From Little Things Big Things Grow
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" | |
---|---|
Single by Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly | |
from the album Bloodlines | |
A-side | "From Little Things Big Things Grow" |
B-side | "Freedom" |
Released | 1993 (Australia) |
Recorded | 1991 Paul Kelly & the Messengers version 1993 Kev Carmody version 2008 GetUp Mob version |
Genre | rock, protest |
Length | 6:51 |
Label | EMI, Festival |
Songwriter(s) | Kev Carmody, Paul Kelly |
Producer(s) | Alan Thorne, Paul Kelly Paul Kelly & the Messengers version |
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album Comedy, and by Kev Carmody (with Kelly) on his 1993 album Bloodlines. It was released as a CD single by Carmody and Kelly in 1993 but failed to chart. The song was co-written by Kelly and Carmody, and is based on the story of the Gurindji strike (Wave Hill walk-off) and Vincent Lingiari as part of the Indigenous people's struggle for land rights in Australia and reconciliation.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/FLTBGG.jpg/220px-FLTBGG.jpg)
At the 1994 Country Music Awards of Australia, the song won Heritage Song of the Year.[1]
On 4 May 2008 a cover version by The GetUp Mob, part of the GetUp! advocacy group, peaked at #4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles charts. This version included samples from speeches by Prime Ministers Paul Keating in 1992, and Kevin Rudd in 2008; it featured vocals by both Carmody and Kelly, as well as other Australian artists.
Background[]
The song was co-written by Kelly and Carmody,[2][3] and is based on the story of the Gurindji Strike (also known as the Wave Hill walk-off) and in particular the role of the Gurindji leader of the strikers, Vincent Lingiari.[4] It describes how the Gurindjis' claim to their traditional lands back from the cattle station on which they worked (owned by UK company Vesteys and called Wave Hill Station) sparked the Indigenous land rights movement. The nine-year protest won public support and eventually led to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, which provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditional occupation (native title), and the power of veto over mining and development on those lands. On 16 August 1975, a small part of their land was handed back to the Gurindji people on a 30-year-lease by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, a symbolic and powerful moment in history.[5][6][7]
Evolution of the song[]
Carmody described writing the song:
"Paul Kelly and I had gone away on a camping trip in about '91 or something and we just kind of pulled it out around the campfire. Paul had a good chord progression and I thought it would be good to tell a little story over it. So, by about 2 o'clock in the morning, we had a six-minute song."[8]
— Kev Carmody, 2008
It was recorded by Paul Kelly and the Messengers for their 1991 album Comedy released by Mushroom Records. Kelly included the song on his solo albums, Live, May 1992 and Songs from the South: Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits in 1997. Carmody recorded it on his 1993 album Bloodlines supplying vocals, guitar and didgeridoo, Kelly supplied vocals, guitar and harmonica, with numerous other musicians.[9] This Carmody and Kelly version was released as a single in 1993 but did not chart. Also in 1993, an SBS television documentary, Bloodbrothers, examined Carmody and his music including this song.[10][11]
Kelly attributes the song's major influences to protest songs of the civil rights movement and traditional folk songs. The melody is borrowed from "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" by Bob Dylan, with the opening line reworked from "The Times They Are a-Changin'".
"From Little Things Big Things Grow has its roots in songs like Woody Guthrie’s Deportees and The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll by Bob Dylan. And those songs grew out of the soil of other older songs."[12]
— Paul Kelly, 2008
The lyrics are posted online on the National Museum of Australia website.[13]
Other versions[]
The song was performed on 7 July 2007 on the Australian leg of Live Earth by Kelly, Carmody, John Butler, and Missy Higgins.[14][15] The song could have been considered "the event's anthem."[16] Rolling Stone cited the performance as a highlight, stating the "whole crowd sung along – all eleven verses."[17]
The GetUp Mob, organised by advocacy group GetUp!, released a version of the song on 21 April 2008.[18] This featured elements of the apology to the Stolen Generations, made by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, on 13 February 2008, as well as former Prime Minister Paul Keating's Redfern Speech on 10 December 1992.[19] The track features Carmody and Kelly, as well as other prominent Australian artists (including Urthboy, Missy Higgins, Mia Dyson, Radical Son, Jane Tyrrell, Dan Sultan, Joel Wenitong and Ozi Batla). This version peaked at #4 on the ARIA singles chart after its 28 April 2008 release,[20] and #2 on both the Australian Chart and Digital Track Chart.[21] The video for the song was produced by ARIA winner Hackett Films, and features John Butler, Leah Purcell, Pat Dodson and Anthony Mundine. Carmody described the 2008 version:[19]
"This contemporised version of the song transforms us from a negative concept of the past to the positive possibilities of the future."[22]
— Kev Carmody, 2008
A version of the song performed by The Waifs also appears on the 2007 Kev Carmody tribute album, Cannot Buy My Soul. The song is also featured on their 2009 Live from the Union of Soul album where it is co-performed with John Butler.
In November 2009 Triple J held a tribute concert for Paul Kelly in Melbourne, with John Butler, Missy Higgins and Dan Sultan performing this song. A recording from the concert, Before Too Long, was released in 2010.
The song was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2010.[23][24]
In 2013 Joan Baez, on her first Australian tour for 28 years, included it in her concerts to great applause.
Kelly and Carmody performed the song together on 5 November 2014 at the public memorial service at Sydney Town Hall for former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who is the "tall stranger" referred to in the song.
Electric Fields were joined virtually by Jessica Mauboy, Missy Higgins and John Butler for a performance of the song recorded at the Adelaide Botanic Garden conservatory, and broadcast for the season finale of ABC Television's 6-part pandemic series, The Sound, on 23 August 2020. The cover features on Cannot Buy My Soul: The Songs Of Kev Carmody, released on 21 August 2020, which includes covers of other Carmody songs by artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Courtney Barnett, and Kate Miller-Heidke.[25]
Recognition[]
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra mounted an exhibition called From Little Things Big Things Grow: Fighting for Indigenous Rights 1920–1970 from 10 September 2009 to 8 March 2010, which told the "story of Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists who fought together for justice and equal rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people". After being dismounted, it travelled Australia until 26 May 2012.[26]
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the "most Australian" songs of all time, "From Little Things Big Things Grow" was ranked number 70.[27]
Use in advertising[]
Industry SuperFunds, which manages collective projects on behalf of fifteen industry superannuation funds, is responsible for a number of prominent advertising and marketing campaigns on behalf of its membership.[28] Its "From little things" campaign, used "From Little Things, Big Things Grow"[29] from September 2009[30][31] until the end of 2014, and it continues to use the words "From little things..." as a slogan.[32]
Track listing[]
- "From Little Things Big Things Grow" (Kelly, Carmody) - 6:51
- "Freedom" (Bart Willoughby, Carmody) - 6:49
Personnel[]
Paul Kelly and the Messengers 1991 version[]
Paul Kelly and the Messengers
- Paul Kelly — guitar, harmonica, vocals,
- Michael Barclay — percussion, drums, vocals
- Peter Bull — accordion, keyboards
- Steve Connolly — guitar, vocals
- Jon Schofield — bass guitar, vocals
Additional musicians
- Paul Burton — bass guitar
- Shelagh, Mairead and Deirdre Hannan — vocals
- Ray Pereira — percussion, cardboard box
- Ian Simpson — guitar, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel
- Ernie Dingo - Didgeridoo
Recording details
- Producer — Alan Thorne, Paul Kelly
- Engineer — Alan Thorne
- Assistant engineer — David Mackie, Tristin Norwell
- Recorded & mixed — at Trafalgar Studio, Sydney
Kev Carmody 1993 version[]
- Kev Carmody — vocals, guitar, didgeridoo
- Paul Kelly — vocals, guitar, harmonica
Additional musicians
- Steve Berry — guitar
- Murray Cook — piano, keyboards
- Leroy Cummins — lead guitar
- Salley Dastey, Lou Bennett, Amy Saunders, Will Hogg, Kirsten Mackenzie, Melanie Shanahan — vocals
- Brenda Gifford, Marlene Cummins — saxophone
- John Gillies — drums, computer sequencing
- John Lacey — didgeridoo, sound effects
- Vanessa Lucas — bass guitar
- Shan Moynihan — violoncello
- Andrew O'Phee — guitars, mandolin, vocals
- Claes Pearce — violin, viola, vocals
- John Tebbitt, Martin Cilea — computer sequencing
Recording details
- Recorded — at Megaphon Studios, Electric Avenue and Music Farm.
References[]
- ^ "Past Award Winners". Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Henderson, Nick (2016–2018). "From Little Things Big Things Grow: The story behind an iconic Australian protest song". National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
- ^ "Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)". APRA. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2008. Note: requires user to input the song titl. Note 11 Aug 2020: Search does not return anything.
- ^ Kelly, Paul; Carmody, Kev. "The Gurindji Strike" (Interview). Interviewed by Negus, George. Archived from the original on 20 November 2004.
- ^ Lawford, Elliana; Zillman, Stephanie (18 August 2016). "Timeline: From Wave Hill protest to land handbacks". ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ "Gurindji strike for their land". Deadly Story. Victoria Government. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ "Blood Brothers – From Little Things Big Things Grow". Australian Screen (National Film & Screen Archive). Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ Dunstan, Robert. "Kev Carmody". Rip It Up!. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ "Bloodlines sound recording". Music Australia. 24 January 2001. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ Harris, Craig. "Kev Carmody Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ "Blood Brothers – "From Little Things Big Things Grow"". Australian Screen (National Film & Television Archive). Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ Taylor, Christian. "From Little Things Big Things Grow". Same Same. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ^ "A tribute to Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji: Song lyrics". National Museum of Australia. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Crowded House Stars As Live Earth Begins In Sydney". Billboard Magazine.
- ^ Jolson, Jeff (7 July 2007). "First Live Earth Reviews: Australia and Japan". Hollywood Today. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
- ^ "Musicians take the bus to Live Earth". The Australian. 7 July 2007.
- ^ Lander, Dan (7 July 2007). "International Report: Live Earth Sydney". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007.
- ^ ""From Little Things Big Things Grow" by The GetUp Mob". GetUp!. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, Anna (22 April 2008). "Single samples Rudd, Keating". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ "The GetUp Mob - "From Little Things Big Things Grow"". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ "Song of Reconciliation debuts at #4". Musichead.com. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ "Rudd apology leads 'Little Things' remix". The Age. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ "Sounds of Australia 2010". NFSA. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ "Sounds of Australia". Australian Screen. National Film and Sound Archive. 11 November 1975. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ Triscari, Caleb (24 August 2020). "Electric Fields, Missy Higgins and more cover Paul Kelly for 'The Sound'". NME. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ "From Little Things Big Things Grow: Fighting for Indigenous Rights 1920–1970". National Museum of Australia. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "Industry Super set to launch new 'Compare the Pair' campaign". Industry Super Australia. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "What happens when real people meet the finance system". Industry Super Australia. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "From little things, big things grow". Campaign Brief. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ Taylor, Mike. "Industry funds launch new ad campaign". Money Management. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "History". Industry SuperFunds. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
External links[]
- 1991 songs
- Paul Kelly (Australian musician) songs
- Songs written by Paul Kelly (Australian musician)
- 1993 singles
- EMI Records singles