"My Island Home" is popularly believed to be a song about Australia. However, it was written by Neil Murray and originally performed by the Warumpi Band in reference to their lead singer's (George Burarrwanga) home up at Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory as said by Neil Murray's Site. It was recorded in 1986 and released as a single from their second album, Go Bush in 1987 by Parole Records. It was later covered by Christine Anu in 1995 who had been a backing vocalist in Neil Murray and The Rainmakers during 1992–1993. "My Island Home" won 'Song of the Year' at the 1995 Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) Awards for Anu's reworked version of the song. It was also listed in APRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time in 2001.

Neil Murray, lead vocalist and guitarist for Warumpi Band, recalls writing the song:

My Island Home came to me on a bus one night in June 1985 [...] I had been living in the deserts of Central Australia for some six years [...] I had spent a week with our singer, George, at his home at Galiwinku in Arnhem Land. We camped on a remote part of the island with his family and had been living like kings on bush tucker and sea food caught by ourselves [...] I had to leave and make trips to Melbourne and Sydney in mid-winter to promote the band [...] I suffered an exceptional longing to be back in a boat on a tropical sea. The words came to me [...] I had no notebook with me. I held on to the tune till I got to Sydney and pulled my guitar out of the luggage to find the chords.

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