The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

gliss

electric city electricity man i’m sorry i switched off there

your difficulty in seeing in the glorious light is soft where

australia yeah i went out with her

australia lay down  under where

hey its snowing down town haul yourself to wall it up

lie down in the veil  it will not fail to call it up

streaming live like a salmon

a farmer in a fuckin’ famine

you shot me mister thats a blister on my finish

you attend right at the very end..friend or blemish

yeah im so cool with my soba noodle and my drunken strudel

and my salamander inspired desert boot it up you oblivious poodle

everyone in this town is a fraud good lord now fucking applaud me

everyone in this dump is something

enamel nail camel tow fairy floss i am at a loss to know

you sirrah are the one and only never lonely love me only mr gloss to go

you go in for the kill be kind the thrills a steal be mindful

oh my fingers dancing on these strings brings things wings might sing

oh discordant sting among the young sleepers jeepers creepers furthers deepers

finders re:joyce and losers fucking weepers

i’m singing now for my supper its not such an upper like the clean sweepers

i’m down on the corner of st luke and st mark street

where the palm trees and  little park meet

freezing pleasing no body but i’m sitting on a seat feeling incomplete

nothing like nothing swirling whirling round your poor old feet

nothing like the flash bar on the pontoon we took those girls from rangoon

we ordered drinks called the sphinx and martinis came namelessly except ’40 winks’

so called cos youre eyeballed and should be soon recalled if the moon shall shine

mr gloss man you collided with a guided tour

you chucked stevia in the deep end where the poor send money to some evangelistas door

the baristas at the gig were all big wankers a thankless fucking chore (i’m sure)

back in your hotel closely resembling the assembling hell of a priest at least far as i can tell

we smiled as the girls took from the wardrobes the bathrobes the hotel hoped to sell

went to the fridge and poured us a drop and we all popped a hopper until we all had to stop

oh their skin was almost as pale as the  powder proudly weighed in your scales

and their eyes were almost as dark as the shark infested seas of the new antipodes

and their names were so hard to pronounce as they flounced about in front of us

so you called them both may and when day came you lamely named em zipporah

and when day came it found us floundering foundered routed shouted down a common clown

mr gloss man i am at a loss man to tell you why i wrote this poem

but if you know em like i do you know

its all much ado about nothing really

aint it, hero?

50 shades of kilbey

on asias great door steppes you languished in some womans bed

your face against a winter sky as you stare down the sea

we see you now cast in lovely ivory coast down the road

your head  burning with the no show lights that dazzle

you fucking little beauty umpire thats a fucking goal

man my fingers throb upon the sweet neck of my axe

oh boy the luxurious creamy power of music and words

you fell down through that stage into blacked out realms

a taxi in the rain skids out of nowhere someone gets out

freezing to the marrow in some narrow little lane in the rain

inside where it is warm and safe like a cocoon you watch the moon

inside a photo cell a well of liquid moonlight you am unbound

under the sheets of sky writhing through your snaky sleep

in the blanket of your time and its various subtle spirits

much is expected of him to whom much is given… youre living it now

me? i take off my axe and i take a clumsy bow

skypilot

when the magic is all over

and the last notes die out onstage

the sky outside a window

glassy reflection of a face

the memory of cold

the memory of light

in sequenced chunks or abstracted smears

at a standstill i stand still

people file in a room

they said something to me

salt air from another lifetime

the gulls and the swallows over us

winter is hurting my skin

i long for deep warm resolution

an end to the constant blather

i have moved inexplicably sideways

my blinds are drawn on fragile dawn

sleep is a strange person to understand

life not sure if it made any difference anything i did

it was all predestined that i sit here typing this now

nihilistically numbed

injured but inured to whatever this is if its pain

edged out of space and time slipping bye

oh yeah rocknroll tomorrow isnt it?

i’ll be the one at the airport early with my guitar!

po ate lorry ate

the brutal morning of winter interpenetrated from all angles

swan of days gliding in lake of years

at the height of my powers yet i shrink from my selves

the bed rejects me with me cold dry skin

slivers of glass plague my feet all night

some genie has engulfed the room with its own madness

some ambassador from elsewhere has dropped in while i slept

and the miserable bleeding rain in the green garden

tapping dimly on window like a gentle old friend

messages that fade from your mind

feelings that fade from your fingers

jump in a cab

jump on a plane

jump in another cab

jump into a hotel in a city of fogs and cloud

jump into my room on the 13th floor

the stupid painting on the wall of a sunny spanish vista

sits ill in the still blackness of afternoon within the suite

the blank white verses of unsung song linger herein

the powder hits the water and dissolves

the surge of some old famous guy

the bad connection has distorted my face

the sudden irresistible sleepiness that crawls down the wall

the striped traffic shadows escaping through the broken blind

emptiness pours in and in and in

tonight they hand me my guitar and i take a bow

the music is sweet and sick i am unashamedly resolute

occultish energy hurls me around a crowded stage

the words fall out of nowhere

the lines line up to be admitted and processed

i sing to the waiters and the cashiers

i sing to the cleaners and the door bitches

i sing to the parking attendant and yesterdays bar staff

i sing to the couriers and the people who snuck in before

in every note i feel the past and future resonating in my hands

all the shots i had had in one life

bang! we crash into a mountain

bang! we fall down with a hit

enticed by the vein of silver

i have wandered out into audiences amazed

the quotes from the bible go down hellishly well

the brooks and the rivers that run through nightclubs

teeming with piranhas and constrictors..!

sometimes i am lost in my own thoughts

out there the spotlight has shone through my eyes

illuminating a dense spirit that groans at the exposure

my energy discharged

i am led away to be suckled by the faint faith of praise

in secret rooms we are herded along with the crowds who push in

who is that talking out of my mouth i vaguely wonder

back at the hotel

some people come over to talk and take more stuff

the tv comes on and they all start yelling

some unpopular singer they all shout down

the rain falls

the cars go by below incessantly

the deals are stitched up

someone coughs up some more money

someone leaves and returns

someone has another fucking drink

and someone has another fucking argument

in my room the noise abates somewhat though as if muffled

i am between my mind and my body somewhere

not in the present where i am not nor ever will be

regret and remorse and reneging on all promise ever shown

my dreams are blown up in woozy enlargements

projected against the dining wall brain of my mind

already scored the music is scraps of old songs

stitched together with a little effort by fevered life

something outside all of my experiential domain

crown the night with a diseased looking moon

it glows feebly on in the nimbus heaven overhead

maybe i’m a mage

it was the first line of the first return

the sky had already received a five star review

in the great cities of europe and the americas

the magician and his assistant wife

the cafes du lait with creamy walls

the old aerodromes a carafe of fresh orange juice

all possible places at once are imposed upon each other

all these cities in one city

all these rooms in one room

all these stories in one story

all these words in one word :

imagine

bizarre and random life in the sun

you are old and young with your rippling reflection

you are no man or woman

you are a character

you live so this thing i write on you may exist

sitting at this table guzzling sangria with you inside your new skin

under these palm lined boulevards in endless dusk

lost into the alleys of brighton and paris which stink of piss

unafraid on some hillside i stroll confidently through the slums

i do deals with the beggars who fool me over and over

later i order expensive meals i cannot ever pay for

overlooking the gorges the rivers the cathedrals

the birdseye gaze of a madman as he drifts out of his world

throw open the doors to the weeks to come

old fisherman repeating the 1000 names of maria mother of god

the candles splutter on in warm dark of another church

some dashing waiter like a b grade zorro against vista panoramica

a guy shows up in a building to read the meters

a ruined garden of frenzied gardenias

estates in decline with doors for windows

conesuela sits on her train going endlessly to the beach

almost never arriving where the castles hit the shore

and one million mixed up casanovas in casinos and bars

their phones are full of distant voices they hear from as within a haze

we cannot approach their lives

with certainty they face the same day after day after day

in the swirling turmoil of the stage i have lost my locus

in the spells and all the tinkling little bells

as the lights flash and change the faces

in the bolted lightning struck lake villa nova

in white verse the poet bangs out his poem

coffee and hash and the orient as always and as ever

the world is snatched away for him

in germany for afternoons of grey sky peaceful suburbs

my wander down the streets of closed saturday evening shops

the epic work always beyond your meagre reach

you meet people outside your magic shows

you shake their hands although it was a hundred years ago

the peasants and nobleman all accept you now

many by their arrogance have ignored gods admonitions

the famous rivers cut across the famous places

the many friends we once had…where are they now?

in some pastelaria i dangle little estevao on my knee

in my old black clothes and my busted wand

i still struggle to understand all the small gold coins in my hand

at home conesuela lies in bed all day dreaming of her train

the atlantic beach the neglected sea calmly awaits her arrival

another blue day dawns and the foreign birds sing

the washing fades away on the lines

at another cafe at another monument

the cold beer flows and the touristas all gawk

which ever way i walk

i hardly ever find my way home

sitting here at heathrow airport

on my way home

normal service to be resumed as soon as i get back

lovely days in sweden seeing friends n lou lous

and a short but well needed holiday in portugal have refreshed me

i get back and start rehearsal almost immediately

my bass playing calluses have all worn off

so gotta go thru all that again

bass playing causes horrendous blisters that eventually become calluses

but they have all turned into mush without use

(much like the human brain)

soon we will be back on the road doing the b. crusade and f. deeper

in a aussie capital near you soon

looking forward to seeing my dear kids A and E and S again

they all look like they’ve grown up while away

thanks for all the support and stuff people

i promise a real bloggie when i get back and can smoke summa that stuff

that inspires me to write all the usual stupid things i do

i love you all

sk the airport in lunnon (and nervous ahead of nearly 24 hours of flying!)

thank christ for valium

xxxx

zzzzz

sodermalm

i am writing from my darling daughter minnas apartment in stockholm

she and leo (her lovely bloke) have gone to italy for a week

leaving me to water the flowers and enjoy the miserable summer wevver

well the euro tour my oh my

the church are now an unstoppable force

my colleagues in this band are just fucking superb

tim the most walloping yet intelligent drummer ever

peter koppes …what can you say about this guy except he is a fucking maestro

ian haug after convincing america he has now convinced europe

he has more than slotted in

he has enriched us

craigie wilson up the back on utility (he hates that term btw)

he is truly a member of the band now

a multi instrumental marvel and a delightful human being

our crew are an amazing crew

and me..?

well i have stepped up to the plate and firing with everything i got

we nailed every fucking gig

2 encores in london n brighton

(no i did not see nick cave walking his poodle or buying black dye)

(as many have asked me)

the band is now unbelievably uplifting and inspiring

it was the happiest and most fulfilling tour ever

despite sleeping on el bunko in bus every night

now I’m in sweden

we celebrated Elli n Minnas 24th yesterday

and wow! what a great party that was

at a japanese/peruvian restaurant

everyone was there including one of dearest friends

mr martin krall

karin and i are the marvellously proud parents

of these 2 beautiful kind warm hearted girls

and tears of happiness were flowing all night

their friends are the loveliest people

and i felt so truly a part of it all

and people say you’re a proud papa

but i tell ya it is way beyond that

they are so blindingly gorgeous and yet comical

good naturedly ragging on their silly old dad

i love them so much it makes me ache

24 and theres so much more

jesus i am lucky to have the 5 daughters i have

everyone of them amazes me

and they are all beautiful on the inside as well as out

thank you god for this opportunity to be these kids dad

i really mean that

my children mean more to me than anything you could ever offer

even tho minna has now gone off on hols

i hope to spend some more time with elektra

who is surely the most like me in the way she thinks

so thats it

its a rainy and cold day here but who cares

i will speak to ya all real soon

sk stockholm june 8 2015

amsterdam tuesday arvo

yes we did the barcelona show a thousand years ago it seems

yeah we did pretty fucking good i guess it coulda been a mess

we had a great night and a great audience

the band played on near flawlessly all things considered

we played well

the distant stars aligned

and the people were moved by it all

we pile into the old bus

and drive to cologne or koln

there we do another great old gig

and then same deal and paris

do some touristy afternoon stuff with arc de triomphe

paris show is cool yeah whatever there you go

now in the port of amsterdam

writing blog when i should be relaxing

bye now

bark alone

yo malchicks and drongoes

here in spain after a long bumpy frightening fucking flight

nice hotel but close to prima vera festival which goes day and night

my room sounds like the cafeteria in a rehearsal place

10 horrible reverberating bands all going at once

my hotel is very nice

full of hipster bands with beards and tattoos

where will they all be in 5 years time? (nowhere)

i saw spiritualised play and they were totally underwhelming

completely with black chick singers singing lines like

“shine a light shine a light on me”

very original i don’t think

altho i like their records tonite was a dud

but great light show

saw chet faker nice beard and he once did a song with lou lous

he was ok

he’s big in spain!

tomorrow we rehearse all day then leave for cologne a 2 day drive

oh joy and fun

found some vegan food

(get thee behind me seitan!)

its nearly 3 in morning

wtf have terrible jet lag

bumped into jean zammit and geelongs own grantley buffalo

ordered a pizza from room service and it was out of a packet!

in a 4* hotel

fuck that i told em to stick it up their Castilian bums

and got my euros refunded

am feeling weird

gig tomorrow night

rah rah rah

see ya round you blithering ninnies

i love you

sk

sugar hit

hey groovers

its the big boy here

tomorrow i travel to barcelona

to play at prima vera festival with my band the church

then we are doing cologne (the city not the stuff)

and amsterdam, belgium, paris and brighton and london

then i will having a short stay in sweden

its e and m’s 24th birthday on the 7th of june

and i’m having a week off in Stockholm

doing nothing at all except yoga and relaxing and catching up with friends

maybe i will even get to the country

in the meantime i have been scoring macbeth 1040

which i am pretty pleased with

my friend george ellis the conductor and arranger

said that my soundtrack work is the best thing i can do

and hes probably right

at least for a movie like this where the music is weird

i can certainly drum up weird dark music

meanwhile still

a new(ish) project called

Vela Velox; The Speed of the Stars

is falling together

this is the one begun so long ago with frank kearns the irish guitarist

he was out last month and mixed 2 thirds of the album out at rancom st studio

with ted howard who had a big input on further/deeper and el momento albums

this is definitely shaping up to be the best lyrics and singing ive ever done

i finally got the mixture right here on this still slightly unfinished record

i need to write and sing some more

but the first batch was so good its a little daunting to keep up the standard

i am really so happy with this record

its hard to describe it

organic lush warm open soothing spiritual celtic influenced

something about franks playing and his sound invokes ancient ireland

far beyond guinness and leprechauns

the mood here is gentle transcendence with small details and subtle fleeting moods

the guitar is unusually orchestral

sometimes i cant figure out what is doing what

i play bass and piano

and wayne from cactus is the mighty walloping drummer!

as well as that ive been  writing lyrics for an australian singer

for an album which’ll come out sometime late this year i guess

so thats it

when i get back to australia then its the blurred crusade further deeper tour

which is actually selling very well in most places

i would hate you to miss out (oh god listen to me!)

see ya in europe soon!

sk

coogee nsw 2034