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1. |
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Wadda Mooli -- Maiem we the warriors, yep
With a spear and a whap we was destined to rep
Before time -- to my very last breath
'The blood of the warrior beats in my chest'
My spear is my knowledge, tip to drive through
From my ancestors passed down to me and you
We the warriors -- yep, got spirit within
Pride in my people -- colour of my skin
Genocide, rations, Centrelink, jail
Stood up in court and shown how you fail
I am the lost warrior, father, man
Once held a spear, replaced by a tin can
Bound by tradition I'm that man on a mission
I'm a listen to the rhythm of my ancestor's vision
My ambition, the warrior, born and bred
In the name of my children I'm a use my head
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2. |
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Beautiful - welcome to Cairns - the tropical gateway to North Queensland
Beautiful - you can take it from me
Summer heat, palm trees, beach, reef and Daintree.
Beautiful - and it sounds so sweet, - tweet of lorikeet, bare feet on Murri St
A three-day trip can turn in to three weeks --
Sunshine, blue sea, tight rhymes & dope beats.
It wasn't always easy
It wasn't always paradise
My old people fought hard for land rights
There wasn't any opportunity - freedom for my community
Old people treated brutally - nothing you can do can break our spirit.
We build to last
So stomp with me
Sand beneath my feet
Now hear my people speak
Dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat
It took little a bit of time from arrival
To get our non-white history even taught up in high school.
Once lookin' down the sights of a rifle
Now, celebrating our culture and survival
Haters - like spiteful. I - break cycles,
Why? This attitude has gotta change.
It's not about black and white, or about stereotypes
Just people being treated the same.
Check it out we on track -- we ready to attack it.
Break the cycle like you break a bad habit
If you ever get an opportunity you gotta grab it
Coz our great grandfather never, ever had it
I can tell ya bro -- If you don't know where you been...
I can tell ya sis -- If you missed out on your dreams...
I can tell you that the spirit is strong, and if you know the song --
Then you can sing along with me.
We build to last
So stomp with me
Sand beneath my feet
Now hear my people speak
Dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat
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3. |
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Kaiwalawgal -- (Inner Islanders)
Maluilgal - (Near Western Islanders)
Guda Maluiglgal -- (Top Western Islanders)
Kulkalgal - (Central Islanders)
Kemer Kemer Meriam - (Eastern Islanders)
Wiswei my Pamle, where yupla gor?
(How are you my families, where are you going?)
Where the tagai (star constellation) shine,
and the sager (southeast trade winds) blow,
White sand, blue sea where the wongai grow
This TI, Tagai Buway, OH!
North, South, East, West
We representing the Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait)
Island dress - bu shell (traditional instrument) come.
Warup (traditional drum) - kap kar (traditional dance)
Pite the thrum! (beat the bamboo drum)
Kaka nali Kari ker kerem- (I am the future)
Ngay wagelaw goeygapa- (I am the future)
Kaka nali Kari ker kerem- (I am the future)
Ngalpa wagel goeygayka - (we are the future)
Zuzi's (grass skirt) to skinnies -- canoes to dinghies
Dharis (head dress) to snap-backs --
Maka mak (dance marker) to Air Jordies
Turtle to Big Mac -- dugong to snack pack
Kapkar, warup, kulap (seed rattle) to rap track.
Dress code, language, diet changed.
Pride in yumi (our) culture remains.
Four winds at my back, my plans are made -
Warrior blood flowing in my veins
Bipor Taim (in the past) peeps got ruled by the man
Ration system, no pride, no land
Slap to the face my people of the Straits
Never even got a chance to dice they own place
Don't just mark time (dance in one spot) - it's time to move on
One voice. Create a new song
Bigger than King Kong it's island rap.
I am the future -- best believe that!
Kaka nali Kari ker kerem- (I am the future)
Ngay wagelaw goeygapa- (I am the future)
Kaka nali Kari ker kerem- (I am the future)
Ngalpa wagel goeygayka - (we are the future)
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4. |
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LYRICS
We stand at the first light - feet feel sand
Paint on my skin, spear in my right hand
Written in the stars since time began
When warru (turtle) vs warrior – boy become man
Understand- my heart beat in my chest
No father following, fight to the death
Strength in the knowledge that’s mine to protect
Deep breath young bala (brother) rise to the test
He stands at the school gate – Backpack heavy
Palms sweaty, knees jelly, butterflies in his belly
Bala born ready (huh)
Life testing me - just ahead of me
Lies my destiny
Letting you know that you never alone
Ancestors protecting you, watching you grow
Star light shine, tagai taking you home
The brotherhood telling you – reap what you sow
Follow your path
Follow your road
Stars in the night sky take me home
(Whoa)
Tagai take me home.
Stands in the real world, breeze at his back
Keys to the kingdom stashed in his backpack
Map like a chart that you read after dark
Telling you – follow you path – follow your heart
From the start it was hard - we were born to dream
To be seen – to achieve, yep – born to believe
From a seed to a tree growing deep in the scrub
Boy become man who was born to love
Stands with his boy on the beach in the wind
In the same place where the first journey begins
(huh) sing to my son. Speak to the spirits in my native tongue.
(Whoa) to the beat of the drum
The journey’s just begun
Follow your path
Follow your road
Stars in the night sky take me home
(Whoa)
Tagai take me home.
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5. |
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Well you don’t have to be a copper or black tracker to see that
Unstoppable – droppin’ on the top of the drum track
Jump like ya sat on a thumbtack – WHAT?
It’s the Colli Crew come back - been there, seen and done that.
Rugrats - wiser and older
Night gets colder - boy turn to soldier
Life behind the eye of the beholder
Copped the cold shoulder, roll on like a boulder
Just like I told ya - break the chain
The Colli Crew back, come Change the Game
Haters gunna hate – Jealous gunna blame
Attacking from the back will turn a rapper to a renegade.
Let ‘em say what they gunna say
Colli Crew any day - Is it a bird or is it a plane?
Fact is - ain’t much changed
Colli Crew pump like blood in my veins
Gotta stand strong for my people
Gunna rap till they make it illegal
Gotta say my piece, gotta chase my dream
Look – Colli Crew back on the sequel
I’m about 5 foot 2
Gamilaraay boy, black from my cap to my shoe
Back rappin’ on the mic for you
Stat. Cuz - how do you do? Flash, fresh. How bout you?
Colli Crew what?
I’m eighteen and my dream - is to spit from the cliff top
Colli hip-hop got it zip locked - gone through the gift shop
Me and my brother from another mother will lift off.
Wait. Did y’all think I forgot?
I got dissed because I rapped and tried to be something I’m not.
The colour of my skin is how they used to get their win
They be like “oh he’s light how bout we just pick on him.”
Let it begin - I’m a fair skin brother
Yeh my old man’s white - I had a black grandmother
Got a handful, a mad crew of bad black brothers
We stand alone, but got strength in numbers
I been doing it tough. Bruz. Yup.
Head down, eyes red - by my mother’s bed
A Murri understand life and death
Because they ain’t coming back once they put to rest.
But what’s next? I promised my mum I’d never stop
So I ain’t gunna stop - until I’m sitting at the very top
Calling shots. Representing my mob.
Head down, fist up. Gamilaraay. Full Stop.
Gotta stand strong for my people
Gunna rap till they make it illegal
Gotta say my piece, gotta chase my dream
Look – Colli Crew back on the sequel
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6. |
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Its true been here for a long time
My crew got a mad new song line
Truth is that back in the day
My culture quickly stripped away
My aunty was a prisoner on her own land
Life in a tin shack ruled by the white man
Used like an old rag with a dog tag
Goin’ mad got banned just for being who I am
Gee sad - Like ration week
Banned from the café -- nothing to eat
Banned from the cinema, banned from the pool
Banned from the bus gotta walk to school
Coz it's a new age in the Bronx
Chased by the cops - followed in the shops
Yaandi and grog - when's it gunna stop?
From the bottom had to battle to the top
Power to the black hip-hop
Yalmanbirra - Teach
Yindyamarra - Respect
Winhangarra -Think, listen, hear, learn, respect
Walmanbiya
Been here since the first sunrise
Dreaming dancing dust at first light
Pride in my people pride in my clan
Yamma Dummarung (welcome) cuz - sacred land
Check it out people, back on the track now
Never back down we adapt to the background
Mad black sound.
BREAK
Yalmanbirra - Teach
Yindyamarra - Respect
Winhangarra - Think, listen, hear, learn, respect
Walmanbiya
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7. |
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The deep red sun sets here in the west
Over the spinifex - roots of the spinifex
Walk through the saltbush - carve desert oak
The spirit of my country speaks through the fire smoke.
No spear, no more, shoot a rabbit with a gun.
Turkey take flight, hunter run, run, run.
Ngalya pitja kukaku (Come here for meat)
Come, come, come.
Tjungu ngalkuni, (Eating together)
Family, desert sun.
Oh, oh, oh, we’re the Pitjantjatjara people
Oh, oh, oh Anangu people
Oh, oh, oh kalaya tjukurpa (Emu Story)
Oh, oh, oh, now our spirit’s still strong
Ngalya – kuwarripa - warripuwa - inma inka
(Come quickly for singing and dancing)
Cheeky papa (dog) chasing us
Payapaya ngalya pakani (Chase the dogs away and get up)
We the Pitjantjatjara people - people of the Spinifex
We the best - in the west - tjukurpa (story) beat in my chest.
Good morning, I woke up today - quarter past 8, little bit late
Hungry! Missed the mai (food) - rumbling tummy to start the day!
School starts - time to read
Time to write - time to learn
Respect to earn - things to know
Plants to grow - places to go
We love life - this life we live
Plenty to give - plenty of fun.
Plenty of sun - space to run.
Karingki tjuta (everyone’s mad) everyone.
Come! Check it out - Pitjantjatjara hip-hop.
For all my family - my grandmother and my pop
Walk like an emu – dance like an expert
Sing my song, by the campfire in the red dirt.
Kulila kalaya tjukurpa wilurara Ilkurlka.
(Listen to the emu story west of Ilkurlka)
Pitjantjatjara Anangu - ninti pulka.
(Pitjantjatjara people - smart and strong)
Oh, oh, oh, we’re the Pitjantjatjara people
Oh, oh, oh Anangu people
Oh, oh, oh Kalaya Tjukurpa (Emu Story)
Oh, oh, oh, now our spirit’s still strong
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8. |
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We wrote you a rhyme about way before time
When Gelam created my island.
He sailed the seas on a strong sager breeze
and created a song out of silence
Two islands combined - this island of mine
A paradise lost in the sea.
Malo created the lore and the clans
and the totem that belongs to me
The creatures that fly - the birds in the sky
The fishes that dive on the reef
My people - my blood - this island - I love
My spirit - my soul - my belief
Warrior nation zogo le (warrior) defend
Respect the Meriam clans. Understand?
Tag Maukie Maukie
(Hands shall not touch another man’s land)
Teter Maukie Maukie
(Feet shall not touch another man’s land)
(Hooh!)
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
My spirit – my soul
My island – my fight
My land – my right
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
Since beginning begun - my roots, my clan
My straight up - island way
The warriors fought on the sand, in the sun
and I speak recognition today
1981 - a Meriam man lodged a claim to say
Mabo and others and sisters and brothers
and mothers would ignite the flame
The flame would burn, the world would learn,
You can’t take my island away
Tag Maukie Maukie
(Hands shall not touch another man’s land)
Teter, Maukie Maukie
(Feet shall not touch another man’s land)
The spirits protecting his grave
We dream to succeed, achieve, believe!
The futures right in front of me
Now is the time for my island to shine
A paradise lost in the sea
From person to person for ages to come -
From Koiki my legacy be
My island, my dream
The future is you and it’s me
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
My spirit – my soul
My island – my fight
My land – my right
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
Small island, big fight! (yeh)
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9. |
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This is for the Gingie, The Namoi, the Up-Town Mob
Warriors, worm eaters and the water dogs
This for the young fullas, the mud runners
My sisters, my brothers – the young mothers
Yaama (welcome) cuz, welcome to Walgett - The Gate
Where the Barwon meet the Namoi - Northwest of the state
Appreciate. We all over the track
Kamileroi - black land, bringin’ it back
Yulagi Yugul (song & dance) in the sand hill
Spirit make a man stand still - shape my life like an anvil
Black land still - bawal and dhagan
Back from the dreaming to a hip-hop yarn
We’re movin, lookin for change
We’re young, back and proud and we’re still in the game
Get movin - we’re our own worst enemy
Stompin up the sand on Kamileroi territory
Minya! (what’s that) Who’s that fella ridin’ up the track
His name is Thomas Mitchell and his skin ain’t black
That’s a fact - black people rounded up around the nation
Stolen generation to Angledool Station
Facin’. Something called segregation
Invasion, racism for a whole generation
My ‘lation - Charlie Perkins on the bus
Riding for freedom said, “enough is enough”
We’re movin, lookin for change
We’re young, back and proud and we’re still in the game
Get movin - we’re our own worst enemy
Stompin up the sand on Kamileroi territory
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10. |
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I’d like to welcome you to Mully in the wild mid west
Mully wha? Mullewa - Mullewa! Yes!
Wanna hear my story? Be my guest.
My black brothers comin’ up next
Check check
Well it’s hard to accept what happened in the past.
From the bush to the Common it was hard from the start
Not allowed in town after dark.
Not allowed in the shops, or the pool or the bar.
It was written in the stars, it was written in the sand
It was written on the wall, it was written by hand – by the black man!
This is our culture, this is our land
Gotta listen if you wanna understand.
It’s a new generation, it’s a new day. Aye!
If you work then you gotta get paid
No more slaves, coz we’re living two ways
White fella, black fella should be treated the same.
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Doesn’t matter who you are
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Gotta reach up for the stars.
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Doesn’t matter who you are
Gotta be up for the task, gotta learn from the past
Be proud of who you are.
Gotta get down on the track - put Mully on the map
Proud of my culture, we bringin’ it back
Sing it out loud, proud and black
Gunna rap it out – Mullewa’s where it’s at
Gotta be strong, getting ready for the game.
Gotta be proud, no time to be shame
This is life in the fast lane – getting ready for the rain.
No pain, no gain
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Doesn’t matter who you are
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Gotta reach up for the stars.
Mullewa – doesn’t matter who you are (aye)
Doesn’t matter who you are
Gotta be up for the task, gotta learn from the past
Be proud of who you are.
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Let’s take a ride way back in time
To ‘The Gate’ in 1965
My Kamileroi people lived a life
In the shadow of cultural genocide
No pride, no rights like a living hell
Black warriors banned from the RSL
Flora and fauna, break the spell
Walgett mob got truth to tell
Freedom fighters - freedom riders
White students stood beside us
Despite those laws that tried to divide us
Still one people - blood unite us
Past behind us - future ahead
But we never be forgetting about the bloodshed bred
Raise ya hands, shake a leg,
One mob, one people. Nod your head.
Time’s right now to stand up and be counted
Black fella, white fella, gunna get it together to do better
Can you hear this listen when we shout it
Black fella white fella. Blue, white, red, black and yella.
Yo - Time passed, not much has changed
In some ways things stayed the same
Still have a hard time playin’ the game
Still get held back by fear and shame
Kids having kids, think school’s a joke
No education, no job, no hope
Rope gets tighter - gap gets wider
Time to release that spirit inside ya
Anyone can talk the talk
It takes courage to walk the walk
Coz this is a new age and the main attraction
Close that gap, cause chain reaction
Shoulder to shoulder, black and white
See through the darkness, shine the light
Takes understanding, knowledge and insight
If you’re with me, bounce on the track tonight
Time’s right now to stand up and be counted
Black fella, white fella, gunna get it together to do better
Can you hear this listen when we shout it
Black fella, white fella. Blue, white, red, black and yella
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