The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

sitting backstage in chicago
waiting to go on at 8ish sharp
park west baby
oh yeah nice venue
we drive up from madison
madison turned out nice
nice gig
ok
drive up
stop at starbux
soy latte soy oats soy smoothie
balmy weather
warm weather
sunshine
we drift along
discussing this n that
fly along the road
hit traffic in chicago go slow
here we are
feeling a bit numb
feeling a bit dumb
feeling like some thing
i sing i play i try to remember the words
i old and tired too
so old and tired too
remember no spring chicken
no dolt in his prime
an old geezer pushing himself on the endless road
in a room with no windows
air conditioning pumps too remorseless
in the darkness where i freeze n dream
shuddering under crispy sheets
and plumpy pillows
i wriggle as i dream of my other lives
suntanned against white sheets
freckled and faded
deep in some night alone
at the presents clocklface
at the very very edge of time
confused reluctant
regrets i hadda few
oh columbus
oh vienna
this means nuffink to me
down by the river
i shot by maybe
i hurtle hopelessly onwards towards my death
everyday i die a little more
everyday i cry a little more
pick up my guitar
n play
just like yessaday
i get on my knees and prey
people assail me with their ideas
shake your hand
hand your shake
i dunno
im a stupid fucking singer
i make up words
i make up musics
i drive around from town to town
on the edge of everytown
i everyman
i more than most in the least
i travel in your mind
alone in your head n you cant get in
ok i gotta stop
i gotta entertain em
i gotta sing
i gotta go

madison wisconsin
comes into focus
the miles tick by like minutes
miles by minutes by moments by memories
inanimate objects communicate with me a la proust
tim drives down the sunshining highway
ah freedom
the journey unravels
we stop for a starbucks
we have a discussion n sure enough a woman says
you all aint from around here are ya?
nope i say
have a guess where hes from pointing at tim
my goodness i couldnt possibly guess she says
last night now officially a light year behind
the last half turned out good
the crowd n band locked in on encores

i walk around madison trying to keep fit
a real nice clean civilized place it seems
i go down to their great lake
gee it reminds me of sweden i gotta say
i could be in sweden on a summers day
lotsa scandic names too
nice little theatre too
i feel strange tho
i am not escaping the years fast enough
i need to move away faster than the age allows
sit upstairs in nice dressing room
its a lot better than portland gig backstage = closet
im pretty sleepy
underwhelmed
wondering why not enjoying myself more
put much into these performances
i try to do my best
it takes concentration
then afterwards i wake up early
we do soundcheck
cop a nice dose of feedback
same old but different
ok thats enough
isnt it

its intermission in mini-apple-is
have done a smooth first half
its chile on stage some fan blowing cold n hard
my skin is dry n itchy and i feel like a prisoner within it
every now n then i sing like a lark
but sometimes more like a turkey
yeah
playing bass ok
my bass sounds nice tho
so warm n natural all right
not that many people here
i mean not too bad but not too many
thats disappointing but hard luck eh
theres a lotta stuff out there
lucky we have anybody on some levels
anyway gonna relax for 3 minutes
then play some more
love on ya
kilbey

kilbey
eternal strangest stranger in strangely familiar strange land
forget whatever you thought you knew about texas
texas is green baby
these aint no badlands
texas is lush and green and full of life
not the crazy desperate frantic life of australian nature
but the sedate peace of say a sweden or germany in summer
leafy as all fuck
you want birdies chirping n squirrels running up n down trees
(did i ever tell you all my kids think i resemble a squirrel??)
(devil-squirrel!)
if you want soft balmy zephyrs
if you want gentle clouds drifting on a sky thats not so blue as australias
an older sky
a sky that seems further away and less revved up
in contrast to austin texas
sydney seems like a place where someone jumped on the colour graph
and intensified brightness contrast and saturation
because sydneys nature is wilder and more colourful
its more primitive too
busting out all over the place
at austin and dallas airports
long beautiful yellow weeds nod in the breezes next to the landing strips
jackrabbits are loping about
seems to be a loada rivers n lakes everywhere
it rains a bit
i remember being in hotel rooms in houston
unbelievable lightning and thunder raining down on the smitten earth
i sit alone as usual in room in 1988
why im sitting at a keyboard writing songs for hex
i got this ensoniq brand sequencer
i bought these little coloured cartridges with sounds on em
i go straight home after gig n i work on music all night long
i got a studio booked in new york at xmas 88
gonna record n finish an album with dt
(who also somehow managed to get loads of pics of herself in my bob lurie biopic)
but wow
yes it really rains here
i wrote that song mercury towers here
the music anyway
i was obsessed with writing these things on that sequencer
building up little interlocking phrases
a record totally ahead of its time
see the movie tarnation in which diviner is used
no one could dig this groovy trip at the time
but it is good
ah yes
and texas surprises me
a seductive place
youd say i couldnt imagine sk living in texas
but i could
what…leafy quiet bohemian enclaves
with all the latest doodahs if youd want em
ok some people are saying
what are you doing there exactly old killer bean
well i met via the net a chap
who is guiding me in net related matters i know little of
a crash course in logic
am recording a brand new song for ye
talk about thetimebeing.com
which aims to bring you more kilbey with less fuss
a total one stop shot for your quadruple kilbey fix
more behind the scenes than ever EVERYWHERE!
more old stuff rare stuff stuff from the vaults
more poetry more blog more photos more rants more raves
more of whatever you want
whenever you want it
whatever it is
(even more hyperbole!)
so we figuring it out
maximising my puny clout
kicking a gaol
etc etc
i drove his porsche today a little bit
it didnt seem to have that much more poke than tibor really…
until i floored it n it reared up like a black stallion who was being
stabbed with some silver spurs
after that i had more respect cos that frightened me a little
i had vegan chorizo n vegan black beans tostadas
i had a pommy granite n raspberry doodah with vitamin x
etc
now will do some more music
2morro join other donkeys in minneapolis to resume the tour
oh yes that had you forgotten…?
ok
this has been a great relaxing informative healthyish respite
thank you kmcc!
you others see ya tomorrow in min
bye

look
i know i’m spoiling ya
but
what the hell
austin is really nice
speek to ya tomorrow

steve kilbey sits at seattle airport
flying down to texas to meet my internet guru
spend three days in austin
too late for south by southwest
too early for summer
last night in seattle was a great gig
after we had a noisy troublemaker slung out
well he was warned
i couldnt tell if he was a disturbed individual
or on some weird psyche drug
or a nasty fellow just foolin’ w/ me
anyway seattle is really a great church town n they did us proud
great gig great turnout
great audients
so portland was good too
i dunno
i cant review myself no more
someone jump on here n review me please
flying to mini-apple-is after texas sojourn
tuesday
start the grind over again
how you liking us so far?
we’re oldies but goldies
god i starting to look old now
just in the last couple a weeks
new lines
new sags
new bags
gravity working working working
pulling my face apart
i wanna live forever but i dont wanna age
gotta deal with it man
these things age you
alcohol
cigarettes
cheese
meat
no exercise
too much worrying
to much arguing
not enough ocean
not enough orgy-asms
not enough discipline
not enough physical n mental flexibility
not enough love
not enough rocknroll
hail hail rocknroll
aint it amazing i sitting at airport writing you guys
such dedication
such a nice time being
sharing with you hobbitses
nice time being wont bite
nice time being wont scratch
ok
they calling my little plane
i gotta fly away away away
see ya in tex-ass then fiendss
will keep yas posted my little dears
lotsa lovey
steve-0

san fran yeah that was a good show
we play like a real band with real instr. n everything
i sing like a llama
ply my base
see ya little baby shes a real reptile
we wont listen to the lizard part of our brains
steve kilbey live from the front
hours n hours driving arriving all most surviving
l. a. seems like a ripple in my memory now
we move on rapid-oh baby
check in
check out
wheres the internet
wheres the bed
wheres the shower
wheres the yoga
wheres the rainy window that never opens
unexpected winter still lingers in oregone
as we drive up to gig it starts to hail ha ha
snowy mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
tonight portland
its cold here
i miss my bondi beach
i miss my balcony
its lovely here too
gothicky pittsburghy feel but in the n west
i like it here
the bridges n rivers n the freaks
we play a nice little place i guess
they change when the peoples come in
i get a soup from a vegan place
do an interview but guess what
their camera didnt work so….
my feet are cold
my shirt n my face is wrinkled
my skin hurts in the cold
i am stiff and tired
nowhere to relax here neither
a tiny cramped little room backstage
dont envy me its not always any fun
boo hoo boo fucking hoo
ha ha ha ha

* music “the kicker” by the church x 2

yeah l.a. yeah
play sing talk
music music music
pluck my string
sing my word
oh my word
travel thru time to the beginning in the end
cosy little show
dynamics
stops starts
makes mistakes
redeems triumphant
cant get to sleep
my only glasses broken now
cant keep track of stuff
blind as a bat or a ball
bawling into a mic
bowling along the highways
up the meridians of free enterprise civilisation
as lived out it the westest west
good bits sure
bad bits thats right
bums on seats
bums on streets
showbiz take a shaky bow in the shadows of ruin
the titanic smoking ice cuba bound
last broken flash of love still in the camera
dream importers underling thats what i am
i’m a man cant you see what i am
a man in this big old mansuit
i assemble sounds in certain patterns
we humans called it music
it has a sequence and a code and a dependence on zeitgeist
i sing my words
getting kinda nervous the way ellipses curve us
its a mystery to me we dont fall
i fall asleep in a van driving towards san fran, cisco
and i dream of incredible things during my dozy daze
i strap on the bass guitar of apollo
and i come down olympus fuming in anger
the songs sweep up the empty aisles and vacant chairs
my time fall away so quickly
i can put no brakes on it
it just streams away n away
love
stev-en

recorded in escondido yesterday