The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

mild light

blessed evening warm and gentle

return to the valley come back to the hills

sounds of celebration somewhere in the air out there

the grumble of traffic

the relentless surf pounding in the dark

rumblings of distant future

dogs howl out in loneliness

the whispering leaves moving about as if the trees were creatures

my ears ring faithfully on containing every note i ever played

my eyes dim blurry fogs

i am receding from this world

i no longer apprehend it vividly

it is out there but

planes come in to land

thundering through the sydney sky all lit up

i sit at my desk

i am an imaginary locus

more planes more cars more surf

palm trees full of fruit bats all talking at once

moments yes moments

just lots of moments

spring is nearly here i feel it

one day i swim one day i drown etc

like this evening up the score

scoring an evening like this

The Simple Minds/Devo concert at The Palais Theatre in Melbourne on Friday Nov 30 is now SOLD OUT! Other shows on this tour are listed on our Calendar page.
http://www.palaistheatre.net.au/whats-on.htm&event_id=315

just another angel

jesus christ was an explosion of love

and 2000 years later the world is still filled with the fallout from that event

my daughter scarlet is head over heels in love with jesus

tho she had NO prompting from anyone here

there was a shrine to mary mother of god in coogee

we walked past it and we stopped to talk about what it all meant

i talked mainly to the older 2 girls

scarlet was only 3 at the time

yet as we walked away she began to cry

why scarlet are you crying? we said

i miss jesus already so much she blurted out…

but where did this come from…?

it doesnt matter to me who jesus was or wasnt….

i dont fetishise his death

nor do i examine his resurrection for veracity

i just read the bits in the bible about him and get some guidance

whether or not he actually existed…his ideal exists…

it is typical of us humans to get all hot under the collar about “authenticity”

when its the actually sublime beauty

and the revolutionary manner of the parables

and the way he deals with the characters he encounters

man you could take a leaf out of this guys book

you dont have to worship him

just listen to a bit of that nice advice

the line below here will be left blank for all those who want to

put in something nasty he said amongst all the nice stuff

………………………………………………………….

and he did didnt he i suppose…?

but remember he was a human being

hes just like perseus or hercules or siegfried

hes half mortal half god so the story goes

you can take it or leave it on any level you like

i look back on my own 32 year history in rock

and i read that book by bob lurie

and i realise how myths and rumours and legends and conjecture

and all this stuff inseparable around everything

the way all these different people see me and interpret stuff

and nobody NOT EVEN ME really got the full story ‘cept god i guess

anyway so i just think of jesus and the similarities to frodo baggins in LOTR

like someone in an incredible story who is doing something huge

who at the same time is humble and prepared for sacrifice

attended by only one dear disciple

and hounded by his own rotten judas

carrying this huge weight

this sorrow

this burden he has taken on whether people know of it or not

the fragile balance between good and evil

sauron as a thinly devised satan

but where is the jehovah of middle earth?

ah i have no truck with jehovah anyway

i dont like him or the big bang

both too bloody bombastic and violent and random

good god this earth was created by an artist

no blustering punishing tyrant

no accident ignition of random gases n stuff

this world if you but observe it for one second

if your eyes have ever been opened

if you ever stop to look at it as it really is

very few atheist artists ,my friends

very few atheist musicians

very few atheist geniuses neither

i dont know what to believe in people it doesnt matter

if jesus appeals to you dont feel guilty

if you prefer apollo or diana the goddess of hunting

do them service then

god does not fucking care how you approach him

he is a bit beyond that kinda bullshit you would imagine

the guy who invented the humming bird  doesnt care what you name him

hes not hung up on all that baloney and malarkey

not the cat that causes the planets to hang unsuspended in space

he that sets everything in motion

that maintains it and protects it

and he that destroys everything when that things time has come

he is no prissy quibbling grumpy patriach in the sky

he is immanent in everything

he spins creation out of himself somehow

oh as an artist i regard his handiwork with jealousy

as a musician i seek to emulate or invoke his presence

as a father i hope to incorporate his mercy and love

as a performer i try to channel his energy

my god whoever he is says names dont matter

he says jesus was me he says lennon was me

he says mozart was me he says leonardo was me

he says bolan was me he says angela carter was me

he says houdini was me and yer dad was me

and george harrison was especially me

and he says kilbey you were me too

but he says

you know everybody was me and i was everybody

i play my part so well i forget who i am

like a child lost in a game

i imagine wealth i imagine fame

i imagine death i imagine pain

dont ask me why god allows this and that

how the hell would i know

does someone with an ant farm allow the ants to do whatever they like?

how does jesus fit in to all this?

i’m not certain

i’m not certain about anything except this did not get here on its own

you may have intellectualised god out of the equation

but the blinding evidence of creation insists on a creator

hes all and nothing

he is life and the force which animates living things

without it you have nothing

life is magic

yoga and magic

and music to describe it all

thats all

engine ear

when the aerial spirits of the airy domains burn down to earth

and the necropolis releases its prisoners

and great green heads rear from the boiling seas screaming for more man

when hands reach out of solid stone and roots of rock curl round your calves

when typhon materialises upon the storm

and his black gaze falls upon your white soft skin

and shrieking winged monkeys are loosed like darts from apollos bow

when wicked women and 100 proof whisky obliterate reason

when this world revolts against idiots who continually rape her

they desire only one thing that is total ruination

when terrible weapons are unleashed upon child and beast

when bad men dream their bad dreams of death and blood

(oh the bloodlust cannot be satiated

though it is within us

it can be conquered with abstinence )

when the end is suddenly here like you always knew it would

and beyond the end is the start of god knows what

and god has granted us this autonomy

no we have granted it to ourselves

when this autonomy is recalled by some god in his anger perhaps

or by some dark star who with its rays causes our will to weaken

when eternal night descends dressed in purplish clouds

as if wrought by some heaving hephaestus who hated us inhuman

and that night is cold and bitter full of ice and filthy snow

factories belching out apocalyptic gaseous kisses to the old sad poor grey skies

when sleep and death cannot be found inside a pill or shot

when sleep and death cannot be obtained even on the waiting lists

when sleep and death have been lost in the postponement

when sleep and death can be bought only on black markets

when sleep and death have been denied . please resume your work!

then

you’ll find me on birthday island

strolling with the lord

composing a psalm beneath his blessed palms

in dusks which will last forevers

in mornings of century seconds

in the golden noon of his gorgeous day

gardens of the dead and beautiful

flowers beneath that burning royal blue firmament

the crushing crimson sunsets strip glory from the dying day

and rainbows bridge horizon to horizon

and in silvery midnights you’ll find me in my small abode

in certain yoga asanas invoking this gods grace

or in the darkness with some heavenly consort

with hands of velvet and whispers of moon

adorned with galaxy strings and cosmic oomph

yes i see her now through slitted future eyes

the congress of ying thing with yang thang

bang!

rainbow gardener

another sweet day

the water is green and foaming

lovely dove is homing

i’m combing through pasts i never lived

black cat sniffed the air

i guess this is the beginning of magic

prince among  cats agree with me

its peachy soft in the sky right now

everything so still and quiet

the wilted yesterday in a little vase

it seems to sing something under the silence

the trembling web just beyond the light

on the eve of a strange comet

another night the red stars

i feel the birds moving in sky

i feel the fish moving in sea

i feel the worms moving in earth

i feel the spirits moving in ether

in the dark when everything comes down

a warm embrace a hand touches me

although i am alone someone moves against me into desire

although my eyes are closed i see with my fingers

my fingers  numb i hold on with my eyes

behind every ocean i’m down at the shore

behind every world i’m hung in the skies

behind every clock the time thats next door

i wonder how long i’ll remain here in guise

i wonder what then i’m hanging in for

the pleasures get steeper the deeper you go

its nice but can i come at the price without consent or prior advice?

i fall over  picking myself up

although i am alone the curtains move against closed window

the radiator seethes and gasps like a bunch of little asps

the orange moon soon shed its redness

the risk gone the disc shone on

no oblivion could sunder the orb from the sun

my heart is with the lord in kingdom come

all angels scream out his praises in phases of ecstasy

everyday we will walk and talk together by the limpid pools

oh an idyll the hornbill see how the golden bream race in schools

blue swan horizon decorates my heavenly pad

i hang out with your dad its sad we passed this way

i keep waiting for sleep or a knock at the door

and that sweet day has come back once more

golden winter

man swims in pleasure

man drowns in pain

man kills for fun

man they insane

day over night

night over day

august on julie

julie noted

well i came into town one evening like a real clown

at a bar called the fountain of delights i spent my nights

carousing with women you see in their vulnerability

a captain of industry like me you see subtle with my accuracy

oh i picked up my axe and i started to wail

come back kitty cat get me outta this jail

you trash talking titanic terra bound star

i’m cold in this rain while you drive in his car

my heart is the ocean and the motion of it makes me sick

my spirit is an eagle more regal than a finch

my mind is a masterpiece someone casually smashed

my total is a scramble where everything is hashed

only god who walked among us can ever heal thy grief

worship him with flower or with water or with leaf

whisper any of his name they all the same

think of him let him in let him come let him come

oh i get the shivers and quivers when the immanence delivers

but then it hurts when its over where the emptiness drove her

i follow down a dark thread in my head lying in her bed

in deeper hue the two of you

the jack of wands

lily ponds

Ahead of The Afghan Whigs’ first Australian tour, frontman Greg Dulli tells Mess and Noise about his favourite Australian bands including the church.

http://www.messandnoise.com/news/4494186

The Afghan Whigs then performed the church’s song ‘One Day’ at their Melbourne gig. The following night in Sydney Greg Dulli was joined onstage by Steve Kilbey for a performance of that same song!

a smokin’ t-shirt

just cos you like someones music

doesn’t mean you will like them

or they will like you…

in fact it might mean some great awkward balls-up…

or some embarrassing gushing or something….

anyway yesterday i hang out with greg dulli…

he and i both like each others stuff very much

yet…. we also got along just famously

we had lunch in bondi

he even came to pick up the woofle at the school with me

he came round my place

hey evie i say to evie (duh!)

remember how you and aurora used to tell me to stop playing the gutter brothers (sic)

(one of gregs projects was the gutter twins)

(i gave their album apparently too good  a flogging!)

evie says yeah

i say well this is a gutter brother introducing greg…

eve goes a king shade of crimson…i mean she would have made a beetroot look pale!

greg says yeah why’d you tell him to stop playing my music…??!!

eves red redoubles (eve becomes scarlet!)

then greg smiles and says nah i’m just joking…and puts her at ease…

we walk around bondi a bit

we have a little jazzy stuff

and gregs standing in the middle of the road taking pictures of stuff

we rap about songwriting all the time

gregs going to tell me a line of mine he really likes

but our conversation digresses and digresses

weaving around songs and words and tunes and records

yeah when we played here or there …

yeah do ya know such n such…? etc

anyway we take scarlet home

we drive out to the gig

i feel like we’ve known each other for ages

in person he has not disappointed me

his songs are real

hes a diamond geezer

we rehearse one day 

its so fucking loud

I’ve heard quieter jumbos taking off

i return later  and watch the whigs play half their set

we were gonna do one day last but thats too late for me

so i’m going on in the middle

i still gotta get my woofle to schoolio tomorrow after all

and she’s a hard woofle to handle sometimes (i’m thinking bout letting her know!)

anyway the whigs are a great band of course

dulli is a powerful soulful performer

his voice permeates the room

that warm snarling profane hoarse incredible masculine voice

a real baudelaire as I’ve written in a short article soon to be in magnet

gregs words are never accusatory without being first self-accusatory

he finds the good in the evil

he finds the evil in the good

when he’s high and raving no one is higher

when he’s broken and weary no one is more weary

as he said

songs that make you feel something you can’t explain

i love gregs songs

i love the whigs

i love the twilight singers

i love the gutter twins

i love his one solo album amber headlights

hes a great guitarist too

he understands the use of the mellotron

we have begun to tentatively discuss working together

i really believe if it happens it will be some record

i mean we are both exactly on the same page here

we both want to make music that makes you ache

so lets hope this one happens

i want to do this

i have a funny feeling about it

my old mate mark who originally turned me on to the twilights

he keeps urging me to get it done contact dulli and make sure it happens

he told me all along dulli and i could really kick each other

onto something transcendental

so if it happens…….

write to your senator and demand we make a record together

sk

ps i did one day

it was loud

i jumped around

the people liked it

very addictive!

art imitates god

mimesis is an ongoing project involving me simon polinski

and a bunch of excellent musicians from melbourne

especially dave abiuoso and colin berwick

mimesis art imitating life was our first album

it came out in 2007 i guess without much fanfare

i had a listen to it today

impossible to describe really

huge tracts of music stretch out

my voice appears here and there  singing and whispering

sometimes the stuff has a dancey vibe

sometimes its jazzy with all the trimmings

sometimes it powers down into purring pink noise

while tubes and transistors hum and crackle

as the screen before you hooks up to the grid

the sound is lush and powerful

this is polinskis forte this sort of thing

my voice changes and morphs and rebounds

huge orchestras detune amidst polar seas miles and miles away

metallic ringing like tibetan bowls

in the chorused sky creatures seem to bark and babble

an electronic jungle overtakes us full of static and chattering

somewhere between dream a vision stream a consciousness

i’m saying all this stuff you know

in white i tell the story of a next life regression

yes you can go forwards too with hypnosis i guess

if you are directed to future lives i suppose

this is what i found

whiteness

quietness

tranquility in seaside hives

pianos tinkle cymbals like the waves

monkish voices murmur somewhere away from us

everything is swirled into together and all in flux

like a dream in flux the stability uncertain

like a vision

i can’t understand my vision of the future

i saw it all thru someone called wendy’s eyes

filaments of broken transmission spark on and off out there

shadows of sounds at the corner of things

often some subtle menace pervades underneath the layered music

new things come out and disappear

the sky changes to dark

the power switches off

voice reflections in pools shimmering fizz

guitars feedback in passing storms

bongos and tablas tap on

unidentifiable instruments warp into each other

sometimes songs emerge from the music

brief bits of songs just a refrain or something..

pianos revolve devolve evolve

people searching for things and people

but nothing is fixed

*

i have acquired a small limited number of the original cds

i will include an original cd sized artwork with each copy

each copy will be signed

20 aust bucks plus within aust 5 bucks postage

outside aust 10 bucks postage

skp pay 15 bucks for cd but same postage rates

well there you go if you want one

if not no problem no need to apologise

pretty out there stuff …mimesis….go on…!

or maybe not

its not for everybody’s taste…….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nBpYrrNWEE

what have i done….?

within my limited power

not beyond the scope of the source

unconnected or intra-braineously

where does all this stuff keep coming from

this flow of ideas to us

you who whisper these things seem so very far away

but you’re  here  aren’t you ….all around and everything

therefore it is senseless to sin within oneself

and all our trespasses are against only us

i feel your hand as a great sorrow sometimes

i see your eyes in the eyes of beasts abattoir bound

the neglected children abandoned in hells

the great ugliness amid all the beauty

the catch and the barb and the trap and the sting

somehow i’m an actor popped up in this play

i gotta play my part and i stick to the scripture in my head

oh i am someone from so long ago

how many times do we visit this earth

oh i am someone who travels a lot

with anger with mercy moving through time

for the time being me

i don’t know who you are

but i am under a heavy doom doom doom

lets go up to my room

i read a review of my garage sutra

say best ever record from the future

you see once your mind is open to let it come in

verily a council house mystic

my bible is old and fills me full of fear

they should have toned down the brimstone man

concentrate on the angels at the gate of eden

if you want fire i mean

but i do believe that before even noah and arks

the great gilgamesh strives in a fragment of a flood flash

some pre biblical cat some ancient groover

had cooked up this mess a long time ago

in nineveh why i was some big shot cloaked with intrigue

no i was an old slave woman who worked all her life

no i was this priest in a library deciphering omens

no i was a soldier who got an arrow in his neck

no i was a poacher who stole the kings beasts

no i was the drunkard under a tree

many voices clamour within us

starseed  earthbound

stop and listen!

i hear something at work

the pump and throb of blood round the body

beyond that the sea merges with the traffic a distant sibilance

i arrive at a place no words can enter or come out of

nevertheless i came to an unknown a black chasm

i know nothing

in there is everything

where one mans nirvana is another mans nightmare

i did my time in there in dreams when i was a kid

im not surprised the cruel things i did

i dreamt of hell roaring at the top of its lungs

it seemed to scream my name

god help me if this dream is true

hell screamed for me because i had senselessly killed bugs and snails

sparrowfall

everything is noticed

i must make amends

this misery we take on for the sake of the creatures

now i know everything i didn’t know then

i wanted to lord it over material nature

i was angry to be a child again after so much work

i was doing quite well until death came along

suddenly interrupted all of my plans

i was some big shot you know well i can’t quite remember

some strange impulse i can’t put into even verse

i am an authentic copy and that is quite something you know

there are one million stories on the tip of my tongue

on the point of my pen i almost remember it all ….almost

what force then guides my roll at the wheel?

at the end of the day then nothing to say really

just goodnight

sleeptight

i will dream you tomorrow