Celebrating Civil Rights Through Song At '1967: Music In The Key Of Yes'

This May marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Indigenous rights referendum, which saw 90.77% of Australians voting in favour of amending passages of the Australian Constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal people. Sydney Festival is celebrating and commemorating this crucial milestone with a world premiere production titled 1967: Music In The Key Of Yes that features some of the greatest songs of The Civil Rights Movement reinterpreted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists such as Leah Flanagan, Dan Sultan, Radical Son (aka David Leha) and Yirrmal.

When asked when he first became aware of the 1967 Indigenous rights referendum, Leha says he can't actually remember learning about it in school, but recognises the referendum as "a moment in Australia's history that we should all be proud of". He also points out it's important to ensure "those kinda things don't happen again where we deny people rights".

"It was more about just songs celebrating people with the ability to have a voice..."

Flanagan was recruited for 1967: Music In The Key Of Yes by Steven Richardson, the show's Artistic Director. "I'd worked with Steven from about 2009 to 2011 in various productions with the Black Arm Band... I've performed three productions with the Black Arm Band, so Murundak, Hidden Republic and Dirtsong," she tells.

Leha applauds Black Arm Band's shows "that went across internationally" and applauds Richardson's work as "an advocate for Indigenous rights". With Richardson at the helm, 1967: Music In The Key Of Yes is "in good hands", he assures. 

When selecting songs for individual artists to sing, Flanagan explains "the brief was quite broad". "It was more about just songs celebrating people with the ability to have a voice... I think a lot of songs spring to mind, like, there's a lot of quite prominent songs from The Civil Rights Movement... that we all grew up with, you know? Even here in Australia.

"Songs were presented to us by the Artistic Director and I kind of had a few artistic ideas of my own. I asked if I could sing a song from The Civil Rights Movement in America also because, you know, you've gotta think about the way things match your voice as well. It's all great to sing rock'n'roll anthems, but sometimes if you don't have the voice to do it...," she laughs.

On his own musical journey, Leha reflects, "At one point we thought maybe if I'm gonna sing I need to have a voice, but if the voice ain't saying much then it could actually be harming rather than healing." While Leha believes it's up to the individual artist to decide whether they choose to create songs "solely as an entertainment" or "for social change", he commends Archie Roach as someone who gets it right: "You wanna try to say something, but at the same time you wanna try to entertain the masses."

So are we allowed to know the actual songs they will tackle on the night? Flanagan hesitates before revealing she'll sing "a Curtis Mayfield song". Then Leha enlightens he'll perform "a Sam Cooke song and an Archie Roach song" on the night.