I strummed and sang Red Continent to Jim and Hamish in Jim’s Oceanic Studio, Hamish taking notes, and Jim playing along on bass guitar and making Irish coffees. We attempted a few takes with parts rising and falling, then realised that the song had more forward momentum if we just layed it down on a relentless groove. It made sense with the lyric: Europe and the USA were on fire, and Australian bushfires are now terrifying and often unstoppable. Jim added some tough riffy electric bass to my acoustic, plus lots of keyboard atmos. Hamish and Jim sang some backing vocals. Then Midnight Oil producer Warne Livesey sent us a killer mix. Done! - Rob Hirst
Lyrics
Red
Red continent
Everyone knows that everything’s changing
But the ancient chains of habit are light
Till they’re too heavy to be broken
Everyone can see that the land is burning
Everyone’s learning
You’ve got to fight
Or be cast out in the open
But how do you fight a fire
When you’re running for your life?
You’re running, running for your life
How do you stand your ground
Red hot embers raining down?
It’s like catching falling knives
Like catching, like catching falling knives
Red
It’s gonna be a red continent
Look at our poor blackened country
Listen to the terrible quiet
You can see where the animals tried to flee
In the calamity
Here’s to our brave mother country
She never gave up the fight
You can stand where the birdsong
Rang through the trees
But how do you fight a fire (etc)
There’s only one road in
One road out of here
There’s only one road in
One road out of here
No way to climb over
No way to climb down
No way to slide under
No way to get around
It’s gonna be a red continent