Category: music

  • Grant Mclellan video

    Promo video for Grant McLennan’s Lighting Fires

  • Hallelujah

    Well I heard there was a secret chord
    That David played, and it pleased the Lord
    But you don’t really care for music, do ya?
    Well it goes like this
    The fourth, the fifth
    The minor fall and the major lift
    The baffled king composing Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Well Your faith was strong but you needed proof
    You saw her bathing on the roof
    Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
    she tied you to her kitchen chair
    And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
    And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Well baby I’ve been here before
    I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor
    I used to live alone before I knew ya
    I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
    Love is not a victory march
    It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Well there was a time when you let me know
    What’s really going on below
    But now you never show that to me do you?
    And remember when I moved in you?
    And the holy dove was moving too
    And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Well maybe there’s a God above
    But all I’ve ever learned from love
    Was how to shoot somebody who’d OUT DREW YA
    And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
    It’s not somebody who’s seen in the light
    It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

  • Taint nobody’s biz-nes if I do

    If I should take a notion to jump into the ocean ‘taint nobody’s biz-ness if I do, do, do, do.

    If I go to church on Sunday, then just shimmy down on Monday, ‘Taint nobody’s biz-nes if I do if I do.

    If my friend ain’t got no money and I say take all mine, honey, ‘Taint nobody’s biz-ness if I do, do, do, do.

    If I give him my last nickel and it leaves me in a pickle, ‘Taint nobody’s biz-ness if I do, if I do.

    – Bessie Smith (words and music by Porter Grainger and Everett Robbins)

  • Shelter from the storm

    ‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
    When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
    I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
    I’ll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
    In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
    Everything up to that point had been left unresolved.
    Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
    Poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail,
    Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there
    With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
    She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    Now there’s a wall between us, somethin’ there’s been lost
    I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed.
    Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
    But nothing really matters much, it’s doom alone that counts
    And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    I’ve heard newborn babies wailin’ like a mournin’ dove
    And old men with broken teeth stranded without love.
    Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
    I bargained for salvation an’ they gave me a lethal dose.
    I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    Well, I’m livin’ in a foreign country but I’m bound to cross the line
    Beauty walks a razor’s edge, someday I’ll make it mine.
    If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born.
    “Come in,” she said,
    “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

    – Bob Dylan 

  • Behind the bowlers arm

    DSC04559_glenn_mcgrath

    Originally uploaded by RaeA.


    “When the angels add my days and say my time is up
    I’ll say to them now hold on please there’s one thing you forgot
    I know each man must leave this world behind when he gets called
    But we had a deal that you won’t count the days I watched the bat & ball

    And the angels, they’ll know where to find me
    There’s no place I’d rather be
    Right behind the bowlers
    They’ll know where to find me, ten rows back with sunburnt knees
    Right behind the bowler’s arm”

    – Paul Kelly

  • Growing Older but not up

    For all those who dont feel as old as they are and never will
    I rounded first never thought of the worst
    As I studied the shortstops position
    Crack went my leg like the shell of an egg
    Someone call a decent physician
    Im no pete rose, I cant pretend
    Though my mind is quite flexible, these brittle bones dont bendChorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead

    Sometimes I see me as old manatee
    Headin south as the waters grow colder
    Tries to steer clear of the hum-drum so near
    It cuts prop scars deep in his shoulder
    But thats how it goes (thats how it goes), right to the end
    Though his bodys quite flexible, that barnacle brain dont bend

    Chorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im livin than live while Im dead

    (instrumental)

    Now dont get me wrong
    This is not a sad song
    Just events that I have happened to witness
    And time takes its toll as we head for the poll
    And no one dies from physical fitness
    So what the hell, well take it right to the end
    As the days grow more complicated the nightlife still wins

    Chorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of change blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead

    Jimmy Buffett (1980)
  • Back in the saddle again

    I’m back
    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back
    I’m back in the saddle again

    Ridin’ into town alone
    By the light of the moon
    I’m looking for ole’ Sukie Jones
    She crazy horse saloon
    Barkeep gimme a drink
    That’s when she caught my eye
    She turned to give me a wink
    That’d make a grown man cry

    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back
    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back

    Umm…come easy, go easy
    Alright ’til the rising sun
    I’m calling all the shots tonight
    I’m like a loaded gun
    Peelin’ off my boots and chaps
    I’m saddle sore
    Four bits gets you time in the racks
    I scream for more

    Fools’ gold out of their mines
    The girls are soaking wet
    No tongue’s drier than mine
    I’ll come when I get back

    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back
    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m riding, I’m loading up my pistol
    I’m riding, I really got a fistful
    I’m riding, I’m shining up my saddle
    I’m riding, this snake is gonna rattle

    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back
    I’m back in the saddle again
    I’m back

    Ridin’ high
    Ridin’ high
    Ridin’ high already

  • Grant McLennan of the go-betweens dies


    cane_fire_gordonvale
    Originally uploaded by RaeA.

    Grant McLennan was one of the great Aussie songwriters. I went off to university in 1974, a 1600 km train trip down the Queensland coast, and made the same trip up and back each year. As a result his song Cattle and Cane rang particular bells.

    I recall a schoolboy coming home
    through fields of cane
    to a house of tin and timber
    and in the sky
    a rain of falling cinders
    from time to time
    the waste memory-wastes
    I recall a boy in bigger pants
    like everyone
    just waiting for a chance
    his father’s watch
    he left it in the showers
    from time to time
    the waste memory-wastes
    I recall a bigger brighter world
    a world of books
    and silent times in thought
    and then the railroad
    the railroad takes him home
    through fields of cattle
    through fields of cane
    from time to time
    the waste memory-wastes
    the waste memory-wastes
    further, longer, higher, older

    “Cattle and cane” by Grant W. McLennan

    ps. Came across this great article by Robert Forster 

  • The shearer


    DSC03331 – shearer
    Originally uploaded by RaeA.

    Traditional Aussie song

    Click Go The Shears

    Out on the board
    The old shearer stands,
    Grasping his shears
    In his thin bony hands;
    Fixed is his gaze on
    A bare-bellied yoe,
    Glory if he gets her,
    Won’t he make the ringer go.

    Chorus:
    Click go the shears boys,
    Click, click click,
    Wide is his blow
    And his hands move quick,
    The ringer looks around
    And is beaten by a blow,
    And curses the old snagger
    With the bare-bellied yoe.
    Chorus:

    In the middle of the floor
    In his cane bottomed chair
    Sits the boss of the board
    With his eyes everywhere,
    Notes well each fleece as
    It comes to the screen,
    Paying strict attention
    That it’s taken off clean.

    Chorus:

    The colonial experience man,
    He is there of course,
    With his shiny leggin’s on.,
    Just got off his horse,
    Gazes all around him like
    A real connoisseur,
    Scented soap and brilliantine
    And smelling like a whore,

    Chorus:

  • Tunnel of Love


    DSC03180 – tunnel
    Originally uploaded by RaeA.

    Getting crazy on the waltzers but it’s the life that i choose
    Sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
    And I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
    And I don’t know where I’ll be tonight but I’d always tell you where I am

    In a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light
    she had a ticket for the races just like me she was a victim of the night
    i put a hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
    i had the one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my
    soul

    and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
    and i’m just high on the world
    come on and take a low ride with me girl
    on the tunnel of love

    it’s just the danger when you’re riding at your own risk
    she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let’s keep it like this
    it’s just a cake walk twisting baby step right up and say
    hey mister give me two give me two cos any two can play

    and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
    and i’m just high on the world
    come on and take a low ride with me girl
    on the tunnel of love

    well it’s been money for muscle another whirligig
    money for muscle and another girl i dig
    another hustle just to make it big
    and rockaway rockaway

    and girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
    like the spanish city to me when we were kids
    oh girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
    like the spanish city to me when we were kids

    she took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
    she put her hand in my pocket i got a keepsake and a kiss
    and in the roar of the dust and diesel i stood and watched her walk away
    i could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me
    stay

    and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
    and i’m just high on the world
    come on and take a low ride with me girl
    on the tunnel of love

    and now i’m searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
    searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
    in any shooting gallery where promises are made
    to rockaway rockaway from cullercoats and whitley bay out to rockaway

    and girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
    like the spanish city to me when we were kids
    girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
    like the spanish city to me when we were kids

    – Dire Straits