The opening song Breathing is a statement of survival, of leaving one life and beginning another. Regrets, isolation and loneliness litter this track. The funny thing is whilst the subject of the track is fairly serious the writing of it was a joy. Long time friends, James McNickel and Dan Meiklejohn came to Sydney one weekend and the initial lyrics were written on a napkin at dinner. Most of the song was then completed over the course of a pretty wild evening. It heralded the beginning of what would become a very creative, bonding period of writing between the three of us.
Too Late (to Learn to Crawl) started off as a tale of a degenerate gambler, who has to give it one more try, one more roll of the dice. However, more and more it became about growing older and realising that certain parts of my life were now over and the importance of keeping one’s dignity (when others are quick to offer theirs up so cheaply.)
With Really Want I had written a pretty catchy song but one I couldn’t take it too seriously. Time and again though James and Dan convinced me it was worthy of finishing and putting on the record. Mostly in love songs the first person is proclaiming his or her feelings about another and pledging his/her love. In this what I tried to do was say arrogantly “This is who I am.” “I am the one, look no further”. By the songs conclusion however, I am pleading to be seen or recognised and the bravado is gone. I’ve always loved English bands like The Smiths and The La’s and wanted to emulate the jangling, loping guitars of some of their songs. This song is among the lighter ones on the album and hopefully reflects another side lyrically than perhaps previous albums have shown.
I was holidaying in New Zealand with a couple of friends one summer.
We had close to the most perfect time that trip and I was taken to a very idyllic untouched part of the country, to a remote place I named “the magic beach”.
The memories of this time are juxtaposed in the song Gotta Run with the subsequent break-up of the relationship I was in at that period. It’s one of the first written on the album, it’s a sad song I guess but I think it has a yearning quality that I find uplifting when singing it. I heard the REM song “I’ll take the rain” during the period of writing this one and wanted to somehow capture the emotion of that track. A lot of my songs have the theme of commitment about them and it’s usually me doing the running away. This time it was different.
Steve Garden did a beautiful job with the atmosphere of this one and took it to a higher realm. I co-wrote Gotta Run with Bob Shepheard who showed me a better way with the chords and developed the melody of the chorus and bridge. His keys and slide guitar work are wonderfully understated too.
Lyrically Not For Free is a conversation between two secret lovers. One wants to bring the relationship out into the open while the other likes things the way they are. So obviously something’s got to give. I had been listening to a lot of Jackson Browne’s work during the writing of this. I became very attracted to the honest, direct and yet poetic nature of his songwriting as well as his incredible songbird-like quality of his voice. He’s been criticised by some for his over romanticism but for me he could probably sing the phonebook and make it meaningful
I wasn’t completely sold on Damage at first but Bob Shepheard was knocked out by my early demo of it and convinced me of its place on the album. We also decided it was better without drums and would really cut deeper with a grand piano. Chiefly it describes a person who’s being brave through an extremely tough period, being a rock for others too, and the cost of that.
A friend always used to say rock music was invented by Americans but was perfected by the British. I don’t know if that’s true but I’ve always been drawn to bands like the Kinks whom of course later informed bands such as Blur and Oasis etc. With Take Me Under I envisaged a gentle offbeat swing that was acoustically based, a sort of Travis meets Elliot Smith. However Bob came up with a lovely keyboard part, which became the basis for the track rather than guitar. It was the right choice and with Steve’s input it became a slightly more alternative track than what it could have been. The song has a strong nautical theme and was written during the first flush of a love affair. Take Me Under embodies the idea of intimacy with someone, not the big moments between people, not the drama but the small stuff: a gesture, a look, the touch of a hand, the laughter that only two can share.
I sometimes write with a good friend of mine Dan Meilkejohn. Writing can be a lonely business and you get sick of yourself pretty often so it’s great to shake things up a bit and get a different perspective. Dan’s not a musician but has a talent for lyrics. On the outside he’s a pretty controlled buttoned down character, but play him an idea for a song and he opens up like a gaping wound of candour.
On Only Chances Bob Shepheard played mandolin and came up with the idea of extending the intro, which gives some nice breathing space between previous songs. Friends have said it has a spiritual, hymn-like quality. I certainly think it’s got a searching nature to it. Maybe I was trying to reconcile something in my past when it was written. Above all it’s about hope and the promise of a new day with someone who loves you close by.
Iris is something of a creepy song. The concept is one of controlling someone through seduction and dishonesty. By the songs end the main character is faced with his/her own sad empty existence. It was fun to write really. I was thinking originally of a feel musically similar to some of Joni Mitchell’s middle period stuff like Hejira and used an alternate guitar tuning. Since then others have picked up a Neil Finn/Crowded House vibe. Either way I’m glad for the interweaving guitar parts Bob and me played. They have a cool question/answer thing going on before melding into an ethereal chorus. I started mucking around with different tunings as I was becoming tired of the things I was coming up with on guitar. More often than not I’d stumble on chords I like and hear a melody etc in alternate tunings rather than standard tunings. Bob and me are always trying to create different harmonics so that musically things aren’t so clear-cut.
I also try to do this with song structures, not to be tricky or clever, but to keep it interesting.
A friend introduced me to some good country music some years ago that played me the great Hank Williams. I bought the album “Forty greatest hits”
and it remains a favourite. 1. Hanks songwriting is pure. 2. His clarity and economy is astounding – no fat. 3. His music is heartbreaking. Whenever I feel unsure or bereft of anything to say I listen to that cd. Kind You Grow On owes a little to country music but as we were putting it together in the studio we suddenly realised it might work better with a bit of a spiritual stop over in England. Bob Shepheard came up with some lilting Johnny Marr-like guitar flourishes and it became a little more of itself than something else. Kind You Grow On is an announcement – if you didn’t like me initially, that’s ok, just give me time. My girlfriend hated old-timey Hank on first hearing, now she loves him.
Wired could be a rush of blood on a dark night. Like where you just have to see that person, with whom you’ve had a massive argument/fight with, and make things right. Mr Shepheard started fooling around on a synthesiser and conjured up the spirit of The Who’s Baba O’Riley. Well it reminded me of a part of that song anyway, which can ONLY be a good thing. We decided to keep this track quite open and not clutter it with too many overdubs. You can get over-excited when you are recording sometimes. The possibilities are endless and you hear a lot of colourful lines and parts instruments can play on a song. Often though the sum of those parts when they all go in don’t add up. They actually lessen the drama or impact the song needs. Hopefully we got the balance right here. Jared Harrison from seminal Sydney band Bluebottle Kiss played drums on Wired (and on the rest of album.) Jamie Hutchings who is the songwriter from the same band produced and arranged the drum sessions. We’ve known each other for a few years now and share a lot of early music tastes in American independent bands like Husker Du and Afghan Whigs. Although we’re both doing different things musically he was able to bring some great arrangement ideas to the sessions.
The idea of Run River had been in my head for a few years but I’d never connected the words and images with music. Then one day I sat down and it wrote itself, just poured out. Many of us I’m sure have had friends or family who have drifted off course in their lives into bad things. It’s really hard trying just to love them and be there for them, hoping they come back. Nothing you can say or do in most cases will change things though. It’s painful when you finally realise that the person you care so much about has to make his or her own choice. I’ve felt helpless seeing someone dear slipping away. Run River sums up this experience for me. I came up with a simple single note motif on guitar, which, now in hindsight, reminds me of a police or ambulance siren throughout the song. Bob overdubbed it with ebow guitar to enhance the effect. It was originally going to be this big rock thing but gradually became smaller and more intimate and I think better for it.
The closing track Twinkle stood out as just that from the beginning; it’s a goodbye. Friendship is also a central theme. I wrote it around the time of leaving NZ so it is a farewell but also I was recalling the deep bonds that I had with certain people and what they continue to bring to my life and work. I reversed the narrative so it became about someone else leaving not me. Songs can take radical turns when you start writing. You think “oh it’s going to go this way ok” but then something unexpected happens and it can take its own course. Sometimes it’s far from where you started. But if it feels real, more often than not I let it go where it wants. Often the result is better. This is my favourite part of the process; it can be quite exhilarating, as there are no rules really.
I feel blessed to be involved in music; it’s been extremely therapeutic for me in my life. Also to enjoy and follow so many other artists’ works over the years is like a well I drink from. It informs me, inspires me and fills me up.