True Blue tribute to victims
John Williamson has penned a moving tribute to victims of the Christchurch massacre.
When John Williamson heard the horrific news emerging from Christchurch earlier this month, it wasn’t long before he was moved to do what he has done for nearly five decades: put pen to paper and fingers to guitar strings, and write a song about what he was feeling.
The result is Flowers of Jacaranda (Song For Christchurch), a moving three-minute track released on digital platforms today, with all royalties from the song goingto Victim Support NZ, a registered charity that supports families affected by crime and trauma.
Its opening lines mention the accused perpetrator’s Australian home town: “What have you done to Grafton, your beautiful bushy town?/Where flowers of jacaranda are gently laying down.”
That floral image was among the songwriter’s first thoughts on that Friday two weeks ago.
“When you think about Grafton, you always think about the jacarandas,” Williamson said.
“The prettiest part about the Jacaranda Festival is when all the flowers land on the ground — it’s like a carpet of purple up the streets, and it’s just gorgeous. To have people think about Grafton differently than that is terrible.
“Like everyone, I was devastated by the deaths in New Zealand. It was even more sickening because it was one of ours. Rather than being a song about the deaths, it’s aimed at idiots that think like him, and the consequences of that sort of thing.”
Having written more than 550 songs during a recording career that began in 1970, Williamson is among the nation’s most prominent observers of Australian life and culture.
As with his signature song True Blue, his latest work — which was recorded with producer Matt Fell on Monday — proposes a series of questions rather than assuming the answers.
“What mankind do you see in your mirror?” he wonders. “What kind of world exists in your mind?”
“I’m not a commentator — I’m a songwriter, and I think poetry can help the healing,” Williamson said.
“My pleasure is the fact that people are getting the message. I feel like it’s in my top-10 songs already.”
Williamson debuted Flowers of Jacaranda at shows in Penrith and Bankstown last weekend.
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