Tell Me Why by Archie Roach

Author:Archie Roach
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
Published: 2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘Open Up Your Eyes’ was the first song I ever penned sober, written at Galiamble the first time Ruby and I had given rehab a go and were living there as a couple. It was the late 1970s and I was about 19 or 20 years old. During whatever free time I had outside of our chores and the AA meetings, I would have a guitar with me, and a pen and a notebook. One time, as I started writing what I thought was a poem, having always loved poetry, I looked down at the words: ‘At fifteen I left my home, looking for the people I call my own, but all I found was pain and strife’. I realised then that writing and words, poetry and prose, have a rhythm to them. I picked up the guitar and started strumming and – bang – it just came, the melody and the rhythm and everything, all at once.

I sat back, shaking my head, and called out, ‘Hey, Ruby, I think I’ve written a song.’

‘Nah, ya haven’t.’

‘I have,’ I said, and I sang it to her.

‘Well… yeah, that’s pretty good!’

And that was it, my first song.

It was about the choices we make in life, and not always the good ones. You might be looking for something, but then you stumble across another thing that isn’t always good for you, like alcohol. People are often unhappy with what they find when they drink, and it was only during those short periods of time when I wasn’t drinking that I had the clarity and resolve to quit – I ate, I slept, I took care of myself.

Common sense told me it was better not to drink. I could see alcohol killing my friends and my family, and people dying of alcohol-related illnesses. I just assumed that that was going to be my lot in life, a hopeless situation. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for young black people back then, like there are today.

Ruby and I left Galiamble not long after, and Christmas was approaching. Of course we had to celebrate the holidays, so we had a drink – ’twas the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la. I kept the lyrics to ‘Open Up Your Eyes’ in my head, though.

In the seventies, each state held an Aboriginal Country Music Festival. In Victoria, they had the Victorian Aboriginal Country Music Club, run by Uncle Harry Williams; his wife, Aunty Wilga; and Aunty Joyce Johnson. They held their festival at Brunswick Street Oval, the old Fitzroy VFL home ground, and a talent quest was involved, with awards going to ‘Best Gospel’, ‘Best Male Artist’, ‘Best Female Artist’ and ‘Best Songwriter’.

Ruby and I went down to check out the festival, and Aunty Joyce walked past. ‘I’ve registered you, Archie Roach.’

‘Nah, Aunty Joyce, nah,’ I said. ‘I’ve just come to check it out. I’m not ready today.’

‘Come on, Archie, we love to hear you sing.’ She was like Uncle Harry, always encouraging me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.