Takayna

Goanna

A hymn to the natural world, to takayna and the palawa peoples’ long custodianship of that country.

Why we wrote this song

“In 2021 Goanna’s lead singer accompanied protestors to blockade the road in the Tarkine that leads to the proposed mine tailings dam site. Having been with the protesters, three things arose in me: admiration for their determination; awe in what they sought to defend; and a song.

The song grew out of that experience. I was deeply moved by the awe-inspiring majesty of the forest and the dedication of those ‘voices crying in the wilderness’, young and old, who were defending that country. These defenders of nature are the true heroes of the 21st century. They deserve our admiration and support.”

– Shane Howard

About us as artists

Goanna are an Australian rock band which formed in 1977 in Geelong as ‘The Goanna Band’ with mainstay Shane Howard as singer-songwriter and guitarist.
The group integrated social protest with popular music and reached No. 1 on the Australian Singles Charts with Solid Rock (1982) and top 20 with Let the Franklin Flow (released under the name Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble in 1983). Their debut album, Spirit of Place peaked on top of the national albums chart. In 1982, the Goanna Band flashed across the sky in an era of Australian self confidence, leaving a lasting legacy.

In 2022 Goanna relived those treasures and embraced their wandering spirit again, touring right across the country to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that seminal album and releasing their first new song in 25 years – ‘takayna’.

About the music video

“The purpose of the Takayna film clip is inspire people to act.

takayna/Tarkine is under threat from clear-felling and mining. Chinese government mining giant, MMG, operate a long standing mine in the region, outside takayna/Tarkine, that has two sizeable, toxic, tailings dam and want to build a third toxic acid tailings dam, the size of 70 MCG’s, on public land, beside the beautiful Pieman River.

Forests are essential for all native species that rely on them for habitat. Protecting Native Forests is the most cost effective and immediate way to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises we are currently facing. The vision was to combine Rob Blakers inspirational takayna footage of the forest with the footage of Goanna performing the song live at Hamer Hall, At the end of the video the band merge into the takayna forest and the forest is left untouched.”