further thoughts on grant mclennan

i cant believe hes gone
in the weeks before this ive been doing some solo shows
i always play providence
but ive been doing ramble and thought that i was over you
and bye bye pride
amanda brown came to my last solo show at the icebergs
grant has a new song on the gb3 record (brilliant)
i been thinking about him in lotsa small ways
listening to jack frost
remembering olde times
grant wasnt some minor talent now gone
and everyone trying to make him into something more
believe me, he was the real deal
he picked up a guitar and sang
and you hadda original
no mistaking his voice, his songs
i saw on amazon they gotta few copies of the 1st jack f record
do yerselves a favour
if you aint got it, get it
im so proud of that record
the only record i made (other than solo)
that i actually hands on mixed myself
every hour god sends
a lament about the iraq invasion in 1990-1
thats me on verses, grant on choruses
i was horsing around in the studio
saying
“oh that grant, he works every hour that god sends, that man”
a standard lament i would hear as i was growing up
but grant turned it into a threat
everyhour god sends…some wings
everyhour godsends …some stones
all that wild electric guitar…thats grant
he wasnt always thomas hardy ya know
he could fuckin’ rock on the guitar
and
he wazza great bass player too
birdowner
when i first met him grant said he had
thousands of songtitles ready to go
i asked him for a couple
the first title he said was birdowner
we wrote this about a witch who turns men into birds
we wrote all the lyrics together
in a park in balmain one cold morning
on a bench smoking a spliff
civil war lament
grant had already written this
i loved it and i got to sing it
he could knock songs like this off
like most people write shopping lists
i liked the ambiguity of
“and all you do is carry on”
to grant this meant that she continued
to me it had other connotations
we thrived on this kinda ambiguity
geneva 4 am
again i sing the verses
grant takes the chorus
i guess no one will mind me saying now
that grant had amanda b in mind when he
wrote his bits for most of these songs
he always seemed to get it back round to her
i was imagining a bunch of lowlifes round a bar at an airport
grant turns it into pure longing
“i look for you everywhere
but i can find you anywhere”

trapeze boy
we had a little bit of tape left
we doodled and noodled on it
i said to grant
putta poem or story on there
he said i will
he did that first take
i, in the control room, was stunned
“funny how someone you never met, manages to stay with you”
yes , grant
a lotta people feel that way about you now

providence
one of my fave songs ever by anybody anywhere
obviously you can hear grants bits and my bits
so sad
so much sadness in this song
“remember when we were lovers, the things we used to do”
it always gives me goosebumps
so romantic,
so lost.

thought that i was over you
what can i say about this one?
everybodies felt like this
i dont think he did really ever get over her.

threshold
jack f gets funky
my music, grants lyrics n singing

number 11
grant n i imagined we were lost in a plane crash
i know you can keep me warm
beautiful, grant, beautiful

didnt know where i was
our 1st song we wrote together
sorta velvets-y i guess
” a damaged doomed charles bronson, stumbling on this earth”
who else could write stuff like that
boy, im gonna miss him

even as we speak
i wrote and played the music on my own
grant walked straight in
and sang it
and made the words up on the spot
how could he instantly come up with something so poignant?
his words always fitted the music so perfectly

ramble is my song
grant was showing me the chords to
streets of your town
i said lets get another song outta that
he played the electric guitar
and you can hear his distinctive
“its coming on again”
it was all coming on for him again
all the time

everything takes forever
our music
my verses
grants chorus
you can sing with accordions
you can sing with violins
we even put an oboe in there
just in case ya didnt completely get
who this song was addressed to

making this record wassa sheer delight
grant n i were equals in every way
he laughed at my gothic dark side
i laughed at his country boy romantic side
we steered a course right down the middle
pulled each other into a new place
this record is one of the best records ever made
you wont find more personal poignant love songs in rock
sweeping windswept landscapes
anger, jealousy, memories
grant was my dearest friend
a real gentleman
i wouldnt say so if it wasnt true
there was no one else on the planet
who i wanted to work with more
he taught me a lot about songs
and songwriting
it was a fucking privelege to work with him
i loved this man
i will play providence and other jack f songs
till the day i day
and i hope that when i get to fucking heaven
grant is waiting for me
his guitar strapped on
“now, steven, are ya ready for our third album

grant
i dont think i will get over you
vale
my dear dear dear mate
sk