| Augie March – Mt. Wellington Reverie Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This is definitely about Tasmania's convict history. Mt Wellington, as others have pointed out, is the mountain that overlooks Hobart. The first verse references Port Arthur, a huge convict settlement in Tasmania that these days is a tourist destination. The Isle of the Dead is the small isle that convicts were buried on (you can catch a ferry there to see the graves). The guest house in these lyrics could be one of many in the area. The second verse is about convicts that were chained together while working in order to prevent them from escaping. They work together to get out of their chains, throw together a makeshift boat, and take to the Derwent River to get away. The Derwent runs through Hobart, and much of Southern Tasmania. Obviously they are killed in the course of this escape (possibly by the dangers of the waterway itself), hence the references to the boat being a coffin The bit about his daughter and girl are pretty straightforward. Convicts were often taken from their families, and their families would be left to fend for themselves. Also, the last line where they say "some demon's land" - this might be a stretch, but back when a lot of our Tasmanian convict programs were still running, Tasmania used to be known as 'Van Diemen's Land'. This line could be a reference. Nonetheless, the song is definitely about Tasmania and definitely about convicts. The band has a couple of songs that reference our state. The Glenorchy Bunyip is another one |
|
| Peter Allen – Tenterfield Saddler Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Some extra info to add to Dawnfire's comment: George Woolnough was Peter's grandfather, he really was a saddler and he doesn't quite have a whole library dedicated to him, but there is a wing of the Tenterfield Library called the 'George Woolnough Wing'. George's son Dick (Peter's father) served in the second world war and upon returning to Australia became a violent alcoholic. He killed himself when Peter was still young. And, as mentioned in the song, reportedly George never got over losing him. Peter has indeed been all around the world during his career. He was born Peter Richard Woolnough, and he "changed his last name" when he started performing with a band called the Allen Brothers. He was at one time married to Liza Minelli, who could certainly be described as having an interesting face. As for the references in the chorus: a jackaroo is a very australian term for a male training to be a stockman and kangaroos, cockatoos, and emus are all distinctly Australian animals. I would assume that these refernces are supposed to portray George as a very Australian bloke. |
|
| The Whitlams – Blow Up The Pokies Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
It's a little extreme to compare Kennett and his government to Hitler but Tim makes a point - they both gained early popularity by upgrading rail systems and they both used less than savoury methods to finance them. This song has a touching message. A lot of us know people who are gambling addicts, or have been affected by it in some way. When I was in high school a good friend of mine had a gambling addict father, the races rather than pokies, but same sort of effect. She never talked about what it did to her family but you saw and heard things that just weren't quite right. Good on the Whitlams for talking about it. It's not exactly the first anti pokie crusade ever but the lyrics are raw and it's hard to ignore just what they're trying to say. |
|
| B'ehl – I'm Sorry for Being Such a Crappy Friend Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Nice to see that someone knows who this is really by... I got it when I searched for Rilo Kiley and I thought this sounded different to Jenny Lewis. I find it interesting that people keep listing it as being by Bright Eyes - I get that the B'ehl album it's on is called Bright Eyes but don't people listen to the song before posting the lyrics? There's no way this sounds like Bright Eyes | |
| Kisschasy – Opinions Won't Keep You Warm At Night Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I do really love this song, I always took it to be just a song about standing up for yourself while being shot down but after seeing the video I can see how it could also be a political message. The lyrics here are actually wrong though, in the chorus it says: "Sometimes it takes a lot to say I don't agree with what you see" | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.