Song and a Chat

Episode #177: Evening Hours    (Song starts at 3:34 &16:22) ‘Evening hours’ starts out with a slightly unsettling discordant bell (sounds like the end something) set against a quiet piano riff. This particular introduction has always brought to mind a potential rough story and an opening scene in a play or possibly a movie or stage show, for me. The bell represents ‘the end’ (also...

Episode #176: Just Can’t Keep It Inside  (Song at 4.06) Just can’t keep it inside sounds like it was written by another song writer. It didn’t surprise me when it came through though. Every now and then a song in this sort of ‘soft ballad with a swung rhythm style’ comes through for me. I haven’t thought of this song for a long time. It’s from my first book, song number 62, written in 1987,...

Episode #175:   All Comes Back      (Song starts at 4:09) Isn’t it great to receive an unexpected present. You know that feeling. That’s what it feels like to write a song. So for that to happen, it does feel like it comes from somewhere else. It’s a gift then, to pass on, a gift that you had a hand in bringing into being. It sure feels like a joint effort. This episode features yet another song I...

Episode #174: Falter    (Song starts at 3.35) I had a conversation yesterday with Paul Dredge, my co songwriter, long time buddy and sounding board (always good to have one or a few of these that you can trust just to listen or offer sound measured advice). We had a laugh together about how a lot of my first 50 or 100 songs were pretty much ‘ baby I love you’. Baby I’ll miss you, or howling at the...

Episode #173: Can’t Wait That Long    (Song starts at   3:55) Now and then a peaceful sort of feeling will – I was going to say descend on me –   but that’s not quite right. A peaceful feeling will arrive quietly and I’ll find my mood has gently been lifted. When this happens, I’ll see if there’s some lyrics waiting on the piano, or perhaps in my folder of new words… I’ll look through...

Episode #172:  Cry Your Eyes Out  (Song starts at Song #88 was written in New Zealand in 1988. I was up a mountain. I had a ski gig.. playing and singing in the evenings. In the daytime I was skiing. When it rained I either went trout fishing or wrote songs. I also drew 50 cartoon strips about my dog. Pretty much a blissful time. However… I was lonely, for sure. This song is about missing someone....

Episode #171: Rainy Night    (Song starts at 2:48) This song was written by myself & Paul Dredge (It appears on our recent folkrock album, ‘The Untrodden Track’ – streaming now). Rainy Night was inspired by a night spent in a house bus, at a beach, as a youngster. A storm was hitting the bus all night. It was really being rocked around. It felt like the full force of nature w...

Episode #170: You’re Mine  (Song starts at 2:25) Song #112, You’re Mine, was written 1988. That sounds like a long time ago. I remember a time when 1988 was the future. When I was an exchange student in the USA in 1984, Michael J Fox was starring in Back To The Future, the first of those brilliant movies. Now it seems I’ve had a quick trip in a DeLorean to find myself in 2023 – the years hav...

Episode #169: Just About Enough (Song starts at 3:47) Today was a wintery day. I went outside and there wasn’t even a ‘hint of a breeze’. That phrase appears in verse one of this episodes featured song. Then I heard a ‘muted bird call’. Those words are also in lyrics , so I thought hey, that’ll do for this week’s episode. I wrote ‘Just ‘About Enough’ for my wife, as an anniversary present. This is...

Episode #168: Life In One Day  (Song starts at: 3:20) I did a gig this week. On the spur of the moment, for my last song, I decided to play ‘Life In One Day’. The gig was part of the Mornington Winter Music Festival, here on the Mornington Peninsula. I was playing on the street (It went really well. Met some nice people, enjoyed seeing the way music brings people together). My gig was...

Episode #167: The Same Game  (Song starts at: 3:50) After focusing on the lyrics for the majority of last week’s episode, as it turns out, here, we are mostly looking at the music composition of song # 672, ‘The Same Game’. The lyrics are about that moment when you finally arrive home after a long day out and about. Maybe a candle is lit, some relaxing music is put on, then you sit bac...

Episode #166 :  Between You and Me    (Song starts at 6:25) I’m going to take you back to 1994 on this episode, literally. This week my wife said to me ‘maybe we should have gone on to England ( we’d moved here – Melbourne – in 1997, originally we are from New Zealand. I think we just might get to the UK sometime…). This made think of the song ‘Between You and Me’. So I tho...

Episode #165: Bigger  (Song starts at 4:52) The lyrics for ‘Bigger’ (song #689) were written in 2015. I remember having them squirrelled away, waiting for the mood to hit me to sit down and write the music – which I did in 2016. This song has a strong rhythmical element, but it’s absolutely folkrock. The lyrics all stemmed from the brain wave. ‘It’s bigger than you . . . .and it’...

Episode #164: Destiny  (Song starts at 4:31) Today has been a beautiful, pristine autumn day. The sort of day where you breathe the air in and think ‘Yes, it’s good to be alive’. On that note, that’s what I was thinking back in 1991, when I wrote song #198. But I was also considering the big picture…some things were coming through on the news about conflicts between people and between countries. I...

Episode #163:   Living In The Movies  (Song starts at 3:28) Ever feel like you’re living in a movie? – you know, when things just seem to go weird and you think “You couldn’t write this stuff…”. That’s how I felt back in 1992, when I composed ‘Living In The Movies’. At the time I was playing 5 nights a week in a piano bar, with Paul Dredge, my longtime friend and co compose...

Episode #162: Ready    (Song starts at 4.55) On these episodes, I’ve often talked about the peace you can find in the outdoors, preferably near water for me. I’ve found by getting outdoors, I manage to still my mind and quickly get into the creative state, the zone required to write a song. This episode pretty much shatters that peace, in a good way (I think). Looking back, the song ‘Ready&#...

Episode #161: Low Tide  (Song starts at 4:23) Welcome to another episode. Today we are looking at the song #556, ‘Low Tide’. Last night I was out fishing. I did a quick recording while I was there, rod in hand at the beach at night. You can hear it on this episode. Being out in nature really blows the cobwebs away. It clears my mind, it seems brings in energy. When I return home, I’m r...

Episode #160: Maybe Sunday    (Song starts at 4:45) During the recording of an episode a few weeks back, the lyrics to ‘Maybe Sunday’ fell out of my song book. I said at the time “Hmmm maybe I should do an episode about writing that song.” Today I picked up an old cassette tape an I discovered an old demo of ‘Maybe Sunday’. That clinched it. This episode has turned into a q...

Episode #159: Nowhere Now here  (Song starts at 5:21 & 25:51) There was a bit of rain on the roof tonight as I recorded this podcast. It was a nice morning, but it turned into a really ‘steel grey sky’ sort of day, which is the opening gambit for the lyrics of ‘Nowhere Now Here’. This week’s blog post (which I wrote earlier today) took on a theme of rain, & I also painted a squ...

Episode #158: Halfway There    (Song starts at 4:06) The song ‘Halfway There’ was written in a place called Kuratau, New Zealand. It’s a beautiful peaceful place, situated by Lake Taupo. A river runs silently below the bluff which is covered in the dark green of New Zealand bush and it flows into the majestic Lake Taupo. The tuis and bellbirds calls float on the semi alpine air. We (we...

Episode #157: Never Throw A Day Away    (Song starts at 4:27)  Featuring a song from the recent album The Untrodden Track by myself and Paul Dredge. I include the album track on this episode. I never throw a day away. I can’t afford to. I’m really committed to this artistic path. It’s my passion, it’s the way I make a living. So I’m busy. ‘Never Throw A Day Away’ began at a bus shelter...

Episode #156: The Silent Stream  (Song starts at 27:16) I was sitting at the piano and found myself starting to compose a song. Then I had the idea to stop, head into my studio and write the song, while recording the process. I’m glad I did. Earlier in the week, I was sitting beside a stream, where I was camping. You’ll get to hear the sound of the stream bubbling along. For this episode, I read a...

Episode #155: Share The Blues  (Song starts at 3:25 & 26:46) I’ve had an interesting time recording this episode: I got into my studio early, thinking I’d be clever, get the job done and get an early night. …yeh, right! Not. I ended up recording a ‘produced’/arranged demo, with some different sounds, which took me a while. Consequently, it was a very late bedtime.   It was re...

Episode #154: Drift Away  (Song starts at 3:03) I took a drive this evening. I live on the outskirts of Melbourne, on the Mornington Peninsula, out in the country. I wasn’t sure where I was going… just following my nose. As it turns out, it lead to a nice quiet beach where gentle waves were lapping. I took a walk and when I got back to my car, I was thinking about a song… ‘Drift Away&#...

Episode #153: Work Song    (Song starts at 2:24) We are heading back in time on this episode, way back to 1986 when I wrote ‘Work Song’. This was song #11. At the time. I was working in a music shop – a short stint, as it turned out. I really wasn’t cut out to do the 9 to 5 thing. ‘Work Song’ is a statement to that effect. I recorded a version live for this episode. I...