Song To Sing
Words and Music by Uncle Archie Roach, AO.
Arranged by M. S. Ferguson.
Uncle Archie Roach, AO, also known as ‘Uncle Archie’, was an Australian singer, songwriter, and storyteller. He was born in 1956 and died in 2022 aged 66.
He was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Ruby Hunter was his wife, a singer, and his musical partner.
Song To Sing is taken from his album “Into the Bloodstream” which was released in 2012.
Archie wrote it after suffering a huge personal loss following the death of Ruby 2 years earlier, and also having his own health problems.
This 1960s gospel-inspired song tells the story of one man’s journey after a life of emotional hardship.
The official video for Song To Sing is in black and white and features several other important Aboriginal Australians including Archie himself, Jack Charles, Lou Bennett and Emma Donovan.
Bring your big voices to this song – think about the lyrics in each verse, and how music and singing can ‘pick you up’ and lift your mood if you are feeling unhappy or ‘down’...Make sure you ‘sing out loud’ all the way to the end of the song!