The Angry Hippy Song is a Feraliza classic. The story goes like this. Feraliza was living down by the Motueka river in her van in circa 2008. She had been looking for apple picking jobs but was unemployed. This may have been due to the fact that some of her eco-warrior friends had recently had a small win in their ongoing campaign against deep sea bottom trawling which had ended in the losses of quite a few fishing jobs. So the fishers got the apple jobs and that summer the ferals or "hippies" as some might call them scraped and scrounged for dollars on the streets. Poetic justice perhaps.
This was one of the hardest financial times for Feraliza. Those who had the money to give to a busker gave her grimaces, scowls and scornful mutterings. Those who loved her music were as broke as she was. The dole office refused her because she didn't have an address and told her to go back to Auckland...
She was busking every day and often only just managing to scrape together enough for some potatoes to contribute to a communal roast up at the legendary Feraldom Gallery on High st, which was the creative feral hub in town at the time and was right up stairs from our favorite establishments, Hot Mamas bar and the Four Winds cafe. Those who remember those times remember them fondly, if not clearly.
There was a pirate radio station at the gallery called "Be Aware FM". The internet cafe downstairs complained that it was the only station they could pick up. On Wednesdays it was open mic night on the radio, which meant they put a mic in the room and had a jam and a party and broadcast it to anyone in town who was listening or unable to pick up any other station.
One day a small child approached Feraliza while she was busking and asked "are you a hippy?". She smiled and replied, "I'm not sure...what does that word mean to you?"
The small girl held back laughter as she said "Well! My Mum said: 'A hippy is someone who doesn't shave their legs, or have showers, or brush their hair'"
Feraliza could only glance at her unshaven legs and matted hair and try to remember the last time she showered, then respond with "Well according to that definition, I must be! Thanks for letting me know"
Back down at the river after stripping down for a swim, the closest thing to a shower she had, Feraliza thought about all this and it struck her that this girl had been brave and had some mana about her for that. She was only repeating what her mother had said, but directly to her. Feraliza couldn't fault her for it.
Feraliza began to spiral into thoughts about what other people like the girl's Mum and the grimacing public might say about "people like her" when she wasn't around.
Suddenly the words going around her head spun themselves into a song and Feraliza laughed out loud.
The next day when she cracked out the "Angry Hippy Song" for the first time on the streets of Motueka, completely uncensored, F words and all, everything changed. Grimaces turned into grins and scowls turned into open faced laughter and $5 bills.
Ever since that day, the song has worked to break spells with people who might otherwise be expected to be in opposition to Feraliza's very existence. The very people who would say those exact things about her, hear them coming out of her own mouth and suddenly they are disarmed. The only reaction possible is laughter.
This song has worked to allow Feraliza to walk alone into an outback Queensland pub full of coal miners and end the night with one of them donating $100 towards her fine for locking onto their machines.
The ferals themselves love it just as much, because there is great catharsis in laughing at oneself.
Paddock Radio, an independent solar powered radio station which broadcasts from all over Aotearoa, made a blogpost with the following comments about the song:
This was one of the hardest financial times for Feraliza. Those who had the money to give to a busker gave her grimaces, scowls and scornful mutterings. Those who loved her music were as broke as she was. The dole office refused her because she didn't have an address and told her to go back to Auckland...
She was busking every day and often only just managing to scrape together enough for some potatoes to contribute to a communal roast up at the legendary Feraldom Gallery on High st, which was the creative feral hub in town at the time and was right up stairs from our favorite establishments, Hot Mamas bar and the Four Winds cafe. Those who remember those times remember them fondly, if not clearly.
There was a pirate radio station at the gallery called "Be Aware FM". The internet cafe downstairs complained that it was the only station they could pick up. On Wednesdays it was open mic night on the radio, which meant they put a mic in the room and had a jam and a party and broadcast it to anyone in town who was listening or unable to pick up any other station.
One day a small child approached Feraliza while she was busking and asked "are you a hippy?". She smiled and replied, "I'm not sure...what does that word mean to you?"
The small girl held back laughter as she said "Well! My Mum said: 'A hippy is someone who doesn't shave their legs, or have showers, or brush their hair'"
Feraliza could only glance at her unshaven legs and matted hair and try to remember the last time she showered, then respond with "Well according to that definition, I must be! Thanks for letting me know"
Back down at the river after stripping down for a swim, the closest thing to a shower she had, Feraliza thought about all this and it struck her that this girl had been brave and had some mana about her for that. She was only repeating what her mother had said, but directly to her. Feraliza couldn't fault her for it.
Feraliza began to spiral into thoughts about what other people like the girl's Mum and the grimacing public might say about "people like her" when she wasn't around.
Suddenly the words going around her head spun themselves into a song and Feraliza laughed out loud.
The next day when she cracked out the "Angry Hippy Song" for the first time on the streets of Motueka, completely uncensored, F words and all, everything changed. Grimaces turned into grins and scowls turned into open faced laughter and $5 bills.
Ever since that day, the song has worked to break spells with people who might otherwise be expected to be in opposition to Feraliza's very existence. The very people who would say those exact things about her, hear them coming out of her own mouth and suddenly they are disarmed. The only reaction possible is laughter.
This song has worked to allow Feraliza to walk alone into an outback Queensland pub full of coal miners and end the night with one of them donating $100 towards her fine for locking onto their machines.
The ferals themselves love it just as much, because there is great catharsis in laughing at oneself.
Paddock Radio, an independent solar powered radio station which broadcasts from all over Aotearoa, made a blogpost with the following comments about the song:
"Known for starting fights on facebook and chaining herself to mining equipment, Feraliza has an often brutal approach to her beliefs and isn’t afraid to tell you.
Her “Angry Hippy Song” throws some upbeat acoustic shade at the lounging traveller wookies stumbling around various camp sites and parking lots in the upper south island summer. "
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