Time to Face the Truth - The Herd

You make sure your blokes don’t go walkabout on Saturday, I want everyone there

at least an hour before the game.

It ain’t like that no more.

What?

I said, it’s not like that anymore.

What’s not???

Yo can’t see what’s not incarceration,

And yet not one cop yet to be locked up.

Palm Island lock up, look up, the sky’s falling,

change courts, look the law’s talking.

Saying nothing that we ain’t heard before,

in my hood, the police step out the car door.

Is it too hard?

Or is that what you’re there for?

Racial profile?

Huh, and therefore

assumptions get made.

Man it must’ve been a good dose of hate

made the country this way.

Know they took the children away.

And there’s still two systems of justice to this day.

Sorry — see, that’s a long way from sovereignty,

White fellas still get away with robbery.

Seems like we need a big corroboree,

Well we don’t have to turn our backs on the apology.

You can turn away or you can try to end the pain

if you can see how it really is.

No time to entertain thoughts with one-blood yes of course

we’re off-course as it is.

Sun beats down and burns the white skin,

forefathers armed with sticks of lightning.

Disease and booze with dehumanising,

cold iron of an empire rising.

As pale as skin as pale as death

Got swept like floodwater down full of blood.

We kidnapped children.

That’s what our enlightened pilgrims did,

they killed them.

This genocide — God’s work.

We don’t know a thing about shame,

just Darwin’s supreme.

Pass the blame like we share a dispute

The racism inherent in the endless cycle,

How can we celebrate Cook’s arrival?

Now a whole people celebrate mere survival.

What if your brother was doomed?

'd you be like Kev Carmody, he planned his own eulogy.

We’re disgracefully so far along

with half-hearted attempts to address the wrong.

This is your land I’m on.

We owe much more than money,

But that’s where we’re restarting from.

You can turn away or you can try to end the pain,

if you can see how it really is.

No time to entertain thoughts with one-blood yes of course

we’re off-course as it is.

I said, it’s not like that anymore.

What’s not…

Youse white fellas telling us black fellas what to do.

So much work to do,

so much pain still.

My heart cries out for you.

No more excuses,

no more blindfolds

We’ve got a job to do.

I’m so sorry, we’re so sorry

It’s time to face the truth.

It’s waaay overdue.

You can turn away or you can try to end the pain,

if you can see how it really is.

No time to entertain thoughts with one-blood yes of course

we’re off-course as it is.

I’m so sorry,

we’re so sorry.

It’s time to face the truth.