This is another old Michael Mangan song that might suit an Australia Day liturgy. I have it in his out of print collection Sing Jubilee, but it resurfaced in True Colours Shine and so can be purchased in that collection at Litmus. Michael has his lyrics up on his site in word and powerpoint form, so I put them up below. As usual I made a backing on BIAB.
1 Gathering together to understand,
To hear the whispers from this ancient land.
Dreamtime people sing us your song,
Tell us the story of where you belong.
The Earth is our mother, this land is you and me,
She holds us deep within her heart
Now everyone can see
Chorus
We’re building one future for this nation,
Come together for reconciliation,
Living in the land of the Southern Cross.
We are many melodies making harmony,
Lift your voice and sing your song with me,
Living in the land of the Southern Cross.
2 Our clans have come from far and wide,
From the Rainbow Serpent, Mother of Life,
Or on a refugee boat or a jumbo plane,
Or a sailing ship in a prisoner’s chains.
She welcome us with open arms
And claims us as her own.
We all belong together in this land that we call home.
Chorus
3 Sing this song to everyone.
The winds of change have now begun.
Blowing clouds of pain away,
Bringing in a bright new day,
Where everyone is striving for justice in this land.
We carry this dream within our hearts,
Together we can make a stand.
© 1997 Litmus Productions, Brisbane, Australia. All Rights Reserved.