We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Fatal Shore

by Brian Heywood

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 AUD  or more

     

about

The Fatal Shore was a name given to the Australian colonies by the early settlers and convicts due to the harsh conditions - and the incompetence of the British governance.

However it wasn't just the new arrivals who suffered from the European influx. This is the oldest tragedy of our race where a mainly nomadic culture comes up against a stationary agricultural society - Cain versus Able.

This song is Brian Heywood's take on the Moreton Bay Aussie folk song - with the story being told by a displaced aboriginal family rather than a convict.

The song was originally recorded in 2002 at Hugh Macdonald's studio in Melbourne and completed in Bluetongue Studio on the mid north coast of New South Wales.

lyrics

One Sunday morning I chanced to stray,
Along the strand across the bay,
I heard a man his fate bewail,
and as I stood he told his tale.
"From my native home I have been torn,
with my wife and my first unborn,
and so before you here I stand,
an exile in my native land.

It seems to me just like yesterday,
your mighty vessel sailed across the bay,
you placed a flag into the strand
and with one stroke you stole our land.
You pale folk from across the sea
dispossess us with your colony,
displace my people from their land,
like water poured into dry sand.

And I who walk the forest free,
who never claimed to own a single tree.
and never take more than I need,
I eat the fruit but spare the seed.
I have no tyrant, I keep no slave,
yet you tell me how I should behave
and now you bind me with your law,
and change my Eden to your fatal shore."

© 2002, 2023 Brian Heywood

credits

released October 15, 2023
Brian Heywood - vocals, guitar
Peter Anderson - accordion
Stephan Brown - bass guitar
David Hicks - kit drums

Hugh McDonald - engineer

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Brian Heywood image

Brian Heywood Newcastle, Australia

A guitarist, vocalist, bandleader, arranger, composer, producer and award winning song writer - he is just as at home on a big festival stage in outback Western Australia as an indie live music club in the heart of London.

"Just when it seemed as if newer electric British roots bands were getting thinner on the ground - Very welcome and very good." - fROOTS Magazine (UK) " ... more

contact / help

Contact Brian Heywood

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

Brian Heywood recommends:

If you like Brian Heywood, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now