Description
This is original indie-folk with deep musical roots. It carries with it powerful, political, inspiring and often hilarious calls to action, connection and healing.
Peter Campbell – Burden of Hope
CD review by Tony Smith
TN2586-80 – $25
Peter Campbell has a rare distinction among Australian songwriters in that the legendary Peter, Paul and Mary picked up and recorded his song ‘Wild Places’, and Paul Stookey produced his second album.
In addition, in 2020, his song ‘Waited Too Long’ became the anthem for the UN International Summit on Domestic/ Family Violence in the COVID-19 Era.
Campbell is clearly a musician who has gained global respect.
While singing and playing guitar and banjo, Peter Campbell is supported by instrumentalists Brendan Gallagher, George Washingmachine, Andy Bickers, Brian Rapsey, Fiona McVicar and Ken O’Neill and backed by a number of choristers.
Campbell thanks the audience at the Berrima Sessions.
Gallagher was also involved in the technical side with Warren Barnett.
For me, the standout track for its lyrics and its accessible tune is ‘Coat of Many Colours’ which was recorded live.
It has a simple chorus consisting of the last line of each verse and the people at the Berrima Sessions in 2024 joined in enthusiastically.
The first and final verse runs:
‘We wear a coat of many colours, all the colours of the sun
‘We share the coat of humankind, this coat fits everyone
‘We wear a coat of many colours from the greatest to the least
‘We will not wear a coat of arms, we wear the coat of peace
‘We will not wear a coat of arms, we wear the coat of peace
‘We will not wear a coat of arms, we wear the coat of peace’
The other live track, ‘Same Science’ is so packed with lyrics that it resembles a stream of consciousness.
Campbell’s concern here is the way politicians ignore inconvenient facts – ‘just cherry pick the bits that suitcha’.
‘Three Times Over’ complements this track neatly, expressing concern for the uses we make of our native timbers, and by extension to all resources.
Campbell advises:
‘Think it three times over
‘Take its measure twice
‘Take it careful, cut it once
‘A little patience is the price’.
In the context of the album, the title track has a central place.
As ‘it’s the wheel of history we turn’ it is time to take seriously the continued dispossession and cultural genocide we practise against our Indigenous peoples.
Campbell recognises the paradox here in that these are the very people who could help us defy the ravages of climate change.
The final track ‘Waiting on the Weather’, which has vocals by Bow Campbell, has several themes but highlights issues of climate change and belonging to the land.
A standout personal track Campbell wrote in 1988.
‘Brindabella Blue’ describes the feeling he experiences when driving towards Canberra from Sydney and spies the famous mountain range towering over the national capital.
The song features vocals by Jo Caseley.
This blue differs from that of the eponymous Blue Mountains west of Sydney and from the blue of the ocean.
Campbell sees a woman whose smile took his breath away but:
‘It was her eyes and not her smile that were the clue
‘bright as a mountain morning, soft as an autumn moon
‘and a colour I’d call Brindabella Blue’.
The remaining tracks, ‘Emigre’, ‘A Little Grace’, ‘Long Hard Look’, ‘I’m Not Saying’ and ‘Half the World Away’ all have much to enjoy.
Peter Campbell’s voice might have aged a little, which is only natural, but that does not suppress his determination to make genuine contact with people.
Perhaps hope can be a burden because you have a responsibility to share it, but as Peter Campbell points out, evening might be settling in where you are but the sun is always shining brightly in some other part of the world.
Ed. Peter Campbell has two albums available for sale on the Trad&Now website.
Both have been uploaded to Trad&Now Live! and can be heard there from time to time, but particularly during the recent arrivals segment which airs from 12noon to 1 pm daily.
