| "My Island Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1987 single cover | ||||
| Single byWarumpi Band | ||||
| from the albumGo Bush! | ||||
| B-side | "Didjeridoo Blue" | |||
| Released | 12 January 1987[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:58 | |||
| Label | Parole | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Murray | |||
| Warumpi Band singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"My Island Home" is a rock song written byNeil Murray forGeorge Burarrwanga. It was originally performed by theWarumpi Band. The song references lead singer's (George Burarrwanga) home up atElcho Island off the coast ofArnhem Land in theNorthern Territory.[2][3] It was recorded in 1986 and released as a single from their second album,Go Bush!, in January 1987.[1]
It was covered byChristine Anu in 1995; she had been a backing vocalist in Neil Murray and The Rainmakers during 1992–1993.
"My Island Home" won 'Song of the Year' at the 1995Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)Awards for Anu's reworked version of the song.[3][4] It was also listed in theAPRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time in 2001.[5]
Neil Murray,vocalist andguitarist forWarumpi Band, recalls writing the song:
My Island Home came to me on a bus one night in June 1985 [...] I had been living in the deserts of Central Australia for some six years [...] I had spent a week with our singer,George, at his home atGaliwinku inArnhem Land. We camped on a remote part of the island with his family and had been living like kings onbush tucker and seafood caught by ourselves [...] I had to leave and make trips to Melbourne and Sydney in mid-winter to promote the band [...] I suffered an exceptional longing to be back in a boat on a tropical sea. The words came to me [...] I had no notebook with me. I held on to the tune till I got to Sydney and pulled my guitar out of the luggage to find the chords.[6][7]
— Neil Murray
It was first recorded in 1986 and released on the Warumpi Band's second albumGo Bush! by Parole Records in 1987.[6] Rrurrumbu would later record a version of it in theGumatj language for his debut solo albumNerbu Message.[7]
| "Island Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byChristine Anu | ||||
| from the albumStylin' Up | ||||
| B-side | "Kulba Yaday" | |||
| Released | 23 January 1995[8] | |||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||
| Genre | World | |||
| Length | 3:51 | |||
| Label | Parole | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Murray | |||
| Producer(s) | David Bridie | |||
| Christine Anu singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In January 1995,Christine Anu released a version of the song as the second single from her debut studio album,Stylin' Up. Anu, aTorres Strait Islander, changed some lyrics to reflect her circumstances.[9] e.g.: Rather than moving to the desert, she compares island life to the city life, and from the point of view of a woman. In the music video, it intercedes between her singing, and an Aboriginal man deciding to drop his job as a cleaner, and start running through the city, the desert, and finally to the ocean. When he gets there, he swims to his home island and waves at his kid and wife.
At the 1995APRA Awards, "My Island Home" won Song of the Year.[4] At theARIA Music Awards of 1995, "Island Home" was nominated forSong of the Year, but lost to "Chains" byTina Arena.
Despite peaking at number 67 on theAustralian singles chart, it spent 20 weeks on the national top 100 chart.[10] The song was voted at number 47 in theTriple J Hottest 100, 1995.
Anu performed the song at theclosing ceremony of the2000 Summer Olympics and atopening ceremony of the2000 Summer Paralympics inSydney. The song was also listed inAPRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time in 2001.[5]
Anu re-recorded the song for her second albumCome My Way in 2000, subtitled "Earth Beat" version, which removed the echoed effects during the choruses, but added subtle synth effects and more prominent guitar during the song, making it sound more rhythmic and polished, whereas the original was driven more with a drum beat.
In 2016, Anu's rendition was inducted into theNational Film and Sound Archive'sSounds of Australia.[11]
In 2018, Anu performed the song at theopening ceremony of the2018 Commonwealth Games inGold Coast.[12]
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[10] | 67 |
Aboriginal bandTiddas has also recorded a version of the song for theRadiance soundtrack.[7]
