Tuesday 7 September 2021

Song for Adam Goodes



Apart from the fact that this is a great song, it has an interesting back story.

It was written by Paul Kelly for the documentary "The Final Quarter", which looks at the last few years of Goodes playing career.

It won the Best Original Song Composed for the Screen in the 2019 Screen Music Awards.

Because Goodes' had the temerity to object to the crowd booing every time he touched the ball, he came in for a lot of criticism.

Indigenous players are supposed to accept that casual racism without a murmur.

He didn't. Well done that man.....

The song is about his mother, and how her values forged his success as a footballer and Australian of the Year.

  

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goodes lack of popularity with the spectators was more about his smart arse attitude and sly dirt in the play. His father's ancestry had little to do with it. He played it up when he got that cheeky little girl arrested and removed from the crowd and after that he became the boogey man and got what he deserved. He had a great talent for the game but his reputation went to crap born out of his attitude. He chose to be indigenous rather than a Scot or even just an Australian because it gave him the greater advantage to achieve his goals. The media merely boosted him.

1735099 said...

Goodes lack of popularity with the spectators was more about his smart arse attitude and sly dirt in the play.
There are plenty of smart arses playing football, but they didn't cop the abuse he did. If he had not been aboriginal he would have been tolerated.
He played it up when he got that cheeky little girl arrested and removed from the crowd.
Except he didn't. He identified her. The ground security removed her, not Goodes. Read the full story - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-25/goodes-gutted-but-places-no-blame/4712772
He chose to be indigenous rather than a Scot or even just an Australian because it gave him the greater advantage to achieve his goals.
So a person of part Aboriginal heritage is suddenly not "Australian"? There are a couple of Murris who served in my section who might have disagreed with that.

Anonymous said...

"If he had not been aboriginal he would have been tolerated." BS it was his attitude and continual bad behaviour that was overlooked by the match review people that gave rise to his unpopularity. He seemed to be be impervious to criticism then and you continue with that.

"Except he didn't. He identified her. The ground security removed her, not Goodes."
I didn't say Goodes removed her...comprehension lapse.

"So a person of part Aboriginal heritage is suddenly not "Australian"?" Is that your take or merely a deflection from the truth of my comment. What I said was " He chose to be indigenous rather than a Scot or even just an Australian" There is no indication in that, that he is not one nor the other, but that he chooses one from the three that he is included in, for his benefit. Pretty simple really.

"There are a couple of Murris who served in my section who might have disagreed with that."
Along with your associates, from your ten months of overseas service to your country, I would disagree with your assertion that an Australian Aboriginal is not an Australian.

1735099 said...

You write I didn't say Goodes removed her...comprehension lapse.
OK, provide a different meaning for he got that cheeky little girl arrested and removed from the crowd. if you didn't mean you hold Goodes responsible.

Pretty simple really.
What is "pretty simple" is that Goodes is an Australian of indigenous heritage. He had no choice in that.

I would disagree with your assertion that an Australian Aboriginal is not an Australian.

That was your assertion - not mine - when you offered it as an option or choice for Goodes to make.

Anonymous said...

" hold Goodes responsible"...yes that is who was responsible and demonstrably so if you saw the video. Your statement that he didn't remove her was physically correct but I did not say that he removed her, I didn't even say he had her removed by others but that is what he did.
"
What is "pretty simple" is that Goodes is an Australian of indigenous heritage. He had no choice in that." He also had no choice in being half Scot, but his choice to be indigenous allows him to play on that. In case you haven't noticed there is nothing to be gained by claiming to be half Scottish.

"That was your assertion - not mine - when you offered it as an option or choice for Goodes to make." You have comprehension challenges that a person in your position should not be burdened with.
"He chose to be indigenous rather than a Scot or even just an Australian" There is no indication in that, that he is not one nor the other, but that he chooses one from the three that he is included in, for his benefit." Had he chosen Australian it would have included his total heritage not one part of it that suits his benefit. It is another reason he gets a lot of criticism, then and now.
There is no doubting the man's talent.
Although he spent some of his early years in Merbein in Victoria, a town that is part of the Mildura area, he is not recorded as a notable in the list on Wikipedia, when other AFL players are. I am not privy to why they haven't claimed him. Apparently he first started playing aussie rules footy there. Australian country towns are prone to claiming anyone that passes through the town if they are notable.

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