title, a native title
That’s what we’re fighting for
Eddie Mabo said, Eddie Mabo said, Eddie Mabo said
We are no longer, we are no longer shadows
(it’s a crime, it’s a cover-up, it’s a crime)
We are no longer, we are no longer shadows
‘cos you’ve been guests in our house
For more than 200 years
You never brought joy or riches
You only brought trouble and tears
You’ve been smashing our laws
You’ve been slamming our doors
You’ve been beating your drums too loud
So don’t come begging when the rivers are dead
We’re not forgetting, we’re raising the rent instead
It’s a crime, it’s a cover-up, it’s a crime
We are no longer, we are no longer shadows
(It’s a crime, it’s a cover-up, it’s a crime)
No longer shadows
No longer shadows