08 Nov First Nations Australians, Free Palestine and Burnin’ Up – a new release
Today in Australia there was a Free Palestine concert at Federation Square in Melbourne CBD. I was lucky enough to see a First Nations individual play his yidaki, or yirdaki (in Yolgnu language) – which is a First Nations word for what is called ‘didgeridoo’ – in Colonial language, tell some stories about emus, water, bark, gum leaves and the river. . .It was very beautiful.
He said that he empathised with the Palestinian people as a population that has been (very improperly in my humble opinion) been strongly impacted by Colonial forces.
Then Lydia Thorpe, a senator in the Australian Government, spoke about the spirit of First Nations People, the Palestinian people and indigenous cultures all over the world.
She said that we need to fight for all of these communities of people who have all experienced genocide in current and/or past generations. . . ‘Free, free Palestine’ her grandson says!! Free, free Palestine.
Burnin’ Up!!
Lydia also mentioned the cleansing properties of fire. It cleanses our spirits and our spaces. ‘We get together around fires, and we talk and connect.’ So, without further ado, I would like to write about something exciting that happened recently.
Daddy Squad released a new track!! He said it was coming out on the 6th of November, , , but I didn’t find it then, even though that is also the release date as noted on YouTube . . .I am not quite sure what is going on there, , , but in my experience, Andrew has a pretty loose interpretation of the truth sometimes ((lololol)) – especially release dates! 😛 Perhaps it came out on ‘general release’ yesterday. And I was the first person to hear it on Soundcloud!!
What an absolute joy it was to listen to. Andrew said that he has been playing it live for a while, and it always ‘works’ so he decided to release it. I can see why that would be the case. The energy in this track is absolutely infectious. I was laughing, and filled with so much joy. Using horns as one of the instruments was a master stroke in my humble opinion. Horns always bring so much joy into songs that I have loved in the past. This track – Burnin’ Up was no exception.
My first impression was to wonder if Daddy Squad was giving us an education in the disco genre, as it seems to have some of those kinds of sounds. (I am not so knowledgeable about the history and roots of different music genres).
What is the purpose of this song?
Today (Australian time), Andrew said that maybe it is a protest song!!
‘Is it about the US burning itself to the ground, wrapped in a 90’s house bangerrr? You decide.’
‘Yes, it includes samples’. – @daddysquad.official
If it is a ‘protest song that you can dance to’, I think that it could potentially do a LOT of good in our world.
This makes me reflect on some of the contents of an email I sent to Andrew a few weeks ago now. . . I sent it on the 13th of October and he says that he played Burnin’ Up out on the 11th of October, so perhaps we were simply thinking along the same lines!!
It is difficult, because it seems like in the USA, there is so much ANGER, , , they are
spiralling into conflict, , , in their words, in their politics, , , in their hearts . . .
I shudder to think what their relationships are like. . . .
How to reach so many people?? And what do I want to say to them??
I don’t know, , , because they are ANGRY, , , and psychology is such a one to one (or group)
format…
people don’t usually agree to see psychologists, , , especially when they have cPTSD of
some kinds. .
– Sarah A James (2025), personal correspondence, your tunes are so lovely 🙂 thank you for sharing themÂ
To me, this song brings together the cleansing properties of fire, the kind of joy that might help to ameliorate some of the anger in the hearts of many people (in the USA, particularly relevant in this song), and an invitation to dance, either in protest or as a method for ‘shaking off the hate’.
PS< maybe dancing would help, , , ??? burn off some of that angry energy, , , are people in
the US dancing?? do you know?
My cousins posted a picture of a fire hydrant. . . remember sesame street. . ?? I am sure
some people are dancing, , , I guess they need happiness and hope in their hearts to want to
do that. . . .
– Sarah A James (2025), personal correspondence, your tunes are so lovely 🙂 thank you for sharing themÂ
I have long held the opinion that Daddy Squad is a musical comedian. . . It is hard to explain how something as ephemeral as music could make people laugh, and I understand music appreciation is so subjective, however, it is awe inspiring to think about how Andrew could translate humour into sound through his music.
This is relevant because laughter is the best kind of medicine for many things, trauma included and while music and dancing might not solve all the problems in US politics and culture, I do believe that psychological support and therapy could do a lot as well.
Links:
There are some links that Andrew posted on his Instagram LinkTree:
There are some other links in his Instagram profile bio if you are interested. I was not able to copy all of them, , , not sure why – but I have given up asking too many questions where me, my Pipeldoot and technology is concerned. 😛
There is also a link I wish to share, because if you are interested you can actually support the artist and his mission by buying the album on Bandcamp!!
https://daddysquad.bandcamp.com/album/burnin-up
I would love to hear from you if you love the song, and if you don’t, , , then I hope you will be kind. 🙂
For me, it is an ear worm. . . I am starting to feel like I ‘can’t get enough of it’. Haha.
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