Talk In Circles - Warakurna

I always take Warakurna to be about the change in lifestyle of people who live in Aboriginal towns like Warakurna. Their lifestyle has changed form simplicity to the complexities of white-man's culture. The simplicity of their life is reflected in the line "Court fines on the shop front wall" (could this line also refer to the passage in Strict Rules where such a list of court fines was placed on a shop door?). The line "Beat the grog and save your soul" could refer to the alcohol problems that began to plague aboriginal settlements. This is undoubtedly one of the major complexities of white culture that has hit the Aboriginal people so hard.

This song reflects the community and the problems that it faces as well as the country out here where we live and work as teachers.

Warakurna is a town or Aboriginal settlement isn't it? I love this song though, the lines "Some people leave, always return" to me could be either about Aborigines leaving the town (Warakurna) or Australians in general leaving Australia but always returning.

Cam

Warakurna is yet another rallying call by one of the great protest band of our time. Educating and entertaining us at the same time. They always call attention to real life events that might otherwise be ignored. I think Midnight Oil strives for enlightenment and seeks to educate people whose musical radar has been bombarded with so much inane "love songs."

Mark Guszak