Growing up in a family of seven children in Torquay, Victoria (Australia), near the famous surfing location Bells Beach, Rudd showed a keen interest in music. While primary school-aged, Rudd used his mother's vacuum cleaner as a makeshift didgeridoo and he began playing his brother's guitar. He also played saxophone and clarinet as a child.
Before launching his solo career, Rudd began playing music as part of the band 'Xavier and the Hum'. In 2004, Rudd released Solace, his first album to be distributed by a major label.
Rudd's music is compassionate and always manages to render emotion in his fans. His songs include stories of the mistreatment of the indigenous people of his homeland; they tell of humanity, spirituality or the environment. The songs are written and sung with compassion and they urge the celebration of life.
Rudd is skilled with a variety of instruments, include guitar, shaker, didgeridoo, Weissenborn slide guitar, Tongue drum, stomp boxe, djembe, harmonica, ankle bells, and slide banjo. It's an experience to watch him perform his songs live, as he plays the guitar, digeridoo and various percussion instruments simultaneously, using a unique stage setup. But the real magic comes when he opens his mouth and his soulful voice spills upon his audience.
Rudd recalls that when he was 10, his dad took him to see Paul Simon’s Graceland tour. “I remember seeing it and knowing that that was what I was gonna do,” he says. “I had no doubt. It sort of made sense, because I’d always lived in my head, in this world of song that was my own little secret. But to see that show and that whole thing happening, I sort of felt comfortable as a human, and thought.” He learned to play the digeridoo, the 50,000-year-old wooden trumpet of the Aboriginal people, by practising on a vacuum cleaner pipe.
As a teenager, Rudd really got into songwriting. He started performing at his school, with solo gigs following. He drew inspiration from artists such as Leo Kottke, Ben Harper, Natalie Merchant and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, as well as music from diverse sources, such as Hawaii and Native American music.
As with most solo artists, Rudd has experimented playing in a band. Though it was a short- lived experiment, as Rudd quickly found that it wasn't the right way to go for him. “What I do now is just more me,” he says. “And it sounds full.”
Quotes:
“It’s all about peace and happiness,” he says of his performances. “That’s sort of the blanket that seems to sort of settle in the room, or on the venue when I play, but I sort of feel not solely responsible. I don’t really feel like it’s me and the audience. I feel like it’s all of us, one big connection and I just happen to be channeling the energy through music. It comes from the audience and channels through me and I put it back in the audience.”
“My music is about good spirit. I’m so lucky to be able to do what I do. I’m so blessed to be able to be able to travel around and play music and connect with so many people in so many places in so many cultures. It’s a gift of life as a musician.”
After the failure of his marriage in 2009, Rudd was supported in his grief and recovery by new South African bandmates, bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andile Nqubezelo. Rudd had met Moloantoa and Nqubezelo performing at the 2008 Wiesen Nuke Festival in Austria. Rudd described his connection with Moloantoa and Nqubezelo as musical, spiritual and emotional—"I feel like they were sent to me," he said.
In 2010 Rudd bought 20 hectares of property at Koonyum Range, Mullumbimby, the location was the inspiration for the name of the album Rudd would release with Moloantoa and Nqubezelo, titled "Koonyum Sun", as Xavier Rudd & Izintaba. The album moved away from the heavier sound of Rudd's 2008 album "Dark Shades of Blue" to a more up-beat style.
"Nanna", the 2015 album Rudd released as Xavier Rudd & the United Nations champions cultural understanding and condemns racism and intolerance. It features a diverse group of musicians from Australia, South Africa, Samoa, Germany, Ireland, and Papua New Guinea.
In 2018, Rudd released "Storm Boy".
Whispers
Xavier Rudd Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your eyes draw me back to the songs, it's been many moons
My mind is too young and I can't place it
The spirit within me breathes now
These old people sit here with me
My feet turned up, inside I receive it
It circles inside my head and I
I fear it with each new day
And every way these whispers reach
These whispers reach
Now they're secrets before
These whispers they reach
These are friends of country and time
And this knowledge so long denied
But I thank you, oh oh and I thank you
The day will be recognized
But our children still we deny
This is school culture simply too young to feel it
As I feeling with every breath in it
It circles inside my head and I
I fear with each new day
And every way these whispers reach
These whispers reach
Now they're secrets before
These whispers they reach
Now these whispers they reach
Now whispers they reach
Now they're secrets before
These whispers they reach
They're whispers they reach
The whispers they reach
Now they're secrets before
These whispers they reach
Whispers
Whispers
Whispers
[Foreign Content]
The lyrics to Xavier Rudd's song "Whispers" speak to the interconnectedness of the past and the present, and the weight of knowledge and spirit that is carried through generations. The opening lines suggest a feeling of familiarity with someone's eyes, yet the singer of the song cannot quite place them. This sense of recognition carries over into an engagement with the music that surrounds them - the songs draw the singer back, evoking memories and emotions that span many years.
The second verse speaks to the presence of older, wiser people who sit with the singer. Their spirits are alive and present, and the singer is able to receive their energy and insights. Despite this connection, there is also fear and uncertainty about what these whispers may bring, both in "every breath" and "every way". The final verses suggest that there is knowledge and history that has been denied, and that although the singer is grateful for this newfound connection to the country and time, there is still an acknowledgment that the next generation may not have the same opportunities to feel this connection.
Overall, "Whispers" is a song that speaks to the power of ancestral wisdom and the ways in which it can be felt and acknowledged in the present. The mysterious sense of recognition in the first verse, combined with the weight of knowledge and spirit in the later verses, creates a sense of mystery and reverence for the past that is central to the song's message.
Line by Line Meaning
I've seen you somewhere before your eyes
I have a strange sense of familiarity with you, perhaps from past experiences, which I can see in your eyes.
Your eyes draw me back to the songs, it's been many moons
Your eyes remind me of the songs of my ancestors and it's been a long time since I have felt this connection.
My mind is too young and I can't place it
I am unable to fully comprehend and connect with these ancestral songs because of my young mind and lack of experience.
The spirit within me breathes now
I feel a spiritual connection within me that is now awakened.
These old people sit here with me
I am surrounded by elder members of my community who hold this knowledge and connection with our ancestors.
My feet turned up, inside I receive it
I am open and willing to receive this knowledge and connection with my ancestors.
And I feel it in every breath in it
I feel the spiritual connection with my ancestors in every breath I take.
It circles inside my head and I
This spiritual connection and knowledge is constantly on my mind.
I fear it with each new day
As I become more connected with my ancestors, I fear the responsibility and potential consequences of this knowledge.
And every way these whispers reach
These whispers of my ancestors and their knowledge reach me in various ways.
These whispers reach
The messages and knowledge from my ancestors continue to reach me.
Now they're secrets before
These whispers were once kept as secrets, hidden from me and my generation.
These are friends of country and time
These whispers and knowledge are not just from my ancestors, but are also from the land and the passage of time.
And this knowledge so long denied
This knowledge has been kept hidden from me and previous generations for a long time.
But I thank you, oh oh and I thank you
Despite the fear and responsibility that comes with this knowledge, I am grateful to my ancestors for sharing it with me.
The day will be recognized
One day, this knowledge will be fully recognized and appreciated by my community.
But our children still we deny
Despite the potential benefits, we still deny our children from having access to this knowledge and connection with ancestors and the land.
This is school culture simply too young to feel it
Our current school culture is not equipped to teach and provide opportunities for children to connect with this ancestral knowledge and culture.
Whispers
The whispers from my ancestors and the land continue to reach me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: XAVIER RUDD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind