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The Song is Everything

by James Wakeling and the Brothers in Law

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1.
That's Why the Wind Blows Well hold on, ‘Cause I’ve got something to say Won’t be long, I’m only minutes away You’ve been running in circles like a watch wound up tight A fire that’s burning or a cat taken fright Nothing’s wrong May be a game that we play If I’m real The voice that’s inside your head What’s the deal? Just hanging on by a thread Everything sounds so oblique and absurd Serving it up in a salad of words How’d you feel? Better off staying in bed Follow me down Why don’t you follow me down? Deep underground that’s where the grass grows Listen to me Why don’t you listen to me? But watch out That’s why the wind blows Flying low Everything looks really small To and fro And watching bugs as they crawl I counted one flying east, I counted one flying west And you flying over the cuckoo’s nest So let go, and fly right over that wall I think you thought you had it under control Now you’re slippin’ and sliddin’ down the rabbit hole So let go It never hurts as you fall © JAMESONGS 2016
2.
The Afterglow I wanted to say something true I wanted to prove, prove it to you I wanted to know something real I wanted to say, say how I feel Safe in your arms I reside Like watching a bird from a hide Watered and fed, wrapped up in warm Into the calm after the storm Will you hold me tight Never let me go Through the still dark night And the afterglow With a strength of will And sleight of hand I will love you the best that I can The sound of your laugh in my ears The taste of the salt from your tears The sweep of you neck, the fall of your hair The gaze of your eyes lays me bare. I wanted to say something real I wanted to prove the way I feel I wanted to know something true I wanted to say I love you © JAMESONGS 2016
3.
Rainbows End 03:42
Rainbows End First you gotta heat it up, Then you gotta cool it down. Then you gotta find, then you gotta find, Then you gotta find the right sound. And if the truth be told, well there are rules you gotta bend. But if you want a pot of gold, well first you gotta find the rainbow’s end. Well then you gotta move on up, And you gotta bring it back. Then you gotta get, said you gotta get, Yep you gotta get on the right track. And If you want to have and hold, I’ve a message you can send. But to get a pot of gold, tell you right now, first you gotta find the rainbows end. Well next you gotta loosen up, Then you gotta hold on tight. ‘Cause you gotta move, yep you gotta move, Babe you gotta move with all your might. And when the nights get cold, well you can warm up with your friend. But if you want a pot of gold, well first you gotta find the rainbows end. Well last you gotta save it up, For a rainy day. Well then you gotta give, sure you gotta give, Said you gotta give it all away. Before you get too old, find some bridges you can mend. ‘Cause to find a pot of gold, that’s right, first you gotta find the rainbows end. © JAMESONGS 2014
4.
Fade Away 05:50
Fade Away There’s a woman at the front gate She’s screaming at the sky Where have all my family gone, and who am I left on my own? She was my Nana’s daughter, the apple of her eye Now there’s tearful confusion and fearful disillusion And the villainy that offers up the lie Fade away, fade away Gone for good, lost her way Darkness come to steal the day So I kissed her and watched her fade away There’s a woman on the telephone, she’s in trouble and in strife Sounds faintly familiar, if not a bit dis-similar Maybe she remembers, she was my father’s wife Now her voice is tinged with hesitance and shaking with uncertainness Put down the phone and run, run for your life There’s a woman on the back porch, she’s staring into space Her memories disorganised, children now unrecognised She was my uncle’s sister, the smile on his face Now she’s funny and ridiculous, dislocate and timorous This woman come to take my mother’s place She was crazy she was shy I held her hand she closed her eyes So I kissed her and watched her fade away She was worried and confused I felt ashamed to be amused I kissed her and watched her fade away One day she will be free One day that could be me So I kissed her and watched her © JAMESONGS 2018 fade away
5.
The Song is Everything Long ago in the deep dark past The song was everything Word for word and first to last That was the song we’d sing We’d play our records till the grooves wore out And then we’d play some more Turn the radio up nice and loud And out the music poured The clock would rock until the king shook up And broke his heart in a hotel The sergeants played while the metre made And Jonnie played like he was ringing a bell Long days in a purple haze 33 to 45 Girls and boys all feel the noise And they get slayed alive Sing it out, sing it out, sing it out Everybody sing Sing it out, sing it out, sing it out The song is everything (Listen now) Spin around like a carrousel On a horse without a name There comes a time when your spirits climb And the song remains the same Sweet as a gypsy queen On a country radio Park the Van in the Morrisan Hey where did we go? Long ago I can still recall How the music made me smile And if I cried on the day it died Well maybe for a while Now songs are torn up and thrown around And they’re left blown’ in the wind But a secret chord can still please the Lord Hallelujah lets join in © JAMESONGS 2016
6.
It's Hot Today Feels like it’s hot today It’s hot as hell I said it’s hot today It’s as hot as hell, ah it’s got that smell Some people say the weather’s on the change Others say you just can’t tell Ah still it’s hot today It’s as hot as hell. I want to work today There ain’t no work around Said I want to work today But there ain’t no work around, none that I’ve found Some people say that the jobs all left Others they went underground I want to work today There ain’t no work around I want to die today But I ain’t sick enough I want to die today But I ain’t sick enough, ah feels so rough Some people say I should let go Others say hey well that’s though I want to die today But I ain’t sick enough If there’s a God today Why are things down here so bad? If there’s a God today Tell me why are things down here so bad, ah it makes me sad Some people say their god’s the best Other people they get mad If there’s a God today Why are things down here so bad? © JAMESONGS 2016
7.
It's Dumb to Leave Your Smart Phone On Ring ring, ring ring Somebody’s calling but I’m not at home I’m at the office or I’m out on the run It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on. Shush shush, Shush shush The lights are down, and the curtain is drawn. It’s dark and quiet so the movie is fun It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on. We are vain and we are blind, I hate people when they’re not polite. I’ll call you up you can’t resist, Pick up the phone before you cease to exist. Tweet tweet, tweet tweet, Chitter and chatter ‘till we’re bored to the bone. Pop to the bank then it’s lunch with your mum, It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on. Try to find the pleasures and joys In the cracks between the noise Well listen close to the beat of your heart, Cause if it crashes then it might not restart. Check one, check two, The show is starting why not get out your phone. Shoot a movie you can watch later on, It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on. Twenty-four hours, seven days Give it a rest why not put it away Well take a lover or find a friend But do it soon because you’re close to the end It’s no point getting so enraged ‘Cause no one listen’s when the line’s engaged It’s dumb, dumb, dumb, to leave your smart phone on. © JAMESONGS 2013
8.
School Reunion The Master Class a tisk a task A strong, familiar lesson grasped That held me firm and held me fast Adept domain and guiding sparse The bell that rang with hand-held clasp It whispered low a question asked To amplify the damps and darks And classify the clanging brass So ring the bells and lock the doors Then add the marks and tally scores There’s a judgment coming And a test to pass You’re just a face lost in the crowd And back to fronters ain’t allowed There’s a judgment coming And a test to pass To climb the stairs and plot the charts And weigh my make in stops and start Assembling and took apart The pieces of these works of art They seminared and sermonized The genus from the itemize And in my place and from which side They gazed across the ace divide At rhythmy hands and flailing spellers Secret sounds and sea salt sellers There’s a judgment coming And a test to pass For school is out and die is cast Whilst seasoning the Master Class There’s a judgment coming There’s a test to pass © JAMESONGS 2016
9.
Streets of New Orleans Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans From Yarraville to Storyville and all stops in between Sail across the water through the wind and rain Ghost of Buddy Bolden blowing like a hurricane And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans Looking for the answers, searching for what they mean Someone tell me there’s a place to meet The blacksmith bar down on Bourbon Street And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans Taking a trip to the land of dreams Where Louis and Mahalia begin A brass band blowin’ ‘till the Saint’s March In And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans And I’m walking with my baby, streets of New Orleans Well most of the time things ain’t what they seem A girl on my arm I never met before Somebody said she’s only twenty-four And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans Hey and I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans And it’s three AM and the moonlight beams stream in And I follow St. Charles under the overhead wire Jump on a streetcar named desire And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans And I’m walking with my baby, streets of New Orleans I hear that whistle blowing where the river runs on steam Who can say if it’s all real One of these days I’m gonna close that deal Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans © JAMESONGS 2009
10.
(In Loving Memory of) My Dear Son Jim My name is James Sullivan and from East Geelong I hail Young man with a life still left to live Who in 1915 on an army ship set sail To sacrifice all that he had to give I left my legal practice and I left my family Broken-hearted mother standing crying on the quay To fight a war in Europe and of that here is my tale I trust my loving mother will forgive Our first port was in Cairo and the hot Sahara sands Where we were taught the art of war And then sent off to Turkey for reasons no one understands A beach few had as yet heard of before For months and months we toiled to take the hills of Dardanelle Nine months lived and dying in a living dying hell From Lone Pine to the Nek and all across those foreign lands Then we left that bloodied ANZAC shore. We answered the calling The standing the fallen Like school children answering a bell But no war’s a great war We were lambs to the slaughter Many still lay where they fell We then rolled into Picardy like a fog upon the Somme Gathered round the town of Pozieres Through a night so black and dewy we tried hard to hang on Waiting for the moment we all feared Like a hand across a piano, run from high to low Shells rained down red flames leapt up blow after deafening blow And 30,000 men were dead or dying, lost or gone After all the fog and smoke had cleared Along the western front we ranged, the mud was deep and thick Friends and comrades side by side Fletcher and Mahoney, Stanley Bennie and Hardwick For a commonwealth we were allied Bullecourt, Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Hamel and Amiens Battle after battle fought with loses and with wins Till we stood atop Mount Saint- Quentin to play our final trick Honour all the diggers who had died October 1918 through a dark and frosty morn We marched upon the town of Montbrehain With our gas masks and our rifles and our threadbare uniforms We readied there to stake our one last claim Before the fighting started as the night turned into day A shell fell close beside me and it blew my life away One score year and seven from the day that I was born A forgotten town in France is where I’m slain Then my broken hearted mother, her grief still raw and strong The twinkle in her eyes now softly dim On the second anniversary of an act that felt so wrong A notice for the Argus placed there in She mentioned Stanley Bennie and William Hardwick too How both were killed in action and she bade them fond adieu And of Captain Sullivan she wrote from East Geelong “In loving memory of my dear son Jim” © JAMESONGS 2016
11.
Baby Won't You Please Come Home Well I’ve been looking over here and I’ve been looking over there Sometimes I feel so alone Then a friend of mine told me it was every where Baby won’t you please come home I forgot to remember or I chose to forget Sometimes I feel so alone If there are answers to find I haven’t found them yet Baby won’t you please come home Ah now baby won’t you please come home I’m feeling all alone I’m gonna change my life the way you change your phone Baby won’t you please come home I been waiting in the chapel with the lame and blind Sometimes I feel so alone But you can’t catch happiness by creeping up behind Baby won’t you please come home And there’s a diamond sleeping rough on the street tonight Sometimes I feel so alone Cooled by the shower of a mean street light Baby won’t you please come home And the people who pretend that history won’t last Sometimes I feel so alone They’re condemned to repeat all the sins of the past Baby won’t you please come home Because everyone is young, and everyone is free Sometimes I feel so alone And treaty’s not replaced by an apology Baby won’t you please come home And how come there are people who just shop till they’re sore Sometimes I feel so alone Trying to buy their love in a department store Baby won’t you please come home ‘Cause you can water your garden through the long hot drought Sometimes I feel so alone But you can’t keep warm when the fire’s gone out Baby won’t you please come home © JAMESONGS 2016
12.
Lullaby (for Otto) In every house on every city street Lamps are lit and blinds are drawn against the evening sky I’ll think of you when days are done Now the tunes are played, the songs are sung It’s time to say goodbye © JAMESONGS 2004

about

When I was 10 or 11 I used to go down to the rumpus room and listen to my sisters 45’s. I’d slide the disks out of the flimsy paper sleeves and place them carefully on the dinky turntable and then get lost in a world of words and music. I didn’t know who the artists were save for Jonny Farnham but that didn’t matter because I wasn’t interested in the celebrity I was just interested in the songs. I loved the stories, the rhymes and the way that the language danced on the rhythms. Of course, I dug the grooves and the energy because great playing can quicken your pulse and move your feet. But a great song, well that can move your heart because the song is everything.

credits

released August 1, 2020

Produced by James Wakeling and Tim Nikolsky
Songs by James Wakeling

Horns on, It’s Dumb to Leave Your Smart Phone On, arranged by James Wakeling

Tracks 1-4, 6, 10-12 and the horn parts for tracks 7 & 9 Recorded at Pughouse studios Northcote by Niko Schäuble. Tracks 7 & 9 recorded at Melbourne Polytechnique, Prahan and tracks 5 & 8 at Melbourne Polytechnique, Fairfield by Tim Nikolsky. Mixed and mastered by Niko Schäuble

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James Wakeling Melbourne, Australia

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