Xavier Rudd - My Own Eyes (song for Australia)
unreleased song
from live Youtube performance on "theMusic Sessions"
[Verse 1]
D A
Since I was just a little boy, I’ve been wondering why
Bm G
This great old culture we should be helping to heal is so often pushed aside
D A
So many children taken away, so much abuse and rape
Bm G
When will it be high priority to educate and make some real change?
D A
I’ve seen it in communities, so many that it’s hard to believe
Bm G D A
Elders speaking wisdom, far beyond what they choose to teach in history
D A
And young hearts just drinking it away, understanding why their culture was so shamed
Bm G D A
Waiting for a reason, what was taken off still hasn’t been replaced
[Chorus]
D
My own eyes...
A
I saw it with my own eyes
Bm G
I did, I did (yeah, I did)
D A D A D
That’s why I know this is true (yeah, it’s true)
[Verse 2]
A D
I’ve seen it down in sacred Tassie
A
Where they’re cutting all those big old trees
Bm G D A
Forty-four football fields a day is what they clear and ain’t that hard to believe?
D A
But all for the economy, raping country that our children won’t see
Bm G D A
And even Peter Garrett is lying down when we thought that he might be the key
[Chorus]
D
Yeah, well, my own eyes...
A
I saw it with my own eyes
Bm G
I did, I did (yeah, I did)
D A D A D
That’s why I know this is true (yeah, it's true)
[Verse 3]
A D A
I’ve seen it up in Nhulunbuy, bringing alcohol to sacred soil
Bm G D A
A place still thriving with language and culture by now should just fucken’ be preserved
D A
People climbing up on Uluru, behind those fences are the people who know
Bm G D A
While Qantas is still flying to Ayers Rock, despite years and years of truth
[Chorus]
D
Yeah, well, my own eyes...
A
I saw it with my own eyes
Bm G
I did, I did (yeah, I did)
D A D A D A
That’s why I know this is true (yeah, it's true)
[Solo]
D A Bm G
D A Bm G
Heyyy Ohhh
D A Bm G
Heyyy Ohhh
D A D
[Verse 4]
A D A
And I’ve seen it in the Kimberley, part of the key to human history
Bm G D A
See there’s rock art as old as the great ice age, still there for the world to see
D A
Demolish it for industry. We’ll create so many jobs you see
Bm G D A
In a country so wealthy, still burning coal for electricity
[Chrus]
D
Yeah, well, my own eyes...
A
I saw it with my own eyes
Bm G
I did, I did (yeah, I did)
D A D A D
That’s why I know this is true (yeah, it's true)
[Verse 5]
A D
Same old things we always hear
A
Lies to fill the pockets of the rich
Bm G
No respect for culture, the animals, the environment
D A
Our future or just the air we breathe
D A Bm G
Mmmmmmmm aaaaaaaa nananaa nananaaa oooooo aaaaaaaa
[Chorus]
D
Yeah, our own eyes...
A
We’ve seen this with our own eyes
Bm G
For years we did, for centuries we did
D A
That’s why we know this is true
D
Yeah, well, my own eyes...
A
I saw it with my own eyes
Bm G
I did, I did (yeah, I did)
D A D
That’s why I know this is true (yeah, it's true)