The Historic Appeal of Christchurch, New Zealand

I was in Christchurch, NZ recently. I parked the rental car outside the hotel in Cashel Street, south east of the city. It was a non-descript street in a non-descript part of the city. I arrived in the late afternoon, tired after a long drive from Lake Tekapo and across the Canterbury Plains. I went to bed a bit flat. The little bit of the city that I saw was uninspiring and disappointing. It wasn't until I went venturing in the morning, and over the next couple of days, that I saw how beautiful Christchurch really is. Here is a summary of its historic riches:

1.The Press Building- tucked away in the square behind the popular Cathedral building is a tall gothic style building that many people probably don't even see. It was built in 1909 and has tall vertical windows and houses the journalists and management that work on the major daily newspaper. I saw this building during my last morning in Christchurch, and already on a high, it made me feel even more uplifted.


2. St Michael and All Angels Church- I parked the car on a busy streey just around the corner, then walked back down Oxford Terrace and had a long look inside. The church is beautiful and homely. The courtyard surrounding the church is friendly and has a strong community vibe. The church appealed to me especially because it is has a lovely grey and white timber. It is apparently a Gothic Revival church and was built in 1872. Unique and definitely worth seeing. I found this church, south west of the city, on my last morning as well.

3. Christ Church Cathedral- obviously a key focal point of the city. There were a lot of people outside in the square watching street entertainment, in this case a juggler and mono cyclist extraordinaire. The inside of the cathedral was less busy. There were small clusters of people, New Zealanders mostly, signing condolence booklets for Sir Edmund Hilary who had died the night before. The area inside is vast but not out of proportion. In comparison with the great European cathedrals, it is very young, with construction starting in the 1860's, and then finished in 1904. The exterior bluestone is lovely and the interior is respectful and echoing. There is a simple floral motif in the elegant spire.













4. New Regent Street- this is a beautiful street, partly because so much care has been taken by shop owners- (and the street consists solely of shops, not houses) - to present the shop fronts with elegance. Each shop is built in the same Spanish Mission style, so we have a whole street that has been built to a single architectural style. What a luxury! If only Lygon Street in Melbourne, or O'Connell Street in Adelaide, or Oxford Street in Sydney were the same. And the shop fronts are painted in a variety of single colours- soft yellows and greens and pastel pinks and purples. The shop fronts of Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland make a good comparison. And the shops have got good things in them, too.

5. Worcester Street/ Rolleston Avenue- If you go to Christchurch, the best walk you can have is along Worcester Street, from the Cathedral entrance about a kilometre to the Canterbury Museum. Along the way you will pass the beautiful Edwardian building known as the Regent Building (1905), as well as a building known as Our City O-Tautahi (1887), a Queen Anne design different to anything else in the city. Worcester Street, at its junction, joins Rolleston Avenue. This is where a huge parcel of land, adjacent to the lovely Botanical Gardens, is set aside for Christ's College. Christ's College has the grandiose feel of sections of its namesake in Cambridge, UK, although of course it belongs to a much more recent era (early 1900's). The Memorial Dining Hall is prominent on the street frontage. The beautiful stone building of Canterbury Museum is close by, and further along nearer the Botanical Gardens is the quaint Antigua Street Boatsheds. These are lovely weatherboard buildings built in 1882, still hiring boats for pleasure along the aptly named Avon River.
Antigua Boat Sheds
There are other innumerable places of architectural interest in Christchurch. If you find yourself in a drab motel somewhere along the south eastern part of town (say, Cashel Street for instance), ensure you have a good look around before you pass judgement and get back on a plane, disappointed.

'Hunger' and Bobby Sands

'Hunger' is a film directed by Steve McQueen that takes place mostly in the notorious Maze prison in Belfast in 1981. The actor who plays Bobby Sands lost a lot of weight in real life in order to portray the wasting political activist convincingly. This section of the film is not the only main focus, however, and takes up only the last third of the film. The rest mostly offers insights into the prisoners' mindset and their living conditions as well as the brutality of the guards. Interestingly brutality is shown from both sides- the RUC as well as the IRA.
There are two or three very powerful moments. The camera sits on a table looking across at Sands and his priest, Father Moran, in profile, as they discuss Sands' decision to go on hunger strike. Sands wants his priest's support and Moran is unwavering in his opposition because he sees it as a wasted life. The single shot is fixed in the one spot, without edit, and lasts for 22 minutes. Apparently both actors spent hours upon hours in rehearsal for it, and it was well worth it. Utterly convincing.

Another memorable sequence is when a single guard is using a mop to push urine down a corridor in the prison, sweeping it under the prisoners' doors, back from whence it came. You expect it to go for a minute or two at the most, because it is fairly simple and understated. It continues for a lot longer than that, however, and it is unexpected and gives you a chance to think about the various extraordinary roles different people have in this sick institution.

This time, we are in a cell, with its walls covered with excrement and maggots on the floor, and a single fly seems trapped by a metal wire door. One of the prisoners fingers it lightly as if it is an object of beauty or wonderment. This is a very European film in lots of ways, and the choice and length of shots are sometimes totally unexpected. I remember the British film 'The Magdalene Sisters', and a powerful scene in which one of the 'fallen women' exposes a priest by shrilly screaming out at him 'you're not a man of God!'during an outdoor service. This scene, too, goes a lot longer than you expect, and it is a better scene for it.

It is a brutal film a lot of the time, especially when the special forces are brought in to quell a rebellion. Innumerable harsh beatings take place. The beatings are so chilling because they look real. And in fact they are real. The director walked off the set in tears. His actors were determined to make it look as authentic as possible.

The film is a dramatisation. Nevertheless, when I saw Bobby Sands' grave at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast in 1993 it didn't mean a great deal to me. I would feel differently were I to see it again.

Joni Mitchell's top 20

A cold wintry day, the start of holidays, pressed for time, a spare hour suddenly crops up. Joni Mitchell's best 20 songs, in order, in my opinion.

1. Amelia (Hejira)

'I wish that he was here tonight
It's so hard to obey
His sad request of me to kindly stay away
So this is how I hide the hurt
As the road leads cursed and charmed
I tell Amelia, it was just a false alarm.'


2. Hejira (Hejira)

''I'm porous with travel fever
But you know I'm so glad to be on my own
Still sometimes the slightest touch of a stranger
Can set up trembling in my bones
I know- no one's going to show me everything
We all come and go unknown
Each so deep and superficial
Between the forceps and the stone.'


3. Song To A Seagull(Joni Mitchell)

'And the beaches were concrete
And the stars paid a light bill
And the blossoms hung false
On their store window trees.'


4. The Sire Of Sorrow (Turbulent Indigo)

'I've lost all taste for life
I'm all complaints
Tell me why do you starve the faithful
Why do you crucify the saints?
And you let the wicked prosper
You let their children frisk like deer,
And my loves are dead or dying, or they don't come near.'




5. Both Sides, Now (Clouds)

'But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living ev'ry day.'


6. Blue (Blue)

'Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I've been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Blue, here is a song for you
Ink of a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in..'


7. River (Blue)

'I'm so hard to handle
I'm selfish and I'm sad
Now I've gone and lost the best baby
That I ever had
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.'


8. For The Roses (For The Roses)

'I heard it in the wind last night
It sounded like applause
Chilly now
End of summer
No more shiny hot nights
It was just the arbutus rustling
And the bumping of the logs
And the moon swept down black water
Like an empty spotlight.'


9. Down To You (Court And Spark)

'In the morning there are lovers in the street
They look so high
You brush against a stranger
And you both apologize
Old friends seem indifferent
You must have brought that on
Old bonds have broken down
Love is gone
Oh love is gone
Written on your spirit this sad song
Love is gone.'


10. Borderline (Turbulent Indigo)

'Every bristling shaft of pride
Church or nation
Team or tribe
Every notion we subscribe to
Is just a borderline
Good or bad, we think we know
As if thinking makes things so
All convictions grow along the borderline.'


11. Song For Sharon (Hejira)

'Sharon you've got a husband
And a family and a farm
I've got the apple of temptation
And a diamond snake around my arm
But you still have your music
And I've still got my eyes on the land and the sky
You sing for your friends and your family
I'll walk green pastures by and by.'


12. Woodstock (Ladies Of The Canyon)

'By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation.'



13. That Song About The Midway (Clouds)

'I met you on a midway at a fair last year
And you stood out like a ruby in a black man's ear
You were playing on the horses, you were playing on the guitar strings
You were playing like a devil wearing wings, wearing wings
You looked so grand wearing wings
Do you tape them to your shoulders just to sing
Can you fly
I heard you can! Can you fly
Like an eagle doin' your hunting from the sky.'



14. For Free (Ladies Of The Canyon)

'I slept last night in a good hotel
I went shopping today for jewels
The wind rushed around in the dirty town
And the children let out from the schools
I was standing on a noisy corner
Waiting for the walking green
Across the street he stood
And he played real good
On his clarinet, for free.'



15. The Boho Dance (The Hissing Of Summer Lawns)

'Down in the cellar in the Boho zone
I was looking for some sweet inspiration, oh well
Just another hard-time band
With Negro affectations
I was a hopeful in rooms like this
When I was working cheap
It's an old romance- the Boho dance
It has not gone to sleep.'


16. The Same Situation (Court And Spark)

'You've had lots of lovely women
Now you turn your gaze to me
Weighing up the beauty and the imperfection
To see if I'm worthy
Like the church
Like a cop
Like a mother
You want me to be truthful
Sometimes you turn it on me like a weapon though
And I need your approval.
Still I sent up my prayer
Wondering who was there to hear
I said "Send me somebody
Who's strong, and somewhat sincere..'


17. Edith And The Kingpin (The Hissing Of Summer Lawns)

'Edith in his bed
A plane in the rain is humming
The wires in the walls are humming
Some song- some mysterious song
Bars in her head
Being frantic and snowblind
Romantic and snowblind
She says- his crime belongs
Edith and the kingpin
Each with charm to sway
Are straing eye to eye
They dare not look away
You know they dare not look away.'



18. Passion Play- When All The Slaves Are Free (Night Ride Home)

'Magdalene is trembling
Like the washing on the line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming.
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Ecstasy
Now you tell me
Who're you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?


19. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (Don Juan's Reckless Daughter)

'I come from open prarie
Given some wisdom and a lot of jive!
Last night the ghost of my old ideals
Reran on channel five
And it howled so spooky for its eagle soul
I nearly broke down and cried
But the split tongued spirit laughed at me
He said "Your serpent cannot be denied"'


20. Chinese Cafe/ Unchained Melody (Wild Things Run Fast)

'Christmas is sparkling
Out on Carol's lawn
This girl of my childhood games
Has kids nearly grown and gone
Grown so fast
Like the turn of a page
We look like our mothers did now
When we were those kid's age
Nothing lasts for long...'

The old 'desert islands discs' cliche

I asked my cousin to put a list of 20 songs onto a single disc for me the other day- I gave her a songlist based on songs that I personally don't own for one reason or another. The only other criteria was, of course, that they would be songs that I like- a lot- and another reason cropped up: I have to get back into exercise, jogging especially- and these songs have been chosen for me to play on an ipod that is strapped to my sweaty arm, to enable me to climb the hills of Pascoe Vale more easily and become rip roaring fit for the second time in my life.



The song list is as follows:


1. Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters (Elton John)

This song is on Elton John's best record from 1971: 'Honky Chateau.'

'While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night
For unless they see the sky
But they can't and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light.'

It seems to be a song about the oddness of New York City- there are echoes around the gulf between the rich and the poor. Like a much more famous song about New York City, it talks about a wild and chaotic place. I didn't understand the lyric about 'Spanish Harlem'-

'And now I know
Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say
I thought I knew
But now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City...'

so I looked it up, and saw that Ben E King sang a song called 'Spanish Harlem':

'There is a rose in Spanish Harlem
A red rose up in Spanish Harlem
It is a special one, it's never seen the sun
It only comes out when the moon is on the run.'


2. This Guy's In Love (with you) (Burt Bacharach)

Not sure if this one is ideal yet for running. It is a bit stilted- perhaps towards the end of the run when you are feeling fatigued- the easy pace won't help you speed up, at any rate. Herb Alpert sings the version I now have- so it must be the original. My favourite part is the bit at the emotional core:

'My hands are shakin'
Don't let my heart keep breaking 'cause
I need your love, I want your love
Say you're in love, in love with this guy,
If not I'll just die.'



3.You Make Loving Fun (Fleetwood Mac)

An easy song to listen to and the catchy tune helps you run quickly as you forget about your stomach and your legs and get caught up in the melody. Apparently Cindy Lauper has some sort of history with this song, as well as Christine McVie.



4. If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot)

A beautiful song with lovely, reasonably complex lyrics, that is great for running because it enables time to pass quickly while you get caught up in an intriguing story:

'If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
'bout a ghost from a wishin well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
But stories always end..'

The best bit is in the middle somewhere:

'I never thought I could act this way
And I''ve got to say that I just don't get it
I dont know where we went wrong
But the feelin's gone
And I just can't get it back..'

Hardly celebratory on the topic of love, but too bouncy, lilting to be melancholy. I must say, though, if I needed to be rescued at the point of exhaustion, with 300 metres still left to run, I think i could make it more easily with Johnny' Cash's croaky, faltering version, full of pathos, rather than Gordon Lightfoot's. But all credit goes to the writer.





5.Without You (Harry Nilsson)


Always liked it. The vocal extremities. Definitely a hill song (much more than the one by Kate Bush). I don't much else by Harry Nillson, but I suspect there are other good things apart from this and 'Everybody's Talking.' Apparently it is originally a Badfinger song. This time the lyrics nothing special, just the music.

6.He Ain't Heavy (He's My Brother)


The vocal extremities again, even more powerful this time:

'If I'm laden at all, I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart isn't filled with gladness of love for one another
It's a long long road from which there is no return
While we're on our way to there, why not share
And the load, it doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy - he's my brother.'

Great stuff! Very 60's in it's preaching of love and sharing, and beautiful.

A lot of cover versions- I think I'll pass on Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow and The Osmond's. Elton John played piano on it, and the title refers to the carrying of an actual sibling, not just a 'brother' as in 'peace, man.'



7.The Saddest Song (Melanie)

Good, but not Melanie's greatest song by any means- just difficult to get some of her music off the internet. The sentiment is similar, and beautiful as well:

'And the hardest thing under the sun above
it's to say goodbye to the ones you love..'

Very simple but true. Perhaps best used in running for a run to the airport or the docks to wave goodbye at the steamer that's spilling all its sad streamers into the sea. Would have liked to have captured ' Do You Believe?' to help with the bursting lungs.



8. You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Long John Baldry)

A great vocal performance, but now that I have it, after all these years the female part sounds a little overdone or screechy. Perhaps I just need to get used to it again, or should I have chosen The Righteous Brothers? Apparently her name is Kathi MacDonald??? And why does Barry Manilow keep cropping up? Elvis has a stunning version too, especially live as a showcase in Las Vegas. You don't even notice those sore feet pounding into the cement.



9.Theme From Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)

This is the John Barry of James Bond fame. What a great writer. I don't know who is playing the harmonica, but it is breathtaking and always stays with me. The film is all about travelling, and the music carries you effortlessly along. A perfect song for long distance- say Pascoe Vale to Glenroy and back. The song plays as significant a part in this movie as does, say, the theme to The Godfather in that particular film.



10.One Day I'll Fly Away (Randy Crawford)

I don't remember where I first heard it, but a beautiful vocal, and the title says all you need to hear about wanting to run like the wind, effortlessly and free. Did Nicole Kidman really sing it too?



11.Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack)

Goes nicely with the song above, and very much a Roberta Flack signature tune:

' Ifelt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letter and
Read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softy with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole lifewith his words
Killing me softly with his song..'

I don't know of many songs in which the singer sings of admiration for another singer/ musician. Simply beautiful melody and one very much for the long, flat open road- I just wish it went on for longer.



12. The Last Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)

In a way more of the same, but more tender and breathless:

'And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time my love
It would last till the end of time my love.'

The lyrics are a bit cliched, very much like a juvenile Romeo & Juliet- but the way it is sung makes the drama very moving, allowing to become totally absorbed and lost on your running route so you climb two extra hills without even realising it. Johnny Cash does it well, but I doubt you would climb an accidental hill. And with George Michael? Well, who knows?



13. Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)

This is soul searching, scorching music to help you forget not only about your feet and your knees, but your heart beat as well:

'Oh my love, my darling
I've hungered, hungered for your touch
A long lonely time,
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love,
I...I need your love
God speed your love to me.'

The song is recorded at number 365 by Rolling Stone magazine in the best songs ever- a bit of a joke- and the joke is also on Alex North and Hy Zaret, who don't seem to have had a lot of recognition for their song. If I ever hear anyone say anything about it being the theme song from the film 'Ghost' I think i will throw up. This one for one of the steepest hills, especially at the rising inflexion of the line 'Are you still mine?'



14.Angie (The Rolling Stones)


I surprised myself by choosing this of all the good Rolling Stones songs. Maybe I haven't heard it as much as 'Gimme Shelter' and 'She's Like A Rainbow' is ruined forever by the silly Australian rabbit advertisement. 'Angie' is painful so a good song for slowing down, turning the final corner, as it sounds conclusive in some way:

'Oh, angie, dont you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But angie, angie, aint it time we said good-bye?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied.'

Keith Richards apparently wrote it for his daughter, Angela, so like John Lodge's daughter, Emily, and Paul McCartney's dog, Martha, she should feel pretty happy.




15. My Little Town (Simon & Garfunkel)

No, not even near the best song Paul Simon ever wrote (see the next one for that), still good for running:

'In my little town
I never meant nothin'
I was just my fathers' son
Saving my money
Dreaming of glory
Twitching like a finger
On the trigger of a gun.'

A good song to finish your exhausting run- burst through the finish line banner as Paul Simon and his mate (reunited for the first time in a while with this song), say the word 'gun'. Paul Simon heralds from Newark, New Jersey, which is hardly a small town, so perhaps it isn't quite autobiographical.



16.Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)


Yet another song in which you will forget all the sore parts of your body- in fact, you will forget your feet are touching the ground, especially at:

'Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.'

It looks plain and boring on paper, but you can hear the emotion if you know it well enough. Apparently Paul Simon feels sad when he thinks of Art Garfunkel getting the plaudits for the magnificent vocal crescendo, yet for these ears anyway, Paul Simon's bit from 'Sail on, silvergirl' is the most memorable part of the song. It extends your exercise for at least another kilometre.



17. You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker)


Get Marge Simpson out of my head, for a start. Ok, perhaps not a great running song- it forces you to have a breather, and after the last song you need to have a breather anyway. But who thinks of Billy Preston (writer) when they hear it?





18.Anyone Who Had A Heart (Dusty Springfield)


Back on the track, running your guts out again, to this lovely song:

'Anyone who had a heart
Would take me in his arms and love me, too
You couldn't really have a heart and hurt me,
Like you hurt me and be so untrue
Anyone who had a heart would love me too
Anyone who had a heart would take me in his arms and love me too
Why won't you?'

Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick did well but I think Dusty's is best. Burt Bacharach again.


19.Cannibal's Hymn (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)


A good story and strong rhythms. And clever lyrics.

'You have a heart and I have a key
Lie back and let me unlock you
Those heathens you hang with down by the sea
All they want to do is defrock you
I know a river, where we can dream
It will swell up, burst it's banks, babe, and rock you
But if you're gonna dine with them cannibals
Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten
But I'm glad you've come around here with your animals
And your heart that is bruised but unbeaten
And beating like a drum.'

Yes, we can well believe that Nick will look after her unlike those heathens and have her best interests at heart, despite her pink pinafore that continually needs mending. Perhaps he is making references to the ancient Egyptian 'Pyramid Texts', perhaps not. But it's interesting, driving rhythm is compelling on the road, up loud.



20.Evening Train (Johnny Cash)


This one is strictly not for the road, unless you are at snail's pace. It is for when you get home and take off the shoes and strip off the wet socks. It's melancholy but touching, especially because it is on the last record:

'As I turned to walk away from the depot,
It seemed I heard her call my name,
"Take care of my baby and tell him,
Darlin', that I'm goin' home,
On the evenin' train."

I pray that God will give me courage,
To carry on till we meet again.
It's hard to know she's gone forever,
They're carryin' her home on the evenin' train.'

After all this, and after all the running and sweating, who would have thought it would all end with Hank Williams?



As I said, I only chose songs that were previously innacessible to me- hence there is nothing here by The Beatles, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Moody Blues or Joni Mitchell.

Joni Mitchell 1

It is very difficult to write concisely about Joni Mitchell's music, because apart from the fact that it is so good, and you have the desire to write about all the songs you like, there is so much of it. Some would say she is the female Bob Dylan of her generation. I would prefer to say that Bob Dylan is the female Joni Mitchell of his generation. That's how good she is. And I believe her best albums were in the late 60's/ early 70's. She had a definite lull in the 80's where she comes across as less certain and less inspired. Then there are the smallish number of lovely albums in the 90's. Not much after that, in terms of quantity, anyway.

Joni's first album was called 'Song To A Seagull' (1968). It isn't her strongest album but it's a great start. Some of the songs have lyrics that are too abstract or wordy (not features of her best work), but it does contain the beautiful title track. It showcases her lovely, high voice, and has stunning imagery:

'Fly silly seabird
No dreams can possess you
No voices can blame you
For sun on your wings

My gentle relations
Have names they must call me
For loving the freedom of all flying things
My dreams with the seagulls fly
Out of reach out of cry

I came to the city
And lived like old Crusoe
On an island of noise
In a cobblestone sea
And the beaches were concrete
And the stars paid a light bill
And the blossoms hung false
On their store window trees
My dreams with the seagulls
Fly out of reach, out of cry'

It reminds us of later songs like 'Amelia' and 'Black Crow' with its flying imagery and desire for freedom. It is the city that entraps you. And yet the city is portrayed as full of fun loving freedom in 'Night in the City':

'Night time night time
Day left an hour ago
City light time
Must you get ready so slow
There are places to come from and places to go

Night in the city looks pretty to me
Night in the city looks fine
Music comes spilling out into the street
Colors go flashing in time.'

She is capturing the high spirited times perfectly and the music is bouncy and optimistic and matches the lyrics perfectly.

The other outstanding song on the first album is ironic and wry and reveals the sense of humour that we see especially on later albums like 'Court and Spark.' It is about her ill-fated marriage and the humour is in the hopeless mismatch that it had to be:

'I had a king dressed in drip-dry and paisley
Lately he's taken to saying I'm crazy and blind
He lives in another time
Ladies in gingham still blush
While he sings them of wars and wine
But I in my leather and lace I can never become that kind

I can't go back there anymore
You know my keys won't fit the door
You know my thoughts don't fit the man
They never can
They never can.

I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage
Who carried me off to his country for marriage too soon
Beware of the power of moons
There's no one to blame
No there's no one to name as a traitor here
The king's on the road
And the queen's in the grove
'Till the end of the year.'


In 'I Had A King' Joni has 'paisley' and 'crazy' rhyme by delaying the words 'and blind' for half a second. Joni portrays herself as the leather and lace woman who is at odds with the naive or superficial women in gingham who enjoy hearing of wars and wine. 'Beware of the power of moons'- a warning for everybody who acts foolishly and impulsively in 'love.'

The New York times at the time recognised true talent and said 'Joni Mitchell leaps from image to image but seldom leaves you hanging. Occasionally her lyrics seem to lose relevance and become frosting without any cake, but then she's like a sand dune: you like the idea of her' Fair criticism, but something that she could not be charged with again for a long time. The album 'Clouds' (i.e. 'Both Sides Now') was next.

Melanie songs

Melanie Safka wrote her best songs during the early to middle seventies. I discovered her when I was about 12 around 1975. It's funny how some music stays with you, mixed into your soul and blood. Other music I listened to at that time was by people like Abba, and this hasn't stayed with me.

Melanie is a beautiful singer who uses her voice in dramatic, imaginative and courageous ways. Her work was usually produced by her husband, Peter Schekeryk. The arrangements were varied and interesting. Melanie herself played acoustic guitar in the best folk tradition, but it was the use of percussion in her music that I enjoyed the most. She gained confidence as she went along, and the albums of around 1972, '73 were the best and the most mature. I say this with the full knowledge that I don't know Melanie at all well after 1974 (post 'As I See It Now') . I don't know why this is the case.

I saw her live once- the only time she has been to Melbourne perhaps? and that was at the Dallas Brooks Hall circa 1979. I don't remember a lot of the evening, except her performances of 'Ruby Tuesday' (finale) and 'Ring The Living Bell, Shine The Living Light.' I do remember one other thing. She offered us an enchanting, typical-Melanie strory of how she visited 'the fairy tree' in the local city parklands. Her beautiful soul comes out tregularly enough in her lyrics- see songs like 'Beautiful People' as an example- naive, yes, but still touching. She lacks the sophistication of Joni Mitchell but is still a unique and enthralling artist.

Oddly enough, my favourite Melanie songs- the ones that I think are the most accomplished, or at least move me the most, are written by other artists. This is not a blight on her ability. these versiuons and arrangements are uniquely hers, and she has been able to improve the already impressive original versions. No mean feat.

These songs, in no particular order, are:

'Lady, Lady Lay' (Bob Dylan)
'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright' (Bob Dylan)
'My Rainbow Race' (Pete Seeger)
'Carolina On My Mind' (James Taylor)

You could throw into the mix a few others, like 'My Father' (Judy Collins) and 'Ruby Tuesday' (Jagger/ Richards)

Having said this, there are countless songs Melanie wrote that are top notch as well, and these are my personal favorites of those:

'A Little Bit Of Me'
'I Am Not A Poet'
'Do You Believe'
'In The Hour'
'Any Guy'
'Candles In The Rain'
'Leftover Wine'
'Babe Rainbow'
'Steppin'
'Chart Song'
'As I See It Now'

'Well your chart says you're restless
With a long way to go
If your last life was easy
We may never know
How I wish you a life without the fear of pain
And welcome to the world
You have been born again
Don't fear the change

Well I've looked for the meaning
And I've looked through clear light
And I pray you find the grace to stay asleep at night
How I wish you a life without the fear of pain
And life is so much harder
When you fear the change
Don't fear the change

Well your chart says you're restless
With a long way to go
If your last life was easy
We may never know
How I wish you a life without the fear of pain
And life is so much harder
When you fear the change
Don't fear the change.'

This is a beautiful song to sing to your new baby son or daughter, if you have one. The Melanie song I find myself singing to the most, and often it is around the corner to buy 'The Age', is 'A Little Bit Of Me.'

Beautiful Vision, No Guru No Method No Teacher

The 1980's was a stunning decade for Van Morrison. Even better than the 70's because it seems to me that he was being informed by something more profound in his music and his writing. By this I mean his muse, if you like. No more Caledonia Soul, but a greater intelligence at work.

We have 'Common One', and 'Inarticulate Speech of the Heart', both beautifully realised and totally passionate. Then around this time came ' Beautiful Vision', an extension of the previous album in its optimism and its contentedness:

'Across the bridge where angels dwell
Across the bridge where angels
Across the bridge where angels dwell
Children play

Beyond the place where time is still
Beyond the place where time is
Beyond the place where time is still
Night is day

Close your eyes in fields of wonder
Close your eyes and dream
Close your eyes in fields of wonder
Close your eyes and dream
Along the path where heaven lies
Along the path where heaven
Along the path where heaven lies
All is clear

Ahead where home awaits the heart
Ahead where home is waiting
Ahead where home awaits the heart
Peace is near

Close your eyes in fields of wonder
Close your eyes and dream
Close your eyes in fields of wonder
Close your eyes and dream
Across the bridge where angels dwell
Across the bridge where angels
Across the bridge where angels dwell
Children play.'

Then we have songs that are inspired by new, more complex subject matter:

'I'm a dweller on the threshold
And I'm waiting at the door
And I'm standing in the darkness
I don't want to wait no more
I have seen without perceiving
I have been another man
Let me pierce the realm of glamour
So I know just what I am
I'm a dweller on the threshold
And I'm waiting at the door
And I'm standing in the darkness
I don't want to wait no more.'

There is a distinct Scandinavian influence on tbeen on the same albhis record, as opposed to a an Irish one on the last. But these two songs may have been written around the same time:

'When Lewellen comes around
And he goes through market town
You'll be on the Celtic Ray
Are you ready?
When McManus comes around
On his early morning round
Cryin' "Heron 'a' lay"
You'll be on the Celtic Ray.

Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales
I can hear those ancient voices calling,
"Children, children"

When the coalbrick man comes round,
On a cold November day
You'll be on the Celtic Ray,
Are you ready?

Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales,
I can hear those ancient voices calling,
"Children, children, children".

Listen Jimmy, I wanna go home.
Listen Jimmy I wanna go home.I
've been away from the Ray too long.
I've been away from the Ray too long.

In the early mornin', we'll go walkin' where
The light comes shining through
On the Celtic Ray.'

This Celtic Ray, with the mother's yearning to keep the children together. And this is similar on 'Irish Heartbeat' from 'Inarticulate Speech of the Heart':

'Oh won't you stay, stay awhile
With your own ones.
Don't ever stray,
Stray so far from your own ones.
This old world is so cold.
Don't care nothin' for your soul
You share with your own ones.

Don't rush away, rush away
From your own ones.
Just one more day, one more day
With your own ones.
For the world is so cold.
Don't care nothin' for your sou
lYou share with your own ones

There's a stranger
And he's standing at your door.
May be your best friend
Might be your brother,
You may never know.
I'm going back, going back
To my own ones.
Back to talk, talk awhile
With my own ones.
For the world is so cold.
Don't care nothing for your soul
That you share with your own ones.'

A couple of more average records followed before Van produced one of his very best: 'No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.'

Veedon Fleece, Into The Music

After the early creative heights of Astral Weeks and Moondance, Van Morrison produced His Band And The Street Choir and Tupelo Honey and followed them with the earthy and passionate St Dominic's Preview with its two classic long tracks.

Hard Nose The Highway was more miss than hit, but Veedon Fleece was dreamy and ethereal and beautiful. Van relaxed his vocal style and sang happily and soulfully on Country Fair, Come Here My Love, Fair Play and Comfort You. Van must have been so relaxed at this point, travelling around Ireland after being away for a while and being a tourist:

'A paperback book
As we walk down the street
Fill my mind with tales of mystery, mystery...
And imagination
Forever fair
And I'm touching your hair
I wish we could be dreamers
In this dream,
Oh let it dream....'

Van had a long break then and came up with an album called 'A Period of Transition' which for some reason I have just never played much. It did have 'Flamingoes Fly', but the version of this song on 'The Philospher's Stone Vol 1' is far, far superior.

'Into The Music' closed the decade, and it is another stunner. 'It's All In The Game' is the highlight and the record cover with Van with his eyes closed says it all- pure inspiration:

'And he'll kiss your lips
And caress your fingertips
And your heart will fly away.'

'Stepping Out Queen' is good, but the version on 'The Philosopher's Stone' is better, with its bouncy, joyous tone and personal, yearning lyrics. This is closer to a confessional style of writing than is normal for Van:

'This is a song
It's got a whole lot of soul
When I seen you by the way before
In new york cityI think it was \
On eighth street, right?
Or was it in san francisco?
Whatever
Always put the first one first
And the second one, second
Come in the garden and look at the flowers
That's what you were saying, right?
Come in my garden and look at the flowers
We can just sit and talk for hours and hours
Come in my garden, come in my garden
Come in my garden Come in my, come in my, come in my garden
Come in my, come in my, come in my garden
Come in my garden, come in my garden
Look at the flowers, we can just sit and talk
And feel
As the sun come over the valley
As the sun come over the valley...'

A Little Bit Of Me

Balanced on the mountain
With the people all around
Who say that I've been up too long
And they want to bring me down
Well I wouldn't mind the falling...no I
t's the ones who come to see
If all I've got left inside
Is a little bit of me

Won't you hold my hand now
Hold my hand tight
Hold lightly in the day
And hold harder at night
Well I don't mind the coming down
It's the way it's got to be
What I hope I got left inside
Is a little bit of me

Now when it is all over
And I become a seed
They'll plant me in the universe
Where the balance gotta be
Now I don't mind the dyin', no.
It's the way it's got to be
But I hope I leave behind
Just a little bit of me
A little bit of me

Balanced on my mountain
With the people all around
Who say that I've been up too long
And they want to bring me down
I don't mind the coming down
It's the way it's gotta be
What I hope I got left inside
Is a little bit of me
Hope I got something left for me
Hope I got something left for me
Hope I got something left for me

Melanie Safka

Astral Weeks, Common One, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart

The Van Morrison album I know best is Astral Weeks. It has moved me more than any record I have ever heard. I came across it because I was curious about its reputation. It was the favorite record of most of the members of The Doors. John Densmore recalls Van writing the lyrics to the title track on a piece of paper at a party circa 1967 that they both attended.

I love the tricks with phrasing in particular and the jazzy instrumentation. The tricks include things like stumbling on the line 'my tongue gets tied everytime I try and speak', which I think is partially borrowed from Elvis. There is also the 'and the one that loves to love the one that loves to love...' etc, etc. And another favorite, from 'Cyprus Avenue':

'Wait a minute, yonder comes my lady
Rainbow ribbons in her hair..'

The way Van draws out that second line until it's almost unintelligible is pure Van, and the reason why so many people love him or cannot stand him.


There are the curious lines like the scrapbook stuck with glue in 'Beside You' (probably inspired by Dylan- reminds me of a lyric in 'Visions of Johanna'), and whatever the girls dropped in 'Cyprus Avenue'. I have been to Cyprus Avenue, just around the corner from Hyndford Street, and it was a magical experience- analagous to wandering Arklow on the east coast singing 'Streets of Arklow' (Veedon Fleece).

It seems to me that the album takes us through the idea of birth and simple young love- Astral Weeks, Beside You, Sweet Thing- to adolescence and older more experienced love- Cyprus Avenue, The Way That Young Lovers D0- to more adult themes of decay and death in Ballerina and Slim Slow Slider. This last one seems to me to be the weakest track. But it still inspired me to go Ladbroke Grove.

By the way, 'Sweet Thing' is unbearably sweet and beautiful and has lovely lyrical, lilting joyous words, but try and hear a version from the early 80's at the Montreux Jazz Festival. It's much slower and more moving and you have to close your eyes and be swept away.
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I then started buying more Van records- in fact ones that started coming out. I was at La Trobe University and I was lucky enough to experience the new stuff when Van was truly inspired again. Listen to the first song from 'Common One' and it puts you on a higher plane:

'Beside the garden walls,
We walk in haunts of ancient peace.
At night we rest and go to sleep
In haunts of ancient peace.
The love and light we seek,
The words we do not need to speak,
Here in this wondrous way we keep
These haunts of ancient peace.
Let us go there again
When we need some relief
Oh, when I can't find my feet
When I need rest and sleep.'

So many of Van's songs are about healing, and going down to the river, and to the pylons, and whatever else it takes. The words alone are sometimes nothing much, but the music is soothing and it propels the words to another sphere. This is the album where I think he first used my favorite Van Morrison phrase:

'Oh, my common one . . .
It ain't why . . .It just is . . .
That's all
That's all there is about it.
It just is.
Can you feel the light?
I want to go to church and say.
In your soul . . .
Ain't it high?
Oh, my common one
Oh, my storytime one
Oh, my high in the art of sufferin' one
Put your head on my shoulder . . .
And you listen to the silence.
Can you feel the silence?'

It is this last bit- 'can you feel the silence?'- he uses it again, magically, on the title track of 'Hymns To The Silence' years later. It is a phrase he must like. And i think it is beautiful too, and it sums up what his music, at its best, is all about. The albums at this time are all about this- Into The Music, Common One, Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart and Beautiful Vision. A great foursome. Countless good lyrics and countless moods. My favorite of these came out when I was about to start University in 1982/3- Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart. I played it to death, lost it, and only a few weeks ago went and bought it again.

It's the same old philosophy of making something that will move you and make you feel literally 'higher than the world.' You can imagine Van singing, with eyes closed, 'Rave On, John Donne', the gorgeous saxophone blaring behind him. For me the pinnacle is the last two tracks- the title track and the last instrumental, 'September Night':

Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart
Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart
I'm a soul in wonder I'm a soul in wonder
I'm a soul in wonder I'm a soul in wonder
Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart
Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart

I'm just wild about it
I can't live without it
I'm just wild about it
I can't live without it
Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart
Inarticulate speech, inarticulate speech of the heart

I'm a soul in wonder I'm a soul in wonder
I'm a soul in wonder I'm a soul in wonder
I'm a soul in wonderI'm a soul in wonder
I'm a soul in wonder A soul in wonder
A soul in wonder.'

You have to remember there are the beautiful female backing vocals as well. What it must be to be a soul in wonder. He really means it- you can tell he feels it. And he doesn't have to say what it is that he is wild about, or cannot live without. You just know that it is true. And the last song, the instrumental, has him wailing in ecstasy as the ride for him continues. It must have been a great personal period for him.

'September Night' is an instrumental, except for the soothing vocal ecstasy in the background. It washes over you beautifully like water except if you are home alone and it is dark it can make you feel melancholy.
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