The band who wrote April Sun in Cuba has hit out at Australian prime minister Scott Morrison for his “cynical” rendition of the 1977 hit.
In a statement, the band Dragon called the performance “a cynical move for a politician to co-opt music in an attempt to humanize themselves come election time.”
Morrison had performed the song with a ukulele on 60 Minutes, as part of a “behind-the-scenes” profile of his family life in the wake of sliding polls.
“Maybe if his trip to Hawaii had not been cut short, he could have learn[ed] the lyrics to the rest of the chorus,” Dragon said – referring to an ill-fated holiday to Hawaii the Morrison took during the 2019 black summer bush fires.
It’s not known whether Morrison picked up his ukulele skills on that trip, which his office initially tried to avoid making public. Morrison issued a statement expressing deep “regret” for “any offence caused to any of the many Australians affected by the terrible bushfires by my taking leave with family at this time”.
The song is an escapist dream of escaping in search of greener pastures, against the backdrop of possible political disaster – JFK, Castro, missiles. Dragon said in their statement it was “about a long-ago diplomatic fracas on the other side of the world”.
The band was not pleased with the association, or with Morrison using their work to rehabilitate any political fracas of his own. “Like many times before, Dragon is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons,” they said.
