Saturday, January 12, 2008

as i silently and sadly slipped away

spent avo with ricki my-aim:me, yessaday
running over triffids songs im doing
funny i never broke the songs down into parts before
i never realised what happened where in arrangement terms
i didnt know all the words as such
nor did i care to
when" lonely stretch" came on
i was transported to the place
i was in the song
the words and music flew past outside the dream
i was with mccomb as he realised he was lost in that bush
oh the australian bush
oh the west australian bush
lost
getting cold
gotta be running out of petrol
whats out there
a crisis of faith
memories collide in the trees
in the pines
d mc n g mc
now both gone
i hit a lonely stretch
now i gotta sing this song
a wild ride
this song is one his very best
one of the very best
maybe you have to take that lost ride
through the scrubby trees and the dead wood stones
its like davids life is always passing before his eyes
in all his songs
hes lost in the bush
but he was lost before he found the bush
no one else would have ever written this song
any way i have to learn to sing it
i heard it a hundred times
but i didnt know the words
or recognize all the things that happen in there
after doing triffids all avo
we drop ricki off
and go to state
nk has not seen the show
we share some pre show nibblies
i get called off to a meeting
the director has some things to run over
he promises me that my cue wont fail tonite
isnt that one of the great lies of rocknroll .....
it'll be working tonight......!
i say to very little laughter.
the show was a success
i watched drones from behind mixing desk......excellent stuff
i do my thing
i cant review it
in a way the odd man and song out
i am the most extremely european
i am outside looking in
i present london
for the ladies and gentlemen
i am the interpreter of carmodys words
i re-present them with a spin
i add my assent to his sentiments
i offer another way in to this song
my movements
my looks
my accent
my whole schtick
euro man
i echo his sentiments and amplify them
i show the audience another aspect
of kevs propensity for reinterpretation
i did my thing
people said it was good
i ponced around a bit
waving my hands about
etc
you had to be there
it was theatrical
greg weaver doing excellent sound for the gig
told me that as i waved my arms upwards
when i sang
these illusions
that a fluttery series of chorused echos was released
into the air around me
i had joked with him before
that i'd give him a hundred bucks
if he made me sound better than everyone else
i suppose you want that hundred now ?i asked apprehensively
uh-huh he said
everyone had a good night
i finally "got" the herd
i chatted to tex perkyns
and almost missed the grande finale
afterwoods
i waited for nk to appear backstage
she turned up n was feeling shy
and
suddenly
a thousand people
wanted to meet mr kev carmody
and his pals
so i slipped off into the night with my wife
we sat in a lantern lit park
and drank a couple of cold beers
nk had enjoyed my act
i get her to describe it over n over
pressing for arcane details
she enthusiastically recounts my exploits
and said yes
the drones were the best thing since the last best thing
and that the show had made her cry over n over
ah yes
it was the feelgood teary eyed musical hit of the year
good on ya kev carmody n paul kelly et al
uh oh
phone rings
the triffids require my presence at conservatorium
now

26 comments:

freddy mercurial said...

steven,
sounds like quite a couple of magical eves with kev. i wish i could transport myself from the usa to aus for those one of those special and rare evenings. equally so, i hope the triffids gig goes great and i also hope you and the family are in for a lovely year in 2008.
fred e murk curie

tim said...

i hope some video surfaces, a dvd perhaps. congrats on your performance
took advice of one of fiends and took a nice long listen to HOBAAL with a bottle of red and must say it is impressive....also grabbed dabble from itunes...i am really digging it...patiently waiting for pain killer...
killer
not too much longer i hope..need a new fix to sink my ears into...
have a nice weekend mr. k.

timf

MEM said...

true science will
tell you
the universe is meaningless

how could it not be?
because from that perspective
there is nothing else

but expansion
and cooling
and radiation

but we are here
to tell them they
are wrong

there is something else
the self/the non-self
the meaning

in light
of the void
it is here

it is we
who can
cause the

effect, the
change. the meaning
of it all...

jeanz said...

I hope this concert is released on dvd.I really loved the album.Never knew Carmody had such powerful songs.
Been into The Drones for awhile .I think they've played ATP recently ...so has Claire Bowdritch.
Thanks and take care
jean

Brien Comerford said...

Thank u Sk for being above the dismay and the eathly decay !

captain mission said...

oh wow i wish could have seen these shows, i bought 'Images' when it came out, it was my first introduction to contempory aborigional music and it just shook me, the music and words, the energy and passion within them and the integrity just shines through. now when i listen to 'cannot' and i hear 'london' i think to myself, wow, wouldn't it be fantastic for steve to work with him again, its such a fantastic blend of minds and talent and it works beautifully. Im sure you were just awesome, its easily the best track on the cd, and i do hope theres a dvd at some point in the future, not just to satisfy my selfish desires but also to spread kevins work around even further.

killer said...

hiya gareth
there is a dvd coming!
sk

davem said...

Cold beer in the park with the missus sounds far better than being a backstage luvvie.
Great to hear about the dvd. Should be quite a year...chrunch, painkiller and mk collab....
Happy weekend to you Killer and all your loyal fiends.
xx

princey said...

Well done sk and everyone involved, can't wait for the dvd!
Love Amanda

SHARKA BROWNE said...

Lonely Stretch is also one of my favourite Triffids songs. David McComb had such a great sense of drama. The song is on their live album too, recorded in Stockholm, I think.

Celticat said...

I read, gave me such a beautiful feeling, just awesome.

How happy I am that I can turn on my pc and read words like yours, tonight.

I wish you and Nk the very best of everything.

Love
Celticat

Thomas Thomsen, Denmark said...

I've been listening A LOT to Narcosis + More lately, Steve. Just wanted to let you know how much I love songs such as Limbo, Sleep With Me, Fall In Love, English Rose, Over, and my favourite Double Exposure. God, I love that song. I just can't seem to get enough of it. So cool. I feel the same way about Keeper from Dabble, too. Love it, love it, love it.

Thomas Thomsen, Denmark said...

Steve, you guys HAVE to record a third installment of The Church's acoustic reworkings and include the same version of Buffalo that you've performed on radio. Very, very beautiful. I only just realized that the version on your myspace page wasn't the one from your acoustic solo live cd.

Leelinau said...

^_^

veleska1970 said...

steve, this has nothing to do with the blog today, but i just wanted to say two things:

first, please give your lovely wife my sincerest condolences about her grandmother. she and your daughters are my thoughts.

and, i'm going through a substantially rough time right now myself, and it has always been in times past that your wonderful music has always helped me through it. i've been listening to a very heavy dose of the church this past week. i just wanted to say thank you.

lotza love.....

Brien Comerford said...

Thomas Thomsen:

You are right on today my friend! Narcosis and Dabble are great CDs. Keeper is an alluring, charming and wondrous song. Buffalo is one of those many masterpieces from Hologram of Baal.

Veleska=I hope all is well and/or getting better.

Animal Kingdom=John Wesley envisioned a happy afterlife for all of you. I pray he's right.

SK's renditions of Images of London and Wide Open Road are brilliant and poignant. The El Momento acoustic Cds are reminders of just how great and diverse The Church truly are(plugged and unplugged).

davem said...

Love to you Veleska.
Brian (Altres) - was that video of yours the Nick Ward Ung Mo?
xx

Fireseed said...

"i heard it a hundred times
but i didnt know the words
or recognize all the things that happen in there"

know exactly what ya mean here - there's nothing like sitting down and really listening closely, working out the subtle chord changes, the little nuances, ins and outs

it's like doing a sketch or painting of something that you have 'seen' hundreds of times before

had that experience with 'milky way', which had all these little elements that i hadn't noticed

also 'blackbird' (paul mac) with its retuning and chord shapes up and down the fretboard

sometimes the beauty is in the details...

the dean said...

I pray you're enjoying these moments, they're ledgendary, epic.

Anonymous said...

cohen in the rock and roll
hall of fame
church in aria hall of fame
THIS would make my year!!!
is there a petiton out there i can sign ...something i can do...
timf

Brien Comerford said...

I'll sign it timf!!

princey said...

I'd rather sign a petition to get sk to release PAIKILLER before my 42nd birthday!!!
How's about it sweet sk, is that too much to ask???? :)
Love greek freek

Anonymous said...

Hi SK,

I was at the concert Thurs nite, loved the show. Great song you sang, I'ld never heard it before, you would have made Kev proud. You're becoming quite the showman with the moves, maybe a natural career progression into musical theatre? (As long as there are still some Church/solo gigs).

Good to see you got a mention in the Sun Hearald today. There was a review of the show and was pleased to read "Steve Kilbey, frontman from the Church, was also extraordinary during a biting, physically evocative version of Images of London." Couldn't have said it better myself. Kev is a lovely guy, how nice of him to have his grandkids on stage at the beginning and liked the way all the performers walked past the audience onto the stage. So glad there is going to be a dvd, hope it doesn't take too long to get released.

Good luck with the Triffids show, you're in fine form, keep up the good work.

Peace & love,
Therese

Anonymous said...

the first time that i listened 'the images of london' was about 5 months ago,immediately fell in love with it. Nobody can do it better than you, dear killer. and i'm sure that would be the BEST track in the album. may you be proud of yourself, Mr.kelbey.

love*

Anonymous said...

oops. kilbey. ^^

isolde said...

the references to cardboard boxes in this song make me think about how I tried to tell you about what boxes can symbolise, way back, a year and a half ago or so, when you were in spain, that was back when I was too scared of this whole thing to speak as myself, and b.bon got into trouble for it, sorry bb I felt bad then, and I'm glad I can speak for myself now, helping anyone to find their voice and have their words heard is really a gift of self empowerment, and you are giving it in so many ways sk

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