Both songs discuss the indigenous perspective on what it was like when white settlers began taking over their land. The Zollas’s song does a good job at describing this perspective in a way that a white young adult would understand. They used lyrics like “Roman-candle”, and talking about partying on a beach with your friends to draw the attention of youth to the issue of colonization.
Both these songs discuss how unfair it was for the indigenous people, and how unfair it still is. Simpson’s song says, “We don’t have to plan for the win, we always lose anyway”, this describes how because they are outnumbered, they will never win, and that the “whites” can do whatever they want to the indigenous community and they cant stop it. The Zollas’s song says, ” we drove around the edge of them and went on with our lives” this line is from the opposing perspective, how white people ignored what was happening, didn’t even care what was going on, and went on with their lives like normal.
If you pay attention to both songs and understand all the symbolism, they are both equally sad. But, if you just hear the Zollas’s song in the background and don’t pay attention to it, then it appears not sad at all. Its a lot more up-beat than Simpson’s song. Simpson’s song is slow, quiet, and monotone, to really set that sad and upsetting vibe.
Exposing truths, advocating for reconciliation and inclusivity is important to both bands/singers. Most of the Zollas’s songs are about current events and issues. As strong as the Zollas’s feel about this issue, it has no personal impact on them. On the other hand, Simpson, as an indigenous woman, has directly experienced this colonization, and more importantly the racism.
In the Zollas’s song the line, “We drove around the edge of them and went on with our lives” is opposite to Simpson’s line, “deadening regret, collection of old parts”. The Zollas’s line explains how the “white” people ignored what was happening to the indigenous community, and went on with their lives like normal. Simpson’s line talks about the need to uncover these truths, and the need to talk about them, and that the “whites” need to regret their actions in order to begin reconciliation. Two songs with the same theme, yet opposing lines. This shows how songwriters can take different paths to talk about the same cause. This raises the most awareness because explaining something in many different ways has the best chance of reaching the most people. This is shown through the differences, yet similarities between The Zollas’s song and Simpson’s song.
