Water through music

Freshwater women and music duo Kaleena Briggs and Nardi Simpson, the Stiff Gins, are Indigenous singers and songwriters from NSW. 

Listen to their song ‘River Song’ and discuss the following:

1. The singers use the pronouns ‘her’ and ‘she’ to personify the river. Why do you think they chose to do this?
2.  What lyrics in the song give the audience a warning about the river?
   (“Cool and serine she always seems, but you have to be careful, never dive right in. She has secrets that might drag you down”)
3. What do you think the singers mean when they say “The river waits for me”? 
4. Why would the singers repeat the lyric “I look forward to the river running again”?

Compare and contrast this song with Neil Murray and George Burarrwanga’s song ‘My Island Home” sung by the Warumpi Band about the experiences of a Saltwater man being off Country in Alice Springs thinking of his home. In what ways are the songs similar and how are they different?

How does listening to these two songs explain the importance of and connection to Country for First Nations peoples?