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_____________________________________________________ Powderfinger lyrics raise no legal concern
Monday, 7 May 2007 10:54:31 AM QUEENSLAND, May 6, 2007: No legal action will be taken against Brisbane rock band Powderfinger for their song about Aboriginal deaths in custody, after the group changed the song's controversial lyrics. Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine said that altered lyrics to the song Black Tears had been examined and were no cause for legal concern. Lawyers feared the original song lyrics could prejudice a trial against former Queensland policeman, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. Hurley will face trial in Townsville next month, charged with one count each of manslaughter and assault of Mulrunji Doomadgee at Palm Island, in north Queensland, in 2004
Lawyers for the former police officer had planned to lodge a complaint about the original lyrics of Black Tears with Mr Shine before the song's release date next month.However, the band made last minute changes, and the altered lyrics will appear on their coming album. "Lawyers for Powderfinger sent Mr Shine a copy of the lyrics on Friday," a statement from the Attorney-General's office said. "Crown Law has examined the lyrics. Crown Law have advised Mr Shine's office the lyrics raise no legal concern." - AAP (From NIT)
Great band too - (mick)
Pressure on Powderfinger absurd
Friday, May 4, 2007(source)
Bullying the band to remove a track from its new album won't help the cause of police in Queensland.
By Andrew Stafford.
Show us blacks the justice, to be had here in this land.
Show us blacks the justice, for every black human being Show us blacks the justice in this white democracy When you can execute us without a trial while we're held in custody. - from Black Deaths in Custody, Kev Carmody, 1989 An island watchhouse bed, a black man's lying dead. - Black Tears, Bernard Fanning, 2007 The imminent sixth studio album of Australian band Powderfinger - which carries the somewhat unwieldy title Dream Days at the Hotel Existence - may be delayed because of the lyric content of one song, Black Tears. The song was apparently inspired by the well-known case of the death of an Aboriginal man in custody on Palm Island in November 2004. Defence lawyers for Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, who has been charged with manslaughter over the death of Mulrunji, have referred the song's lyrics to the Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine, believing they will be prejudicial to their client's case. This is, to put it bluntly, manifestly absurd. The lyrics - at least the few lines that have been printed - have been described as explosive. I would tender the view that "An island watchhouse bed/A black man's lying dead" - is no more than a prosaic statement of fact. Next to the hair-raising directness of Kev Carmody's Black Deaths in Custody, the chorus of which is printed above, it's hardly shocking. Carmody's song, however, first appeared in 1989 and pre-empted a Royal Commission into the issue. Perhaps timeliness is the problem here. Counsel for Hurley have argued that the date of the album's release, June 2, is too close the defendant's day in court for comfort. Hurley's trial begins on June 12. Well, so what? There is no suggestion that Black Tears will be released as a single. Any prospective juror would most likely have to buy a copy of Dream Days in the 10 days between its release and Hurley's trial just to hear the song. They would then have to decide if they were sufficiently affected by the song to be incapable of reaching an impartial verdict based on the evidence before them. Judges routinely instruct juries to put out of their minds information they may have heard about a case at the beginning of a trial. Presumably this includes potentially prejudicial song lyrics. Those who hold strong views that might prevent them from sitting - such as, for example, holding a grudge against police - are asked to disqualify themselves. Is Hurley's counsel arguing these are not sufficient checks and balances to prevent a miscarriage of justice against the accused? Powderfinger's management was making no comment yesterday as it sought legal advice. But the band is not likely to be convinced to pull the track from the album, nor should it be bullied into doing so. While the song may have been inspired by events on Palm Island, the lyrics are non-specific. As the band's manager Paul Piticco has pointed out, they could refer to a death in custody in the Bahamas. If anything, Black Tears is only the latest in a long line of songs - from Razar's Task Force to the Parameters' Pig City to Regurgitator's Fat Cop - to take a swing at Queensland's finest. It's not a reputation the police are likely to shake by an attempted act of censorship in an overzealous attempt to defend one of their own. Andrew Stafford is the author of Pig City: from the Saints to Savage Garden (UQP) Friday, May 04, 2007
Media statement from Powderfinger (Source) We are making a statement to clear up confusion regarding the release of Powderfinger's album "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence". The song "Black Tears" was written to bring attention to the plight of Aboriginal people in Australia. It was originally inspired by a trip that I took last year to Uluru. Despite the prevalence of literature and signage asking people not to climb on 'the rock', due to its sacred nature, there were still people scaling it. Some of the information compared ascending Uluru to climbing on the altar at the Vatican, which would be seen as highly offensive and disrespectful by most Catholics (or most people for that matter), and yet they still continue to climb. Even groups of Australian schoolkids, with their teachers and parents climbed it, actively disrespecting the wishes of Aboriginal people on their land. To me, that was another example of how far down the priority list Aboriginal issues are in this country Then, in December when the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions handed down her finding on the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomoodgee on Palm Island, I completed the second part of the song. I read extensively the news coverage of the issue and from that formed an opinion which formed the lyrics of the song It has, within the last few days, come to our attention that the hearing of manslaughter charges arising from the death on Palm Island are due to be heard by the Court on 12 June 2007. Our album is due for release on 2 June 2007 Whilst we firmly believe that the song would have no bearing upon the legal process, in the interests of removing even the slightest suggestion of any prejudice, we have included an alternative version on our album "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence". The album will be released, as planned, Saturday June 2 and "Black Tears" will be included There was never any intention on our part to influence the judicial process in this or any other matter. I hope that the song still has its desired effect which is to bring attention to the obvious disadvantage that is still being suffered by Aboriginal people in this country and in particular the issue of indigenous deaths in custody Bernard Fanning on behalf of Powderfinger |
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