Here are our top 10 songs by local artists (in no particular order) to get your People-Powered Playlist started!
There’s a 1975 song by Bob Dylan called ‘Hurricane’ that you’d probably recognise if you heard it. It’s one of those timeless classics that still gets played on the radio occasionally; a song that tells a detailed story many might not realise is based on painfully real events.
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was a talented American boxer wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for murder in 1966. When Bob Dylan read the autobiography Carter wrote from prison, he became outraged by the racial injustices it outlined and visited Carter in jail.
Thoroughly moved by what he learned, Dylan then wrote a powerful protest song – and millions of people listened. ‘Hurricane’ drew a huge amount of attention to the case and helped eventually free Carter after almost 20 years of unlawful incarceration. He went on to campaign for the freedom of others wrongly convicted before passing away in 2014.
Powerful songs can motivate powerful change. And Australia has its own rich protest song history that’s stronger now than ever.
1. Treaty by Yothu Yindi
Treaty was written in response to Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s broken promise to complete a treaty with Australian First Nations people by 1990 and went on to become a massive international smash hit.
Nooky played Treaty nonstop for an hour at the top of Triple J’s Blak Out segment after the Referendum for the Voice to Parliament referendum result in October 2023.
2. Soul of my Soul [E] by The Herd feat. Sereen, Moe Omran & Big Rigs
Soul of my Soul was released in June 2024 to protest the atrocities taking place in Israeli-Occupied Palestinian Territory. It features vocal contributions from Palestinian artists Sereen, Mo and Big Rigs.
All proceeds from the song go towards providing relief to children in and around Gaza.
2. I Am Woman Tribute to Helen Reddy at the 2020 ARIA Awards
This 1971 anthem pushed for inclusivity and female empowerment at a time when a wave of feminism was demanding equal rights for women, and it went on to influence an entire generation of young girls here and around the world.
This video was a tribute to Helen Reddy filmed during the 2020 ARIA Awards, featuring Australian artists such as Jessica Mauboy, Amy Shark, Marcia Hines, Tones & I, Montaigne, and Delta Goodrem.
4. Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil
Voted #97 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time (2009), this song was written by members of Midnight Oil after seeing firsthand the seriousness of health and living conditions in remote Aboriginal communities, criticising the forced removal of First Nations people from their ancestral and sacred lands.
After becoming a worldwide hit, lead singer Peter Garrett said, “Who would have thought an Aboriginal land rights song would travel that far?”
5. Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell cover by Allday and The Veronicas
Australian artist Allday covered Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi on Triple J’s Like a Version segment in 2019.
Mitchell originally wrote this song in 1970 after noticing how much of Hawaii’s natural landscape had been cleared for conveniences like carparks.
Allday rewrote the verses to reflect the negative impact on Australia’s environment.
6. Bagi-la-m Bargan by Birdz ft. Fred Leone
Nathan Bird, aka Birdz, says:
“BAGI-LA-M BARGAN is Butchulla (Badtjala) for ‘Fighting Boomerang’ – it comes from a Butchulla yawar wirray (Song and dance) dreamt by Fred Leone several years earlier and only sung and danced in public on 5 occasions.
I reference Wonamutta (Wunnamutta) in the chorus. This is our old Pop and connection to K’gari (Fraser Island).
For me, this is what makes the song special and powerful. It represents family coming together to showcase strength, pride, and the love for who we are as Butchulla people.
The dominant narrative of Australian history neglects the fact that there was active Aboriginal resistance against European invasion. The song is inspired by this continuing resistance.
We still here. Always. ✊🏾🖤🔥❤️”
7. 77% by The Herd
A powerful statement on the institutionalised racism and policies of the Howard government leading to the Tampa affair – an inhumane response to a large group of people seeking asylum at high risk of dying after fleeing the Taliban by boat, supported by 77% of Australians at the time (2001).
8. The Children Came Back by Briggs ft. Gurrumul & Dewayne Everettsmith
In 2015, hip-hop artist Briggs created this sequel to Archie Roach’s They Took the Children Away (1990) to commemorate First Nations people who have triumphed despite the oppression of government policies in Australia, including those that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their parents.
9. Our People [E] by 3% ft. The Presets
My People by The Presets (2008) is about the treatment of refugees and has been sampled by 3% – a supergroup formed in 2023 by First Nations artists Angus Fields, Nooky, and Dallas Woods – to create Our People.
Dallas Woods: “…when I was younger, I didn’t really listen to the lyrics [of the Presets’ song] …now that I listen back, I really realise what they were talking about. So, the transition to take that from something about refugees to then make it about stuff like local refugees like us…I just couldn’t wait to get on the track.”
10. From Little Things Big Things Grow by Paul Kelly feat. Kevin Carmody
Considered one of the finest protest songs in Australian music history, this 11-verse folk epic is the story of Vincent Lingiari and his role in the 1966 Gurindji Strike, a 10-year civil rights campaign that ultimately led to the introduction of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976.
Our blogs are written by Amnesty International staff, volunteers and other interested individuals to raise awareness and encourage action around human rights issues. They do not necessarily represent the views of Amnesty International.
This article was written by Liz Malcolm. Liz works in Amnesty International Australia’s community engagement team.
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