From Little Things, Big Things Grow single work   lyric/song  
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 From Little Things, Big Things Grow
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The apology to the Stolen Generations on 13 February 2008 marked a place in Australian history that The GetUp Mob, featuring Kev Carmody, Paul Kelly, Urthboy and Missy Higgins, have marked with the new release of the GetUp StandUp version of From Little Things Big Things Grow'. Source: http://music.ninemsn.com.au/ (Sighted 20/11/08).

Notes

  • From Little Things Big Things Grow appears on the 1991 album by Paul Kelly and the Messengers.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2008
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Koori Mail no. 425 7 May 2008 Z1507176 2008 newspaper issue 2008 pg. 22
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Nicholas Jose (editor), Kerryn Goldsworthy (editor), Anita Heiss (editor), David McCooey (editor), Peter Minter (editor), Nicole Moore (editor), Elizabeth Webby (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1590615 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story (taught in 23 units)

    'Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety.

    'The writing reflects the diverse experiences of Australians in their encounter with their extraordinary environment and with themselves. This is literature of struggle, conflict and creative survival. It is literature of lives lived at the extremes, of frontiers between cultures, of new dimensions of experience, where imagination expands.

    'This rich, informative and entertaining collection charts the formation of an Australian voice that draws inventively on Indigenous words, migrant speech and slang, with a cheeky, subversive humour always to the fore. For the first time, Aboriginal writings are interleaved with other English-language writings throughout - from Bennelong's 1796 letter to the contemporary flowering of Indigenous fiction and poetry - setting up an exchange that reveals Australian history in stark new ways.

    'From vivid settler accounts to haunting gothic tales, from raw protest to feisty urban satire and playful literary experiment, from passionate love poetry to moving memoir, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature reflects the creative eloquence of a society.

    'Chosen by a team of expert editors, who have provided illuminating essays about their selections, and with more than 500 works from over 300 authors, it is an authoritative survey and a rich world of reading to be enjoyed.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Allen and Unwin have a YouTube channel with a number of useful videos on the Anthology.

         Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009     pg. 1115-1116
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Land Anthology Yarning Strong Land Anthology South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 2011 Z1794666 2011 anthology extract poetry lyric/song drama children's South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 2011 pg. 22-23
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

y separately published work icon From Little Things Big Things Grow Paul Kelly , Kev Carmody , Peter Hudson (illustrator), Kalkarinji School (illustrator), Camberwell East : One Day Hill Affirm Press , 2008 Z1546544 2008 single work picture book children's

From Little Things Big Things Grow presents the lyrics of the Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly song of the same title, alongside the history of the Gurindji people's plight for their traditional land in the Northern Territory.

The song recounts the story of when Vincent Lingiari and other Gurindji workers walked off the Wave Hill cattle station in 1966. What began as a strike over wages and conditions became an eight-year long struggle for the return of traditional lands. It ended in August 1975 when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically poured sand into old Lingiari's hand. The book is illustrated Queensland artist Peter Hudson and the kids from Gurindji country.

From Little Things Big Things Grow is a not-for-profit project established to raise funds to provide art, heritage, and cultural facilities for Gurindji people, with the assistance of Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth.

The budding young artists who illustrated From Little Things Big Things Grow attend the local Kalkaringi Community Education Centre (CEC). Kalkaringi is a remote community approximately 500km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory. The school services both Kalkaringi and the nearby community of Dargaragu. (Adapted from Publisher's Website)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

From Little Things Big Things Grow : The Story of a 'Cultural Love Song' Ce Benedict , 2023 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , July 2023;
Paul Kelly Explains Creation of From Little Things Big Things Grow on Gurindji Country Myles Houlbrook-Walk , Michael Donnelly , Roxanne Fitzgerald , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2022;

'At this year's Freedom Day Festival Paul Kelly performed From Little Things Big Things Grow on Gurindji country, and told the ABC how the song he co-wrote with Kev Carmody came together.'
From Little Things Big Things Grow : Creating Lifelong Responsive Musical Experiences Christopher Klopper , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Global Studies of Childhood , vol. 4 no. 1 (p. 49-55)

'The Australian story of the Gurindji strike pertains to a seven-year protest by the Gurindji people, led by elder Vincent Lingaiari, demanding a return of Indigenous land that had been placed under the control of pastoralists from the late 1800s. The story of their struggle was captured by the composers Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly in 1993 in a song titled From Little Things Big Things Grow – which relates the story in terms of Australian popular ideals of mateship, courage, the battler, a fair go, the underdog getting one over on the powerful and a happy ending where the hero wins. This article uses the song by Carmody and Kelly as a metaphor for considering recent international research in musical education, music teaching and learning processes. Specifically, the author is interested in how current research captures the musical experiences of children, teachers and parents in a multiplicity of educational settings to create lifelong responsive musical experiences. Drawing on themes from the Carmody and Kelly song, in dialogue with recent international research in the field of music education, he illuminates how the master-apprenticeship relationship of interdependence, courage, commitment and access offers the potential for a happy ending where music education is the hero.'

Source: Author's abstract.
Red Truths and White Lies Charlie Ward , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Winter no. 36 2012; (p. 217-225)
Lingiari's Legacy : from Little Things Big Things Grow Martin Hodgson , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2011;

Gather round people let me tell you a story

An eight-year-long story of power and pride

British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiari

Were opposite men on opposite sides

'You probably know these as the opening lyrics to the 1991 Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song, From Little Things Big Things Grow. It is one of Australia's most important songs and most Aussies will know it - if not from its radio play or performances from Paul and Kev around the nation, then from its use by grassroots movements around Australia and in advertising campaigns. ...'
Sorry Anthem Sung To A Hopeful Nation Solua Middleton , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 7 May no. 425 2008; (p. 22)
Sound Decision for Song 2010 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 September no. 485 2010; (p. 17) 'The Kev Carmody/Paul Kelly co-written song From Little Things (Big Things Grow) has been added to the National Film and Sound Archive's 'Sounds of Australia'. The song tells the story of Vincent Lingiari, who in 1966 led what was to become an eight-year strike at the Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory. The strike and the efforts of Mr Lingiari are recognised as the beginning of the land rights movement in Australia.' Source: Koori Mail no. 485, 22 September 2010
Editorial Ali Cobby Eckermann , Lionel Fogarty , 2011 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 2 2011; (p. 8-11)
Red Truths and White Lies Charlie Ward , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Winter no. 36 2012; (p. 217-225)
Lingiari's Legacy : from Little Things Big Things Grow Martin Hodgson , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2011;

Gather round people let me tell you a story

An eight-year-long story of power and pride

British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiari

Were opposite men on opposite sides

'You probably know these as the opening lyrics to the 1991 Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song, From Little Things Big Things Grow. It is one of Australia's most important songs and most Aussies will know it - if not from its radio play or performances from Paul and Kev around the nation, then from its use by grassroots movements around Australia and in advertising campaigns. ...'
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (8)
Last amended 24 May 2018 14:46:42
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