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Always Was

by Mat Ward

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about

When I came to Australia on a drunken whim years ago, I hadn't really given the country a second thought. Pretty much all I knew was that it was home to the Aboriginal people, world-famous as the oldest living culture. So, when I got here, I was shocked not only by the country's beauty, but also by its brutal history. Because my album based on protest songs was made on Aboriginal land, I thought it only appropriate that the first single should be based on an Aboriginal protest chant. The song also opens the album.

lyrics

I grew up
In England depressed
Cos there's no sunshine

One day
A mate said Down Under
It's nothing but good times

I said
I got 1500 quid
Cos my gran died

I said
Let's split the cash and
Fly to the sunshine

Always was and always will be
Aboriginal land

When we landed
I couldn't believe it
The sky's so blue

When I felt
That sun in my bones
I felt brand new

When I tasted
The food the quality was
Like nothing I knew

When I saw
The beauty around me
I went boo hoo hoo hoo hoo

Always was and always will be
Aboriginal land

But as I got
to learn the history
I couldn't believe it

Lies told
About terra nullius
Saying no one lived here

People wiped
Out by smallpox
Brought in vials here

Land taken
By legal fiction
There's been no treaty

Always was and always will be
Aboriginal land

This land
Deserves better leaders
I know who I'd choose

People who
Can look after it
Who've paid their dues

Survivors
Of its wild ways
And all its moves

White man
Has picked a fight that
He's gonna lose

Always was and always will be
Aboriginal land

credits

released September 24, 2021
Written, performed, produced, arranged, mixed and mastered by Mat Ward.

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Mat Ward Australia

Mat Ward blends future bass, drum and bass, punk and politics to come up with a different sound. He has released albums about financial markets, Apple, Elon Musk, surveillance, the media, Mars, protest chants and the climate. He also writes books and a music column that has been shared by the likes of Ru Paul, Chuck D, Tom Morello and Al Jourgensen. ... more

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