Always a band to tackle the important topics head-on, even if means the constabulary get involved, The Bushwackers are singing up the benefits of marijuana in a rehashed version of their classic, Marijuana Australiana.
The legendary Australian bush band first released Marijuana Australiana in 1981 on their album, Faces In The Street, as an anarchic piece about the recreational drug which was frequently smoked at the time.
Performances would upset the local police who would come and have a stern ‘chat’ to enigmatic front man, Dobe Newton, and once even had him marched off stage in the middle of the song.
Attitudes have changed, so Roger Corbett, Dobe Newton and Allan Caswell rewrote Marijuana Australiana (Rehashed) to reflect the political/pharma climate and built on the existing song written by Brendan Hanley (who passed away in 2018).
The original always had people laughing along and nodding in agreement with the lyrical sentiment “better than drugs, safer than booze makes you sing like Frank Sinatra” being the main point.
Fast forward to 2020 and the marijuana story has been substantially rewritten.
“It is now widely accepted that CBD and THC are beneficial to many people who suffer illnesses ranging from Parkinson’s to epilepsy through to depression and cancer symptoms,” Roger said.
“With the USA losing 60,000 people a year to overdoses of prescription drugs and Australia following suit it seems ridiculous to continue to demonise marijuana in our society.”
With lines like “Better than those prescription drugs, makes you feel like the Dalai Llama” and “You can bake it in a cookie, you can put in your tea, you can rub it on your partner’s back” it is loaded with wry Aussie humour and makes some great points along the way and when Dobe says “How good is marijuana” at the end of the song, it sets off the mood perfectly.
Marijuana Australiana (Rehashed) was released on Friday, December 13 and is available from all digital retailers. It is the lead single from The Bushwackers album, Dyed In The Wool available during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The song is available for download from iTunes: https://apple.co/2tct2Vw
