DESCRIPTION:
I wrote this song in Australia about fifty years ago at a time when there was a lot of discussion about Aboriginal land rights. Although written with the Australian situation in mind, the theme of displaced native inhabitants is a universal one.

Though I put up a video of this live performance (filmed by my wife) nine years ago ago, I recently came across some videos filmed by another member of the Hong Kong Folk Society including this one. I will upload the others in the near future.

This song is on my first CD: "AXIS OF EVIL and other True Stories."

Lyrics and chords:
E ........................... B7 ............ E
The dark-skinned man in the forest
........................ B7 .............. E
Is singing the song of his freedom
.... A ............... E ............... B7
A song of the land that is lent him .
...... A .............. D ................. E
To hunt and to live and to breathe in.

He sings of the good and the hard times
And the ancient unchanging past
And the land that will nourish his community,
The land that will claim him at last.

The white man rides up to the black man:
“If you’ve got a camp here, then move it.
This land belongs to me now
And I’ve got the papers to prove it.”

The dark-skinned man in the forest
Of houses and shops without cease
Sings of the loss of his freedom,
And is jailed for disturbing the peace.

You can hear a playlist of my original songs (in alphabetical order) here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PLB9F8E3B7A8822951

You can see a playlist of my Australian songs here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PL0DE11C284435E7A2


Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com