Longing for the day ...

Dancing with the Stones

This one was written by my good mate Mark Gillett, with whom I used to work at Maroochydore DSS office (now Centrelink). Not sure what inspired it but it rocks. I played it (on drums) with The Hinterland Band in 1992 and as soloist ever since. Mark plays it in Em, I do it in A.

If you'd like to hear this tune, you can download it here (MP3, 3.98MB) or listen to the streaming version here. This is the first recording of it - it's very basic (I must confess that I hate the mix - will fix that). I played everything and sang all the vocal parts. My good mate Ian Focks helped with the recording. At some stage I'll add guitar and keyboard parts ... maybe a whistle or something. Stay tuned for that.

Update: If you feel generous you can now buy the version of this song released on The Genre Benders' debut CD "I am leaving! I am leaving!" from iTunes, or GroupieTunes, or Payplay.FM. If you have a different favourite online store, search for it there and if it's not there, let me know so I can put it there.

Dancing with the Stones
by Mark Gillett

The Sun sets on stone faces, looking out on the sea.
Torches flare in the night air and we start our ceremony.
We're gonna talk soul, pass the bowl and raise the energy.
The Gods will talk and statues walk when we set the magic free

How are you going?
Dancing with the stones.

Stand 'round the sacred ground beneath the midsummer moon.
An old, grand master man throws the forbidden rune.
Lost art, a crystal heart is beating to an ancient tune.
You'd better jive when it comes alive, ain't nobody immune

How are you going?
Dancing with the stones.

The whip lands on the slave bands straining at the yoke.
Stone blocks as big as trucks move with every stroke.
Worker's bones, the grave stones of a culture built on pain.
A cruel land, desert sand, covers fields of grain.

How are you going?
Dancing with the stones.

Thirty years beneath the lash. Raise the granite high.
Come and make a place for us that's fit for us to lie.
Wrapped in clinging linen, dressed in precious oil.
Come and take your just reward for centuries of toil.

How are you going?
Dancing with the stones.

The world turns, people turn and they face a brave new world.
There's a wild unborn child beneath the belly curled.
In her trance, gaints dance. They dance the steps of dread.
That's a dance that's gonna grind your bones to make their bread.

How are you going?
Dancing with the stones.
Said you're dancing with the stones.

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Please note This song is APRA registered: Work ID GW11690208. You can copy, reproduce and distribute any part of these lyrics for any non-commercial purpose as long as you acknowledge its source. If you make something good out of it, let me know and I'll consider adding it to this site.

If you perform it or broadcast it for any purpose, please let APRA know.





License this music for commercial use through Pump Audio









This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

Heart's with you (Hillbilly Lovesong)

This is a silly song that was inspired by my good mate Phil Graham. When returned in 2002 from walking the Kokoda Trail, I mentioned to Phil (by e-mail) the mountains I had climbed and complained that I had sore knees. He sent me a reply saying: "There's a song in that. I left my kneeeeees in Poca Poca ..." I just took it from there.

If you'd like to hear this tune, you can download it here (MP3, 2.5MB) or listen to the streaming version here. This is the first recording of it - it's very basic. I played everything and sang all the vocal parts. My good mate Ian Focks helped with the recording. At some stage I'll add a lead guitar part, flesh it out and clean it up. Stay tuned for that.

Update: If you feel generous you can now buy the version of this song released on The Genre Benders' debut CD "I am laving! I am leaving!" from iTunes, or GroupieTunes, or Payplay.FM. If you have a different favourite online store, search for it there and if it's not there, let me know so I can put it there.

Heart's with you (Hillbilly lovesong).

Chorus:
I left my knees in Poca Poca
I left my hands in Talbaro
I lost my mind in a bar somewhere
But my heart's with you wherever you may go.

Well the Poca Poca mountains tower above you.
They raise their pointy peaks toward the sky.
But there ain't much up on top
'Cept my kinfolk and my crop.
Climbing up them mountains damn near made me cry.

Chorus

Now in Talbaro the field is kinda rocky
The diggin' and the plowin' kinda hurt
It was just me and my Pa
But we didn't get too far
'Cause there's nothin' grows in that there kind of dirt

Chorus

In a bar somewhere I first laid eyes upon you
Your manner and your service were so kind
Well my belly had a hole
And you satisfied my soul
Then you took me out the back and blew my mind.

Chorus x 2

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Please note This song is APRA registered: Work ID GW33369807; ISWC T-060669719-1. You can copy, reproduce and distribute any part of these lyrics for any non-commercial purpose as long as you acknowledge its source. I'm interested in your feedback, comments, suggestions. If you make something good out of it, let me know and I'll consider adding it to this site.

If you perform it or broadcast it for any purpose, please let APRA know.





License this music for commercial use through Pump Audio









This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

Irrelevant media coverage

Apart from me, is there any else out there who could not care less about where David Beckham did or did not have sex with anyone apart from "Posh Spice"? I mean, who cares? What difference does it make?

When will the media come to the realisation that these stories are cute and entertaining for about 2 seconds and tehn most people think something like: "But hang on, I respect David Beckham and Shane Warne for their ability on the sporting field. They are not my moral inspiration."

Ditto Ben and Jen, Cruise & Cruze, etc. When will people realise that these people either cynically manipulate (or are cynically manipulated by others who want) readers in order to maintian their "celebrity status" and therefore their exhorbitant incomes?

If stories about Tom & Nicole, Britney, Pink & Xtina, etc were not in the news tomorrow, I would not mind in the slightest. There are plenty of more important things demanding attention ...

Being a father

Last night I watched a small part of a 60 Minutes item about an Irish family who defied medical opinion to use an untried treatment for "the human form of mad cow disease". In it, the father was asked about whether he was doing enough to help his son. He replied that it was easy to be a father, "being a daddy is much harder".

What a line. I almost cried at the thought. If only this view was publicly articulated more widely, there might be less unhappy children in the world. Less children would be a good start.

I don't go along with the line that we need to increase our population just for the sake of economic growth. There are already more than enough human souls on this planet - what we need to work on is improving the quality of life of the ones who are here. There's plenty of possibilities for economic growth in pursuing that mission.

A good start would be for men (in particular) to take more responsibility for their procreations. There is this irrational assumption that it's better to preserve all lives at any cost - regardless of the effect that has on the people around them. This is highlighted in total opposition to abortion and euthanasia, and an insistance that the right to reproduce is a fundamental right.

I'd like to suggest the the right to reproduce is a priviledge, and one that we do, can, and should take away from people if they don't live up to their obligations to nuture that life long after it ceased being small and cute. That requires long-term committment and personal sacrifice.

Being a daddy is about more than breeding - it's about creating happy, sustainable and worthwhile people.

Wanting the best for Iraq

Well, it seems my doubts about the US's ability to turn Iraq into a viable democratic state are being confirmed. The "uprisings" seem to be getting more frequent and more ferocious. That's a sad situation but it's the price the occupiers pay for being seen as occupiers.

The Westerners in charge of the situation should put themselves in the shoes of the Iraqi people for a bit. I fail entirely to see why Bush and Bremer, etc can't understand the perspective of a violent, repressed group of people who've seem a glimmer of hope for self-rule (whatever that might be) that is frustratingly held out of their reach by (as they see it) the people who they were told were largely responsible for their poverty.

They view themselves the same way the French did when Hitler's army marched across their borders, and the same way the Vietnamese did when the US joined the French. We might see significant differences, but they don't. We're struggling to win over their hearts and minds, and every act of aggression by occupation forces, however necessary, makes is harder.

I said at the time of the invasion that it was wrong because you can't teach people about peace and democracy by invading their country and killing them. Whatever the justification for invading, such an expectation is not a reasonable outcome. Similarly, you can't teach Iraqis about freedom of speech by shutting down one of their newspapers. And you can't expect them to become more relaxed about the occupation when you're firing rockets into their Sacred sites.

Whether these actions were justified and necesary or not, one predictable outcome of them was that the locals would be pissed off - and that's what the administration desperately needs to avoid.

One day the holier-than-thou leaders of ths debacle will be forced to admit that Western standards of decency and the rules of wear don't apply to a people who think they're fighting (rightly or wrongly) for their very existence. It you're struggling on that basis (or, at least, you think you are) you're going to do whatever it takes. Dying defending your home and family is better than starving to death or being brutalised along with them.

I hope I'm wrong and that the administration can keep the violence in check long enough for the locals to see the benefits that are accruing for them through rebuilding their infrastructure and their economy. It won't happen overnight, and doubt it will happen without a concerted International effort - but letting that happen would make the US administration eat humble pie in an election year ...