my bass guitar n me

how long did we sit there like that

sit in that room

with our ringing ears and bent necks

sifting through notes

figuring out  what its all about

at first i have no idea

it takes time to unravel your in into music

may not be immediately obvious

we sat there the bass n i

in that one chair in my room

a red chair with wooden armrests

my bass grumbled down low sub audible

my bass i held it against the wardrobe for resonance

the clothes grooved on the hanger

the elephant cords

the blue floral shirt from england with the see through bits

the miller shirts

the levi-strauss

little green bag

25 or 6 to 4

yellow river

i got a line on you

ride captain ride upon your mystery ship

why do birds suddenly appear

(why the fuck do they?)

i talk to the wind my words are all carried away

i fall in love my bass falls in love

the world falls in love

baby i’m a’want you

tomorrow everyones gonna read my letters

tomorrow everyones gonna drink my wine

then my mother knocks at the door

keep it down please son we’re all going to bed now

i hold the bass in the dark

my girlfriend down the road half a mile

in a room with her 4 sisters

what was she listening to…..

a radio station 2CA

people sending cheerios in the night

this is from johnny and rombo in braddon

to lily, christine and all the girls on the fourth floor

of the TAA building….this is LET IT BE by THE BEATLES!!

my bass shuddered in the night

more than anything it wanted to pour out my feelings

i loved that girl though god knows why

she certainly didnt love me

i was overqualified for her

she wanted needed some ordinary kid

she never understood me at all

she just kept me hanging on

but with all those brothers n sisters

she was an instant scene

there were a hundred cool kids hanging round all the time

claudio who went out with rosie

fuck he knew some good music

my girlfriends dad came out one night

he said to me n claudio

you two should pay rent youre round here so often !

claudio got the boot from rosie before her sister booted me

i’d see him and he was sad to see me knowing i was still “in”

i saw him in town one night and he asked about rosie

i couldnt see why she broke up with him

he had such good taste in music

rosie met this other geezer called steve hunter

how many steve hunters in this world…ive met about 10

now steve hunter was a handsome geeza with a great hairstyle

he knew nothing about music tho

not like me n claudio

rosie didnt seem that jazzed on him really

but her sister my girlfriend was kinda digging steve hunter too much

sure enough this steve got the boot and that steve switched sisters

(they were only a year apart)

i came back to my bass and plucked away disconsonately

it cried a few crocodile tears for me

i listened to t rex in the dark

every song i wanted to sing to that girl

love you oh girl i do love you

i marvelled at bolans weird accent

its like its medieval english said my friend geoff gray

in the darkness in the warm summer night

i concentrated in on bolans voice

every sigh every breath ever whisper

the strangeness and familiarity

your days of love are always in a dream ah you know

marcs guitar was fucking devastating

a snarling feline beast

or a hazy sheen

or some weird chord

fuck he could really rock

he was sexy but he was kinda fey

and he was kinda elven too

delicate and otherworldly

wise and childlike

the little orchestral bits

it was just oh so perfect

we are the children of rarn

we’ve trod the vales of the sun

it was like a white chuck berry loose in middle earth

i was sixteen n a virgin still

the world was a magical place

kissing girls got me stoned

my bass waited in the bedroom

my dad was talking on the phone

my brothers were watching telly

my mum was doing the ironing and watching telly too

my dad says steve theres a girl calling for you

i answer the phone hello?

i hear a voice on the phone but my heart sinks

it isnt who i hoped it might be

its a girl i met at a rowing regatta down the lake

she was much better looking than my old girlfriend

but somehow the chemistry wasnt there

i kissed her once down the pool though

she looks fucking good in that bikini said brendon

he was my mate n an expert on girls

he just fucking walked up to em n talked to em

i hung back all embarrassed  while he “cracked on” to em

then he’d pick the one he wanted n introduce me to the other one

thats how i’d met this one

brendon had picked her friend

she had big “norks” and a loud laugh

brendon was tongue kissing her

and had his hands on the norks within about 2 minutes flat

me and the other one sat there awkwardly

i was sixteen n she was fifteen

i didnt really care for great big norks anyway

they intimidated me a bit

what the hell was i gonna do with all that nork anyway?

good lord it was 40 years ago

the bass grinned when i got home

she really likes you it murmured when i picked it up that night

yeah but i dont like her

i want the other one back

the one i still am in love with

she didnt deserve me

she treated me mean n offhand

she wasnt really even that pretty or clever

but i got stuck on her

and marc bolan too

and mickey finn who looked so fucking cool on the cover

and my bass started to warm up to me

i played it all the time

i mimed to t rex and imagined i wrote those songs

that would show em i thought

that would show em all