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lyrics

Complacent Nation
© Penelope Swales 1992

It was in the Summer of ‘91
And the recession was in full swing
But I’d never seen so many new cars on the road
And I sat tight in the suburbs and I watched it all decay
While the residents around me pretended not to notice
As I watched the suburban population
People who have never known dislocation
These are the fruit of a complacent nation
Ahh…

And the truck rolled in to Canberra
And set down their deadly loads
And the jet set settled in, and none were late
And three kinds of policeman
And one kind of journalist
And so many others crowded at the gate

While men who have never known dislocation
Bargained and sold the tools of extermination
Growing fat on the fruit of starvation
Oh, no
Oh, no…

And the Summer, it was hot and dry
Yeah, the Summer, it was long
By December my sister was carting water
From the back creek of her farm
And she said “There’ll be more
Don’t you worry, yeah there’ll be more
Just you wait
And we’ve caused this, yes we’ve caused this
And it soon will be too late

While the fruit of a complacent nation
Lies dreaming beneath the skies of damnation
Pending now is our first taste of starvation
Oh, no
Oh, no…
Ahh….

And many, many miles away
I watched in on the news
Trying to work out what was happening
Through the media’s views
And while the violence raged
The AIDEX spokesmen took the stage and said
“Let’s face it – these people are the dregs of Australia
These people are the dregs

Yeah, we’re the dregs of a complacent nation
We are the ones that comprehend degradation
We’re just people with enough imagination
To say no
To say no

And my friends drifted back in twos and threes
With arms in slings and puffy cheeks and ugly stories
And don’t you think it was overkill to use tactical response
Against peaceful demonstrators saying
“Yeah, give peace a chance”

We are the fruits of a complacent nation
And we’re aware, we’re part of the machinations
That’s driving half the world to starvation
Exploitation, degradation, dislocation, extermination
We say no
We say no

And don’t you wish
There was some way to tell those suffering people
In those other countries
That there are people here who care
And are trying to do something?
And don’t you wish
There was some way to tell the people in this country
Just half of what went on at AIDEX?
Nothing was said on the news
About a truck that deliberately mounted the pavement
To strike a young female protester
Or that the police “lost” the film that was taken of this event
Nothing was said about the fact that many police were in tears
After witnessing the brutality of the Tactical Response Group
And nothing was said
About one brave you police officer
Who put down his weapons
Crossed the lines
And sat down with the picketers
But I’m not complaining about that
No, I’m not complaining about that
What I’m complaining about

Is the people who I talk to here
Who saw it on their TV set
And said nothing really bad could ever happen here
But they deserve all they get
So say the fruit of a complacent nation
About the ones with enough imagination
To the see the part we play in the starvation
Exploitation, degradation, dislocation, abomination
We say no

credits

from Archive Vol. 2: Songs from the Borderline 1989​-​1992, released July 1, 2005
Vocals, Guitar - Penelope Swales
Recorded at 3CR by Trish Anderson, January 1992

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Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia

Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more

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