The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

reg kilbey : whereabouts unknown

hello i’m reg kilbey

i come round for a kiss n cuddle with yer wife

when youre not there

i didnt think youd mind seeing i was on the tv a bit

thats me in that ad for nestles wild raspberry bar

thats my voice in the jingle for daddy dingles special fruit tingles

thats my hand in the 13th frame

thats my life squashed between those 2 centuries

thats my little brittle memories up on yer screen, dean

you know who i am, lamb

me n my lady bint jump in the motor

we cruise swampy evening uncontrolled

past familiar dips the christmas lights

inside people drinking beer watching sport eating din dins

hey love find summink on the bloody radio for me will ya

she seeks and searches while static n fragments explode on my nicked speakers

cmon a pair of namagotchi speakers for 250 smackers….?

who can resist a deal like that…..i dont care where stuff comes from

sure enough david neil comes on the radio

i mean well of course

the night unfolds

we swing over to some friends place in the inner south

neck some good vino understand

charlie comes out and some bastard racks em up

humid night pal heat up that plate

my bit o fluff helps her self freely

i mean so do i too

eventually charlie disappears and i feel fucken restless

we pile into jonesys white audi panther with the cat scan seats from star-hide

i neck some stiff drink from jonesys hip flask

things rush by out there

the seaside is fucking pumping alright

we roll up under some no stopping never sign

fuck that ! jonesy kicks at sign like a stupid buck

i stagger off towards the black sea lit up in stabs of green n ice blue

i frown at the boys wandering thru the park

i leer at the girls all dressed up n drunk

i’m reg oh yeah some of em recognise me

ooh reg says some dolled up tottie with a liptick brain

yeah i grunt really suavely because i’m quite classy really

ooh reg i loved you with the wild raspberry bar she gushes

then her stupid husband breaks into our meaningful conversation

thats right reg the missus loves that ad …!

i immediately take a disliking to the man

its a shame his wife spent her money n life married to ‘im

when she coulda been with me for 5 minutes tonight

still i autograph her packet of virginia slims menthols

reg kilbey loves ya darlin’ i scrawl in tiny letters over the govt warning

xxx xxx

i walk away from em

i scowl n i growl in the dark

the sea all viscous n black like dirty oil in a crims motor

i dont care for the sea myself

you never catch old reg surfing the fucking billows

whats a fucking billow anyway

look you can take the boy outta london

but you cant take the london outta the boy

sydney australia big deal

i’m sharper than the lot of them

with my fucking sun tan n all

appearing on bloody telly too if you please

anyway seeing i know jonesys not at home

i nip round to say hello to his girlfriend

ooh reg she says going all funny as i stand at the door

ok listen this is where i came in ok

this is where the story begin

we back to the start ezzactly where we was before

reg k in universe 23 (a)

sophisticated as all harry

oh harry……

oh…….reg!

reg kilbey unemployed actor 56

i lead my life

i lead it around like a hound

i entered my life in a contest

i let my life go into hibernation tho there was a little sleep

the nineteen nigh-nties was a marsh

i hit it like a brick will

i was that guy in that film

that film about a dome

i was the main guy yeah it was a long time ago being

i was the one who said those now famous lines

now we will all burn……

i have a black n white still that i autographed for fans that i meet

i drive an old rover with a crack gasket n oilcase crank

i smoke a pipe full of pipe dream but it goes up in smoke

oh how the time blast past

this music i had made

i had had it made to order

to order around you see

around and around

the stars go round our moon you know

and black cats moan down my stylo-phone

and i circle the block as you took off your close

and i live in a place where there is no trace

its no thrace its no your embrace

lamb you know who i am

my house on the street where the 4 winds meet

my home on the range rover over the little hills

my hills hoist still warm n moist oh rejoice lamb

my cartesian symphony nymph oh you dream

you dream of my friend rex with his black dragon tattoo

oh i know you do oh i know you do

whats on the menu?

tree flesh fillets with caramelised love truffles

light serving of gods fresh air with garnish of willing fruit

sparkling holy wine w/water consecrated by nimrods daughter

turkish taboo with french kiss and english rain

morning surprise (from the night before)

bottomless cup of adams ale (one per customer)

selection of good n evil toffee apples

i order the surprise

i order it to piss off and surprise someone else

i get cranky when i read about all the stuff in the paper

all the stuff that isnt about me i mean

i mean i love to see old me in fine print

snapped at the airport by a fan then snapped at the fan at the airport

the fan snapped and i had a lawmansuit on my hands

i jumped in a cab and the driver knows me

‘ere its reg kilbey ! he says …where we off to ,reg…?

surry street crown hills i say flipping him a sovereign to shut up

i look out the window at the slinky women who were once black cats

they float thru their day like ether like fire like an invisible veil

if only they knew that its reg kilbey in here i smirk in the cab

but the slinky women do not know and they blow away down streets

i  jump out at nondescript doors i make my way through  past

at twilight the dining room is quite a silver sight for saw eyes

tranquility music is piped from afar

some thought wave analyser machine selects my mood swinging cool

i subscribe through a scheme that comes thru in reams

i ravish attention on lashings of cream and boy do i then dream

i sit in the dark where its peaceful and calm

i am unarmed lamb i am quite unharmed

i mean i still cant do anything with my limbos

theyre all akimbo

bimbo you must think me dim

i know you think of him

i know about your lucky whim

and your old friend kim who once fucked jim

talking of  sex makes you think of my friend rex

with his muscle or two

and his black dragon tattoo

his eyes cobalt blew

his gear kangaroo

his XL peru

his ATM yew

his triple star * brew

his chosen few why thats presumably you

wow

i wish i had

a black dragon tattoo

saturation of glow

skull still reverberating in reddish pulse

lights come off n on at the periphery

stranded in some troubled sleep

isolated insulated dragged down the whirly pool

an alarm goes off

the steady australian rain

sydney like a bedraggled tart wincing in the deluge

man life sure is strange

there is magic but its not what you expected

power which weakens

knowledge that punches you stupid

things get faster here on earth

my life picks up speed racing towards its flashy full colour climax

the mirrors fog up i cant see them myself

wound up

all exhausted

i read a review of a guy called kilbey and some record from the eighties

i cant feel anything for this cat

i dont wanna hear his record

i got  lotta thoughts but no idea

a lotta ideas but no plan

a lotta plans but none of em gonna work

its night now its really raining

a lorry lumbers in the distance like a bear

the cafes shut early

the  cockroaches scurry for shelter

a bird gets trapped in the house

some rumbling sound like thunder i cant tell what

lights in distant houses glow like blurry stars

the mobile phone purrs and flashes

only 2 fish left in the tank now

cars in the garage getting fixed

come n get it tomorrow the bloke said on the phone

i bought some ginger wine to warm me up

its summer tomorrow but inside i freezing

scoff a load of chocky biscuits dipping em in strong coffee

marvellous sense of detachment creeping in

ooh having my holiday at home now

sometimes life is good and bad and everything at once

a bug in my wine i spat it out

the sky is a strange weird blue

i feel ok

yeah

i feel ok

invocation to ganesha

swim n sleep n do yoga

i stare at old ganesha on the wall

i listen to david neil again

boy ricky is above all else a great drummer

me…..i cant play em at all

man its a good record tho

twisting and turning

if david neil had never existed it was necessary to invent him

hes a fragile type verging on one disaster after another

its all here on this record

the wilderness years

the house seems big empty n quiet today

not in a bad way

i can do anything i like

i walk around in my red undies

wow what a rebel what a wild man

i listen to radha krishna temple album on the apple label

i watch the rain fall down on bondis empty streets

the rain fills the flyscreens with silver jewels

the rain whispering pattering testing rolling falling

the rain been with me forever

the rain blowing this way n that

rushing in gutters flooding the slippery streets

rain rain go away ….

the houses look deserted

the gardens are luxuriantly moist all turned on by the rain

the rain giving the flowers all its attention

the rain sliding down the stamens and stems

the rain comes down on the garden

on a black black night become one with the rain

rain oh rain

i hide in my room

i shut the door tho theres no one home

the clouds so thick i cannot see the harbour bridge

thick black coffee

rose incense

unread letters

unfinished work

masks on the wall watching every move

pictures of the girls

3 bananas and a lemon

drawings by the girls

the red clock tick tick but never tock

a day in the life of a day

must trim my beard

must do some work

must make some calls

must walk around in my red undies from room to room

my thoughts never coalescing

my day never coming together

my day someone elses day

my rain someone elses rain

everybodys rain

nobodys rain

nobodys rain falling for free

forever today

free fall

complete

free fall

knight template

second sold out show at judith wright centre

finds the church relaxed and bopping on

things even out a little more

the gears start to lock into place

people remember bits and pieces that

are the icing on the songs cake

a flourish here

a tap there

a harmony a note a cymbal splash

i start to get into my songs characters

i try to imagine whos singing this song n why

i try to imagine whos listening

the bass becomes easier to play

my voice seems to linger in the air with less effort

oh how lovely to jam with jordens fantastic mixing

i hear my voice drift round the room in reverb

hanging there

and i can play around with it from the stage

just by giving more breath or more throat

the bass sounds big soft n warm

the way i like my bass to sound

my bass is a cushion for the song to sit in

the guitars and piano  are like the scenery and props

the drums are the songs engine

the words describe nebulous events

ideas

feelings

they are colours they are clues

clues to what oh i dunno

the song has no purpose except to make you feel good

how it does that even an old hand like me doesnt know

some voice told me to write songs

some voice i cant explain

my dad played the piano

my mum liked words

somehow that got mixed up in me

i saw the beatles i said fuck

i saw bobby dylan i said fuck

i saw rolling stones ditto

bolan n bowie ditto ditto

i go away for a while

when i come back i turned into myself

a voice says now

with all those aforementioned geezas in mind

go write some decent fucking songs

and at 16 i started

eventually i wrote something halfway decent

and bang thirty years flashes past

and we could do 20 nights at judy wrights

n never repeat one bloody song

and

whats more

theyd all be fairly topnotch songs

and the band ‘d do em proud

the guys are playing well you gonna enjoy this

all but 2 gigs now sold out on this tour

thanks that makes me feel good actually

we go up n down in popularity

but ok as long as its still possible to go up

yeah we played a pretty good show

i get on a roll with my jokes

at other times the spirit of comedy deserts me entirely

i definitely need to keep persevering

i could be a bit of a comic with a little more work

god suddenly i feel like i want to be good at everything

i want to serve my fellow human beings

by giving em a damn good show

wanna make em smile n cry too

and everything in between

yeah its gonna be a good tour

yesterday i went to eumundi market opposite joes w hole

i  got a foot reflexology from wendy sugars : highly recommended

boy i felt fucking stoned after that like i’d had a bag of real good drugs

i bought a wonderful painting of a caravan that was too cheap

125 bucks for an incredible original  piece of work

i bumped into my brother russell n amy  his missus n marlon my nephew

that wazza surprise

i bought 2 new hats

and i bought a cigar box guitar for 450 but the guy gave me a 600 one

a guitar with 3 strings made outta a cigar box well whattya know

played with a bottleneck and things on yer fingers (i havent got them yet)

some voice said buy this thing

i havent bought a guitar for years n years

so now im trying to learn to play it

its a lotta fun too

i’m gonna bring it out on stage as soon as i can play something good

meanwhile its a warm rainy night

skyped kids in sweden theyre good

ok

thats it

canberra n sydney next

much love

sk

b and b

i would like to thank the people who’ve written on here

their lovely words of encouragement i thank you

i thank you all

last night was a heartwarming gig up here on qlds sunshine coast

a very nice sold out crowd

a few singalongs

the band played much better than the night before

tim n i got some good rhythm section things happening

peter k is amazing on piano harmonica mandolin n guitar

marty is marty is marty

now slimline and kicking bottom on his 12 string guitar n ricky bass

me ?

i sang n ponced around

a few minor mistakes perhaps

a memorable night

we stay in a b n b place which is superb

in the morning as i eat my breaky

(muesli fruit n soy milk)

a few shy couples also staying here thank me for last night

one guy has been following us since he was 12

almost with you was a song he heard at school n it did the trick

he bought the b. crusade it was his first record ever

i got all kinda misty hearing that…what an honour to be part of peoples lives

yes a real honour

i have been making music to selfishly satisfy myself

and then this wonderful unseen side effect

that people out there are digging this whole mess

people listening to us for over 30 years now

a real soundtrack of their lives

oh my friends you make my stupid old heart swell with pride/humility

yes you are all so important to me

we are really all in this together

if my music can be there for you

punctuating yer lives , in yer memories

in yer good n bad times

its so much much more than i ever expected

(n maybe deserved)

so ok

tonite the judy wright centre again

(judy judy judy)

it will be good i know it will

everyone in our crew is the nicest person

sweet tiare never losing her patience

jorden brebach our most learned sound guy n 5th member

wesley our stage manager who never puts a foot wrong

my 3 co-horts who are diamondish geezas

ok let the good times roll

ps all my strength n prayers to a dear friend of mine

sam

who is undergoing some nasty treatment for a nasty thing

i believe in you , ok?

xxx

sk

yeah we were kinda good

yeah we played kinda well

sold out great audience n all that

but my head n guts are churning with a million other things

stupid things ive done n said

all my private life drama baby (leave me out!)

i stand on stage yeah i do my thing

but all my turmoil replaying in my head

look i dont know what i’m doing or where i’m going

i’m 56 but i got the brain of a 5 or 6 year old

none of you know the bullshit ive been thru for the last 6 months

yeah some of it was my own doing

a lot of it wasnt

is it your business?

i dunno i lost track of whats public n private

i got people writing to me here about nk this n nk that

but none of ya know really whats going on

you interpret my nebulous stuff i write here

nk n i hurt each other n we hurt each other bad

i did my thing she did her thing

now shes there where she wanted to be

she can cool her heels wherever the hell it is

i know i dont wanna fucking be there

my kids are in sweden jetlagged still n with the fucking flu

they are in the bosom of a lovely fambley there

and they deserve a bloody break

i love them more than everything else

and they will/ should be my main concern

when they come back in 2 months i will hopefully be rested

then we can start all over again

in the meantime i’m upsetting a load of other people too

all my relationships are fraught with argy bargy n malarkey

just so ya know im a judgemental hypocritical old bastard

n i fight n struggle with everything

i keep eavesdropping n then i dont like what i hear

i keep it all going n it then always turns around it bites my ass

as nk n many others tell me

i can write a song but in most other ways i fall short of the mark

i’m a one trick pony

ask me to be useful or patient or compassionate

n i cant seem to manage it

i am selfish n narcissistic i am cruel

and i embrace every double standard known to man

i demand everything

i give very little back

i hurt you but i dont like to be hurt myself

so great

the people on here who love me love my music

n i’m very appreciative of that

yeah i am australias best songwriter of my type

fuck i’m a second tier rock genius yet my lyrics are second to none

but can i be nice

can i be kind

can i even be reasonable for one minute

can i shut the fuck up n live n let live

no folks

your humble hero is a fucking ninny

and today i am in more useless states of regret n trying to dodge my bad karma

i stand outside myself n i am amused bemused confused

my deck chair  on the titanic has been changed

but i still the ships going down

why should you care?

i dunno

ok

its 8 30 in the morning here in brissy

gonna get up do my yoga

n drive to the next place on the map

keep my head down if i can

but i dont like myself very much

and thats a sad way to be

maybe next time round i wont have to be such a nong

but i doubt it

losing streak

ascent of man

lamb

i am so angry

i ve been a stupid ive been a clown

i ve been trapped in my story

while scarlet stares at the ice on hornsgatan

and the christmas stars

its 5 am there lamb

what is she dreaming in her warm little bed

wheres my pet foot ? i ask her

its gone to sleep ….she says dreamily

hello i’m saying down a phone on a little beach

the ionian sea wraps a double bay

my shipwrecked posse gone down jammin’

i washed up on this career strand asking for help

we sit in the bath soaking in missions lotion

is anything happening to you ?i ask kathy

i look at her breasts in the dim candle light

i watch the warm glow hug at them

her nipples remain raspberry like

i sink down deeper into a suitcase with a false bottom

i buy some new shoes these will look good my sister had said

she could wear the same size as me

she found a shirt for me to wear

i put in on lamb

i looked in the mirror at some old cat in shorts n a fancy shirt

oh that looks good kathy said but i couldnt be sure

we walked around a bit together thru the monaro mall

what year is this mister someone asked me in thetis court

i turned to kathy but she had wandered off

the bathwater grew cold i climbed out i left her in there

my head was clouded my eyes all misted

i had displaced my weight in water

the front door was open

i stood in the night quite nude and innocent

the warm water turned cold on my skin

my skin moved over my bones and my flesh was as stone

kathy i said on the phone on the beach

but as i woke up my hair was full of sand

an old morning had dawned all sold or pawned

a tired grey sky

the same drab planes were coming in from hypothetical city

the sea churned and sloshed at the razor sharp shells

a fishermans boat a lone gull

no mermaids no mermen no treasure no exotica

a yacht on the horizon

a couple of the opera house sails

premature evening hovers like an ardent suitor

i see you in the darkness then lamb

i see you before me wandrin’ the fertile night

i still hear kathy splashing in her bath

i still see dad fighting in his war

the cards were to tell my fortune

and they did in spades

more ardent suitors on the phone for lamb

who followed me to school one day it was against the fucking rules

gee my new shirt looks good tho i say to my ‘maginary audience

kathy says theres skulls on yer shoes

boy she got things done fast

i forget how everything works

i cant find the instructions for my particular model

the fragrant evening caresses my tingling hide

music smeared across silence

flowers started to fade

alright

lets talk tomorrow

airfix hurricane

when i get you home

stumble through the door

waiting waiting in some soft sunlight i drift away

i have a dream

oh no not another dream i gotta stop having

something says but have this dream

some soothing voice some golden tone

anyway as well as everything else

my dream kissed my parched lips

i watched thru my brains mirror

every reflection distorts and ripples away

the future rips apart

underneath song after song after song

naked song flung headlong all wrong

we wrestle like angels for a while

the sky turning angry hurls darts of cloud

come crashing down

all  falling apart

then  running to me

i underwater with this

i move slowly thru dense green days

i move thru silent house empty headwise

numb in a cold shower

still the wondering sun

i adjust

i go on

deeper in time

am i a head or be hind

am i be fore or for ward

this cant make sense

life doesnt why should this i’d like to know

life somewhere else

power flows thru us

sublime cosmic energy oh ha ha can you feel it

take your time take your place

events continue to warp out of time

the  time being on your hands

the time being for now

the time being a tamed blamed   creature

ok i gotta get back into it here

purple sage

excerpt from an occult diary

everything was moving slower

the roads wound away

round the hills n outta sight

in the lovely eastern district of town

oh those loverly frickin’ gardens

oh those wrought iron balustrades

oh those flowery words whispered in the sweetened air

we were sleeping down the main street

we flew over the ground we tripped lite fantastic

we were hurled by the storm churlish n brutal

we stranded ourselves in bullrushes and lemon crushes

the mirror says it all

i dont recognise anything in there

i turn up at a show in a city

my life in park n reverse

distance to empty thats what DTE stands for

ricky left today packed his guitar n was gone

i forgot to mention easter

i forgot to mention to remember

i’m a forgetful man in my fancy mansuit

i forget this i forget that

i cant remember everything at once

one day it will occur to me

im a man on his way to see a film about a traffic jam

and i’m stuck in my car on the bridge

i approacheth my limit i refuseth the truth

love lies waiting patiently for me

imaginary bondi unfolds in sunset deluxe

maybe a dip in the harbour

maybe a quiet hour in the evening shadows

maybe fair to kill time being

hope its gentle

at last