Fans of David Bridie would know him as the frontman of My Friend The Chocolate Cake from Australia. In fact one could be forgiven for thinking that David Bridie is Ricky Ross as his voice is reminiscent of Deacon Blue's front man, to me anyway.

In his solo debut "Act of Free Choice", which is truly a "Rainsound" album of "indefinable beauty and truly dreamy" (quoted on his own website!), the first single released from the album was "The Koran, The Ghan and A Yarn". It was previously released on vinyl only and now being remixed by Moloko on his latest single called "Float".

Due to some peculiar religious faith in me, I decided to investigate further the background of this song and wow, the history of Australia was borne…

THE KORAN, THE GHAN AND A YARN
camel dust, foot tracks, flea bitten trains of the desert
sit underneath the palm tree, a fine resting place
Arab pioneer bones, Islam remains in the cemetery
a different kind of air, it's a strange meeting place,
strange meeting place down amongst the ochre all colours
and shades a pit for a painting place deep in the ground

up the Oodnadatta, well you know it's just a matter of time
up the Oodnadatta, well you know it's just a matter of time
until the sky ends

The Koran, The Ghan and a Yarn
The Koran, The Ghan and a Yarn

some sorry place true, some sorry place true
some sorry place true, some sorry place true

the King Black Crow, sweeping low, wind it blows on the gibber plain
massacre a carcass, feasting on the bones and veins

up the Oodnadatta, well you know it's just a matter of time
up the Oodnadatta, well you know it's just a matter of time
until the sky ends

The Koran, The Ghan and a Yarn
The Koran, The Ghan and a Yarn

In David's website, he described the lyrics to be "about Marree, a town in outback South Australia, a strange meeting place of cultures amongst a beautiful but desolate landscape populated by pioneering Afghan camel drivers, strange Europeans - often on the run from something - and the aborigines who had survived earlier atrocities."

Marree in aborigine means a "place for possums", located along the Oonadatta Track, hence reference to Oodnadatta in the lyrics. Oodnadatta on the other hand in aborigine means, "blossom of the mulga tree". The Oodnadatta Track was discovered by European expeditions in the late 1800s. A famous expedition led by James MacDouall Stuart, a Scotsman (our Scottish link!), founded the inner depths of Australia and redefined the map of Australia. These expeditions would not have been successful if it had not been for the Afghan cameleers who, like the Gurkhas of the Himalayas had the resilience and sense of direction, were able to understand and find their way through the harsh Australian desert.

The Afghans were imported together with their camels and settled in this part of South Australia and contributed to the history of Australian Outback. They were mainly Muslims and hence the reference to the Koran (?). "Arab bones and Islam in the cemetery" are probably references to the Afghans. Interestingly, because of the diverse group of races ie Afghans, Aborigines and Europeans settling in places such as Marree and Oodnadatta, there are three separate graveyards to differentiate between the different races and beliefs. Marree came to be known as Little Asia as the Afghan population grew and settled in the area. The camels became a useful form of transportation for the police as well as they were used for all kinds of needs including police patrol.

As a result of these explorations, railways lines were constructed from Adelaide to Alice Springs via Oodnadatta and become known as The Ghan, named after the Afghans. Today, however, this railtrack does not pass though Marree or Oodnadatta anymore and the population and economy of the area has dwindled significantly since then. The importation of Afghans and their camels subsequently dwindled when the Afghans became a "threat" to the economy and contemporary opinion of them in the outback were not always kind. The camels were killed off as pests after their useful lives and "officially" the legacy that was left by the Afghans were the Ghan and the palm dates……….when truly in my humble opinion they "founded" the Australian outback!!

The official David Bridie website