Tuesday

From the street to the World stage

Something amazing happened to me the other morning. It was a warm Toronto morning where I was downing my second coffee for the morning in Little Italy when I read about a musician from my hometown of Perth, Australia Mr John Butler. John Butler’s rise to international recognition is a fascinating story and got me thinking about his amazing story.

Before John was selling out venues throughout the world I remember him as a busker on the streets of Fremantle, Western Australia. It was common to hear a young guy strum his guitar with his skateboard next to him and sing for the gathering crowd rain, hail or shine. He had an obvious talent though clearly a rebellious streak which potentially could have ended his career. Music is a reflection of the soul and I find myself having the ability to connect to John through his music, but what the real story here is we are talking about someone who started on the street with nothing and is now a genuine superstar.

John is an absolutely amazing musician but more importantly what defines him as a person is what he does away from the microphone. John has been an ambassador on environmental issues not just in Australia but throughout the world. John has pioneered and highlighted the need for Australians to bridge the gap with numerous issues and injustices dealt to Indigenous Australians. I like many Australians grew up with our eyes wide shut when it came to Indigenous Australians. The fact is Indigenous Australians suffer appalling health conditions, poor education and Indigenous towns reflect a war zone in a country that claims to be the “Lucky Land”.

To be honest until I followed John Butlers career I never took the time to care about the real issues in my country and the shameful past we have with the Indigenous people. Just the other day I found myself mesmerised by a young guy playing acoustic guitar and singing outside the Eaton Centre. He looked rough around the edges and on the surfaced seemed life had dealt him some tough hands.

As I watched people walk past him not willing to throw a penny in his case I couldn’t help but think about John Butler and I started thinking about who was this young guy? As a society we can judge people pretty easily and I have been guilty a thousand times of saying to a guy asking for some change “Sorry mate I’ve got nothing”. I wondered given the chance could this young guy and thousands others like him be the next John Butler? He has the talent musically, but does he have the integrity of John Butler? If we all gave him a chance would he pay it forward to future generations and leave behind a legacy that allows my future children and yours to grow up in a world with greater equality?

Musicians have the power to make us think, the power to make us act, the power to make us change. Music is far more the just words and a beat. Some of the greatest revolutions in history have been defined by musicians willing to draw attention to a problem not with guns and bullets but with a guitar and microphone. Could this young guy we pass on the street without a care in the world be the next musician in history to evoke change? Who knows but I want to find out. So rather then walking past someone down on there luck pretending to be far too busy and important, think of the person playing the guitar and not the problems they have. If humans valued the freedoms we have who knows how great the world could be. John Butler got his chance and now forever the world will be a better place thanks to a guy with a dream, some balls and a belief in a better tomorrow. Music gets us through some pretty tough times. A song is played when we die, when we get married and a song is sung to celebrate birthday. Musicians are the messengers to the people and if we lend our ear to those musicians aiming to make a change then maybe just maybe then the world John Lennon imagined about would not be a dream but a reality.