The Dust of Uruzgan | Fred Smith | TEDxCanberra

In this rousing performance, singer songwriter, diplomat and raconteur Fred Smith moves from poignancy to laugh-out-loud hilarity with irreverent grace and ease. In his unique yet unmistakably Australian style, Fred brings 'The Dust of Uruzgan' to life.
Since join­ing the Depart­ment of For­eign Affairs and Trade in 1996, Iain “Fred” Smith has deployed on Aus­tralian gov­ern­ment mis­sions to Bou­gain­ville (Papua New Guinea) and Solomon Islands, and more recently for two years in the Aus­tralian-US Pro­vin­cial Recon­struc­tion Team in Uruzgan province, Afgh­anistan. Back in Can­berra, he has been heav­ily involved in shap­ing Aus­tralian gov­ern­ment policy and pre­pared­ness for work­ing in con­flict-affected coun­tries.
Con­cur­rently, Fred has developed a par­al­lel career as a song­writer and per­former on the Aus­tralian fest­ival cir­cuit. He has released sev­eral albums, and is the sub­ject of two doc­u­ment­ary films about his work in con­flict zones. His song Dust of Uruzgan was recently covered by coun­try music star Lee Kernaghan on Lee’s chart-top­ping Spirit of the Anzacs album. He was described in the Mel­bourne Age as “one of this country’s most lit­er­ate, humor­ous, intel­li­gent and empathic song­writers.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@davidtymensen2979]

Dust of Uruzgan gets me every time Fred. A great show.

[@racheljohnston3674]

Wish i had the privilege of attending one of Fred’s talks or shows in Australia. Thank you for telling our soldiers stories, I enjoyed reading the book too. I hope one day you might revisit the show again in Oz.

[@bertberthelsen9848]

This song was played at the Rememberance Service at Beerwah and certainly was appropriate to draw the public attention to the conditions of our contemporary soldiers.

[@billyvinilly8104]

In Caloundra mate, we had a Naval officer giving us his cv! I was at the wrong service!

[@brucedonnellan5564]

Great song, great book, and Fred Smith has got a great sense of humour. And all about a horrible event. Talk about a larrakin Aussie.

[@stevenowen7719]

A wonderful live version of this song. Proud to have served with Fred Smith at FOB Tarin Kowt, Oct 2010 - Jul 2011 with PRT Uruzgan (US Navy).

[@matthewkeeley4479]

Going to get the whole "THE dust of Uruzgan" package deal...

[@rickdrewer6427]

Amazing song, commentary and performance.

[@joostroelofs9531]

great song. also loved niet swaffelen in the dixi you did live in camp Holland. A litlle releave in the deploy. (3 time deployed)

[@JoshConnor-dh9nd]

Best song

[@robertbawden1702]

hey FREDDIE, when are you coming back to jerdacutup? i got a bus full of FANS waiting for your return. and I whistle this tune whilst taking a slash in the dust of Ravensthorpe. peace and love brother.(Bob the bus driver...)

[@iainfredsmith]

yep i'm overdue to play in Jerdacatup! Hopefully 2021. That's while I know...

[@jasedog5407]

That's great dig.

[@poolshark121]

I was there at Zeebrugge

[@Abby1952]

Great song. What a pointless bloody war it turned out to be though.

[@genesis3365]

True Story.

[@Beefy5039]

Always been of the opinion the the Aussies only get involved in wars cos they hate to see the Brits having a battle without out them, they feel left out

[@acmlsrtvxacmlsrtvx3059]

Gold'

[@badabing8152]

So glad those pieces of sh*t in the audience found Dust of Uruzgan so funny and cannot possibly comprehend the significance of it.

[@richardneskazhu3694]

first

[@shanemurphy1926]

Dusty Hot and dry