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Solid Rock (Goanna song)
"Solid Rock" is a song written by Shane Howard and recorded by Australian rock band Goanna. The song deals with issues of land rights for Indigenous Australians and was released in September 1982[1] as the lead single from the band's debut studio album, Spirit of Place. "Solid Rock" peaked at number 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report. At the 1982 Countdown Music and Video Awards, "Solid Rock" won Best Debut Single.[2] In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Solid Rock" was ranked number 13.[3] In 2021, MTV Classic ranked the song 10th during their special Top 100 Big in the 80s countdown. Background and releaseAccording to Howard, the inspiration came on a ten-day camping trip at Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) during 1980 where he had a "spiritual awakening" which brought "the fire in the belly" to the surface over injustices to Australia’s indigenous peoples. Howard said "I realised that this country that I grew up in, that I thought was my country, wasn't. I had to reassess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had dis-empowered a whole race of people when we arrived."[4] WEA were reluctant to release it as a single and Howard initially had reservations about whether commercial radio would play it because of its politically sensitive theme but Howard insisted on its release to make a statement about the European invasion of Australia.[4][5] The song was released in September 1982. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described it as "a damning indictment of the European invasion of Australia."[6] Track listing
Side A: "Solid Rock" – 4:28 ChartsWeekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
References
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