Boobook
Music and words by Rachel Hore (2018)
M’lis and Judy learning Boobook at Big Sing in the Desert. Photographer credit: Amy Jean Harding
Boobook
Excerpt of Boobook sung by participants at Big Sing in the Desert 2018, recorded at Ross River Homestead, Northern Territory. This audio recording was made the first time that Boobook was ever sung by a choir.
Rachel Hore wrote this song for Big Sing in the Desert 2018. There are lots of birds in Central Australia, including the Boobook, Australia’s smallest owl. It is also known as the Mopoke or the Night Bird.
Click here to see what the Boobook looks like.
Boobook
Words and music by Rachel Hore (2018)
Reproduced with permission
My church be the ground
My church be the tree
My church be the bird, that flies high over me
It is the smallest thing
And the grandest sky
It is the love between you and I
So listen, listen
My church be the ground
My church be the tree
It stands on this land, so much longer than me
My church be the bird, of feather and wing
True to itself, it does cry and does sing
It is the smallest thing
And the grandest sky
It is the love between you and I
It is the smallest thing
And the grandest sky
It is the love between you and I
So listen, listen
Listen.