storm element
driving down the old highway
the car against the road is the low hum of the strings
the cars rushing past are cymbals and tambourines
the winds blowing in my windows are flutes and piccolos
the rattles in the car are the snares and castanets
the cicadas in the trees are the white noise of one million stratocasters
the cars blow their horns
the tyres drum on the bitumen
in my head the music goes round
the busted a.c. is a leslie cabinet
the australian sun is a spotlight
the blue sky a vast curtain
the miles are my songs
the years are my band
the long long years
it is australia any year
summer this is my 57th summer
the bell birds are xylophones and glocks
suddenly my extended metaphor tires me
my golden the falcon sings so smoothly though
my heart a bass drum bump bomp
my cough is reedy and percussive
my pulse is in 4/4 time
four on the flaw
i accelerate through space
i move constantly through time
i groove on my train of thought
some weird station has a weird show on weird music
such and such a composer exploring dissonance
dissonance is that a latinate word for racket?
i’m working on the film score in my head
i start to question my values on music
some pieces on the weird show are a racket
and some of them are actually much more than that
but i can’t understand the appeal of the racket anymore
tho i once told my self i was across a decent racket
maybe i was fooling whoever i dreamed i was
i am nothing fixed
although i drift towards a purer position
with music i mean
simplicity melody
the recombination of a thousand tiny tricks
i follow hunches
i listen to instinct
the very first thing you think of is often the best *
all the time
my lazy easy way of doing things
if you try you’ve already lost
it just has to come easy
easy come and easy go
like life itself
never grasp at it too hard
i made that mistake
i wanted everything at once
it was unobtainable to me at 16
i wanted it all and i tried n i tried
playing the bass was the easiest bit
i was up and running in no time
i mean you don’t have to mozart to go bang bong bong on a bass
so what… i was another contender making a row in a garage
i met some truly gifted players like dave scotland and dave young
young brilliant guitarists who could have gone all the way imhfo
of course peter koppes of whom it is hard to imagine
a time when he was not accomplished on a load of instruments
his understanding of music is that of an absolute master
his playing is filled with restrained power and melodic grace
his sound is vast and distant
sometimes its hard to understand what he is actually doing
to his apollo is martys dionysus
more abrasive more metallic more inflaming
thus they interweave both being ying and yang at anyone time
well that is today for you
the girls and i received some very nice gifts too
and i’m eating a bit of a gift now
but not looking gift horses in their mouths
i am grateful
australia is a nice nice place
i like my car i really do
it seems to purr
i drive on and out of sight
roll credits
* conditions apply
