Took the Children Away - Archie Roach

This story's right, this story's true

I would not tell lies to you

Like the promises they did not keep

And how they fenced us in like sheep.

Said to us come take our hand

Sent us off to mission land.

Taught us to read, to write and pray

Then they took the children away,

Took the children away,

The children away.

Snatched from their mother's breast

Said this is for the best

Took them away.

The welfare and the policeman

Said you've got to understand

We'll give them what you can't give

Teach them how to really live.

Teach them how to live they said

Humiliated them instead

Taught them that and taught them this

And others taught them prejudice.

You took the children away

The children away

Breaking their mothers heart

Tearing us all apart

Took them away

One dark day on Framingham

Come and didn't give a damn

My mother cried go get their dad

He came running, fighting mad

Mother's tears were falling down

Dad shaped up and stood his ground.

He said 'You touch my kids and you fight me'

And they took us from our family.

Took us away

They took us away

Snatched from our mother's breast

Said this was for the best

Took us away.

Told us what to do and say

Told us all the white man's ways

Then they split us up again

And gave us gifts to ease the pain

Sent us off to foster homes

As we grew up we felt alone

Cause we were acting white

Yet feeling black

One sweet day all the children came back

The children come back

The children come back

Back where their hearts grow strong

Back where they all belong

The children came back

Said the children come back

The children come back

Back where they understand

Back to their mother's land

The children come back

Back to their mother

Back to their father

Back to their sister

Back to their brother

Back to their people

Back to their land

All the children come back

The children come back

The children come back

Yes I came back.

The composer of this piece is Archie Roach

The form of this poem is Song Lyrics

The poem is about how the English settlers took the aborigine children away from their parents when they came to colonise Australia. They started teaching the children their traditions and traits. They also unfairly claimed the land that belonged to the aborigines.

The message of this poem is to show how the English settlers were unfair to the aborigines by taking their children away from them to teach them their ways lying to them as well. Archie Roach was one of the children who were taken away

The tone created in the poem mainly how unfair and unjustly the settlers treated the aborigines even though the land belonged to the aborigines. Also the settlers didn't have the right to take their children away.

Some techniques are:

Repetition - "Took the children away" - This phrase is used often to say that they took the children without any actual permission.

Rhyme - "Like the promises they did not keep...And how they fenced us in like sheep"

Image - "He came running fighting mad.....And our mother's tears were fighting mad" - This shows how their father was trying to refrain the settlers from taking the composer and his brothers and sisters.

My opinion of this poem is that this poem clearly shows how even though they were treated unfairly and the hurt emotionally and physically. However they kept their hopes up and the children who were taken away (aka Stolen Generation) came back to their families.