The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

sacre bleu

apparently it seems

in the deep lock of midnight

under the persuasion of  a whispering moon

the solitary minutes before and after

we leave our bloody bodies in dream

spirit souls waft with the lunar wind above earth

tangled cords and jangled nerves

even the high and mighty

even the low and lawless

escaping ourselves anyway we can

in the midst of life we find death

in the midst of hatred we find love

paradoxes metaphors music equations parables

life is complicated

life is simple

you get born

you live for an unspecified period

you die

some too young

some too old

some have terrible tragic lives

(oh god we do you allow this…?)

some get what they deserve

some never get what they deserve

what they had coming

they seem to get off scot-free

some people (like me) get lucky

almost every bad thing that ever happened was at my own hand

born in an affluent time in an affluent land

no war no disease no famine

never beaten molested or threatened

i dream up my own dramas

i create my own chaos

i wrote and directed the film of my life

not as good or as bad as it might have been

i bought a ticket in the pop lottery n i won a minor prize

i got good genes coz my dad was a better musician than me

my mother got me interested in poetry

it was a lucky combo

coz i was always obsessed by songwriting

my parents let me be

left me alone to obsess for long hours in my room

listening n relistening to my favourite stuff

as my analytical machine mind dissected  beatles bolan bowie n bob

i remade myself

i reconstructed what i had

blessed with an obstinate streak i was not naturally that gifted

but i applied myself as the carrot of fame dangled riches women drugs just outta reach

i worked on my vision day n night

forming n breaking up groups

loaning money buying equipment learning my chops

a million jams in a million garages

a million load-ins n load-outs

a million hours on the phone talking it thru

a million reads of a million rock rags

a million rotten songs slowly getting imperceptibly better

a million hair styles and a million changes of direction

yeah i put the work in

but what of the psycho-kinesis of luck

what of destiny what of fortune what of fate….?

what of my intuition that has stood back directing my actions ……

what of the right place at the right time

what of the zeitgeist n my stubborn refusal to bend to its influence….?

a winter night falls after a spring-ish day here in bondi

i’m going in to finish off starlings record now

driving thru sydneys jumbled inner city streets to the university in camperdown

where we have some free down time to record vocals

a long nights session

starling deserves some success i’m sure you’ll agree when you hear his stuff

i have had my little share i guess i should be content

i got my fantastic daughters to carryon in my footsteps

i move forwards into the future

resilient but still pretty dented by my various setbacks

i have some bloody good friends

yeah you know who they are

i have some great players who play with me n work with me

i have you guys who read my rantings n give me encouragement

ok thats it

i’m just taking some stock

i feel ok

i’ll see ya all tomorrow

think of me tonight

slaving over that hot recording console

i love ya

sk

If you missed us live on World Cafe, you can now listen to some of the live performance and banter (20 min 41 sec) via the NPR WXPN 88.5 link below.

Setlist : Pangaea, Louisiana and Already Yesterday.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128337385

TimEbandit blog can be found on MySpace with recent news and updates on his projects.

Three members of the church – Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Tim Powles – joined the legendary Jimmy Little onstage at the 2010 APRA Awards to perform Under the Milky Way. Jimmy was awarded the prestigious Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
Jimmy covered Under the Milky Way on the Messenger album in 1999. Watch this very special performance here –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx2VPAYjObQ

Steve Kilbey will be appearing at the 2010 Melbourne Writers Festival on the following dates :

Thu 2 Sept – Lyrical: Steve Kilbey, Lisa Miller and Little Miss X – Northcote Social Club at 8pm. Tickets $25
Sat 4 Sept – Songwriter Speaks: Steve Kilbey – Festival Club ACMI at 4 – 5pm Free
http://www.mwf.com.au/2010/content/mwf-2010-standard.asp?name=authors-KilbeyS

A new fantasmagorical Steve Kilbey website has been launched.Click on the link below to explore a whole new residence for Steve Kilbey’s art, music, poetry, videos, the blog and more!
http://www.thetimebeing.com

coal face

august the 4th yesterday now

a fine winters day in this southern hemisphere

woulda coulda shoulda

talk drive eat swim yoga think hope

computers gone glitchy

its writing out its own blogs now

life on the plateau

statistics figures facts

politicians vie for our votes

they are all jokes

they are all greedy little piggies noses in trough

the real heroes drive ambulances and fix the roads

the nurses and doctors

the plumbers and firemen

the people taking care of seniors and disabled

finishing off starlings record

go into rehearsal for musical/play next week

feeling weary feeling small

still doing yoga

still swimming

still behaving meself

my computer is really fucking up

it really is typing stuff on its own

i had a long sad heavy day today

maybe light at the end of the funnel, webb

need to have a long rest

everything is too intense

finished the day by visiting a friend in very bad shape and tragic

which re-broke my foolish heart all over again

tomorrow we will do one long session try n get starlings record wrapped up

lemme tellya its a beautiful thing

he sings like a melancholy lark

the songs no one but him could have written

the man himself has become a good friend to me

jesus i hope someone hears this lovely stuff

i’ll put some up on here when its all done

much love on all my readers

soon i guess we will unveil the premium stuff n tell ya what ya gonna get

it’ll be like able to download music i will be recording esp. for you

and vids n stuff too

hope to make it worth your while

and you get yer moneysworth

suggestions gratefully taken as to what ya want

and lots of new music still coming down the pipeline atcha

all my whatevers

sk

/0\-/\\\\\//p\/-/\p0–\/

intrepidation

hollow cheeked messenger of the gods

one to the left

one to the right

one in black

one in red

one in man

one in wo-man

possession nine tenths of the lore

i been possessed

angry elemental gnawing at me betweeen my body n brain

oh baby its a mystery

no wonder i so angry

a cat in a world of dog

a snake in my eden

how to forgive the unforgivable

no you cant imagine what i went thru

some stupid evil all over me in its ignorance

never mined

a doctor i have lost my patience

yes i turn again to the white witch

and she again does not fail me

restoring hopeless faith in my heart

i rise from the ashes of my latest downfall

i dust myself off

how much can this old frame endure

the witch says now smile

and lo i finally smiled

the witch a tall gaunt witch she is

the witch said rise up n walk my boy

and lo i could again walk

and the elemental black spirit temporarily banished

but it hovers about me still

and its ever watchful and waiting for me to fall n fail

and thru my thin worn out fabric it will pierce my heart again

and i just wanted to pursue happiness

and i just wanted to be like i could

and thats life

with its awful ogres

with its uselessnesses

with its death n disease

with its mistakes n its mysteries

and even in my travails i remained calm

oh my fiendss you would have been proud of me

wronged and busted still i remained calm

outraged and imprisoned reasonless

i saw it coming

thus i knew it would eventually be

and it was

and i stood there letting it wash over me

all my life leading up to this

st steven the martyr shot by the arrows of pitiless destiny

alone in a lonely stinking place

hoping the nightmare would cease n i would awake

but alas the bad dream was real enough

no none of this is metaphor

yes i was injured needlessly

and the angry elemental is screaming in my fucking ear to do something about it

and how hard it is to resist that black invisible thing hounding me down

and how hard it is to be cheerful after everything now this

and christ jealousy and anger brought you down

and krsna killed by the shot of a poor ignorant hunter

and buddha poisoned by the meat of a stupid farmer

and achilles slain by a coward

and ever yes it was thus

and ever yes it will be

and now i am hanging on by a thread of pure reason

and in knowledge that surely things happen that none of us deserve

and that one day i will laugh and cease to remember all of this

and that things may be restored to me

and that acceptance must be mine

and that as usual i will prevail

because thats what i always do eventually

i prevail

i go on

i smash my head against the wall till the fucking wall collapses

i learn my lesson

i keep moving forward

i turn every minus into a plus

i defy the lesser men who are so readily plentiful

and whatever they sling at me

i remain true to myself

angry maybe

stupid as well

but i remain on my own terms despite the worms

and i plunge into my coldest pool

to cool down this white hot righteous n unrighteous anger

to swim in that freezing water so that i can face another day

and i stand in my yoga poses

trying not to listen to the whispering spirits

who goad me into some new deleterious misadventure

who astonisheth me with their persuasive powers

and for now i have accept it all with a grimace or grin

but surely soon i will be released

thats it for today

make of it what you will

and will of it what you make

your very humbled hero

me

raining pouring olde mans gnawing

thunder wind cheetah black rain heart

cruise falcon streets awash shiver shudder

falling down in amber lights

big city outline radio off wrong turn neon crack

shop window dummy sign trash gutter over flow

wipers window droplets racing rhythmic blur

tail light flash sleepy now lonely too

making music rain fall stick a round peg square whole

listen here hear this splash pitter patter rattle hit

pop drop cops blue car zoom speed reduce translucent

midnight blew thru door i come home i dream alone

cant start cant stop cant score cant shop

must sleep now

must switch off

must turn in but into what?