3 synchronicities

1. i wake up 2 weeks ago with the name sid rumpo in my head
sid rumpo were an aussie band that made one record i never heard
back in the early seventies ...but i dont know anything about them
nor have i ever thought of them before. that day i fly down to melbourne
to do rockwiz finale and whilst on the plane i read about goethe
and his theory of interconnectedness
then i meet famed oz rocker angry anderson from rose tattoo
and we share a limo into town
on the way there i ask about his previous band buster brown
i say : you guys musta been one of the 1st bands on mushroom records
yeah says angry us n a band called sid rumpo
wow i say i thought of that name this morning when i woke up
wow says angry thats an example of interconnectedness
(a double synchronicity there folks)
2. i go to wendy the white witch for a healing
she gives me a cd of the lords prayer related to chakra healing
when i get in the car all relaxed
i put on the radio n on comes the first song
dirty deeds done dirt cheap by ac/dc (a jarring juxtaposition )
i immediately turn it off
when i get home n stick cd into my itunes
my itunes erroneously recognises the cd as dirty deeds done dirt cheap
(huh!!!!)
3 jeffrey cain turns up today
hes rented a flat in bondi
its the same flats marty lived in 30 years ago when he first moved to aust
weird, eh?

sunday evening

i have changed
i have thrown off my last shackle
which was holding me down
which was dulling my senses
i am clear i am calm
i know now what i am here to do
i am growing younger by the minute
the hours pass peacefully
i want for nothing
my luck has changed
my mood has improved
i see the wonder
i hear the beauty
i entertain the possibilities
i exist in all dimensions
no longer impatient
no longer exasperated
aware exactly of who i am
i see through lies
i see through fakes and frauds
i appreciate the sheer beauty of life
my children amaze me
the future stretches out before me
and i want to fill it with music and paintings and words
invitations pouring in thick and fast
i stuck to my guns
i guess this is the reward for authenticity
i will prevail eventually
my good self will prevail over my bad self
i have some dear and lovely friends
like jeffrey cain who arrives on tuesday armed with beautiful music
i am immersed in my work and The Work
i am convinced things will turn out well for me
i am finally back on the path where i shoulda been
the path my own path
a path no one else could ever tread
i have to do things the hard way that is my path
but i always learn...eventually...
i will learn to master myself
i will learn to get all this art and music out of my head
and out of the void
and lay it on you all for as long as i can
because...well...who else can...?
i am content with my contradictions
they make me who i am
i will strive for excellence from now on
i will not flinch from personal sacrifice to create for you
i dive deep and i soar high
it is enough
i can wait and wait and wait
i remember everything from the past
my intuition is thawing
my heart is open
my head is no longer dead
i wish for no material thing
i desire no woman
i need no man
i am self sufficient
from here on out
let no stupid thing disturb me
do what you like
say what you like
write what you like
i am steve kilbey the time being
its sunday evening
everything is ok

sacred songs : the lamia

from
the lamb lies down on broadway ... by genesis
a rock opera about a modern odysseus
his name is rael hes a graffiti artist from puerto rico
but the story takes place in new york
this album was genesis' full flowering and their final masterpiece
before peter gabriel left
rael is trapped in some mystical nightmare/quest
after many adventures he comes to a strange chamber
waiting for him are the lamia
creatures straight out of greek mythology
the bodies of snakes , the faces of women
the music is superb
by this stage of the game
the interplay between tony banks on keys
and steve hacket on guitar is unique and almost classical
in its ambitions and proportions.....
banks the master of the constant arpeggio
hacket using his guitar like trumpets and french horns
as far away from yer usual hamfisted rock fodder as you can get
gabriels lyrics are pure poetry
his voice is mysterious powerful earthy and pure
lost in some 5th dimensional labyrinth
our hero rael comes along a hall and finds
the chamber and a pool containing the lamia
a beautiful lilting piano sets the scene
occasionally punctuated
in small instrumental sequences by gabriels flute
"inside a long rosewater pool is shrouded by fine mist"
"but ripples on the sweeping water reveal some company unthought of"
"3 vermilion snakes with female face the smallest motion filled with grace"
they greet him
"rael welcome we are the lamia of the pool
we have been waiting for our waters to bring you cool"
the music is spine tingling and gorgeous
everything just perfect
building to a wagnerian like crescendo
the guitar darting in and out of the grandiose mellotron
then back down to a lonely piano figure
like something out of rachmaninoff
rael decides to join them
"he slips into the nectar leaving his shredded clothes behind"
"with their tongues they test taste and judge all that is mine"
gabriel now switches into the first person as he does throughout
the whole of the lamb
he is rael and he is also the narrator
"they move in a series of caresses that glide up n down my spine"
the lamia begin to eat rael
as the lamia in greek myth devours its own children
"as they nibble the fruit of my flesh i feel no pain
only a magic that a name would stain"
(what a beautiful line!)
but something is amiss
the unlucky rael is too profane for these creatures...
"with the 1st drop of my blood in my veins
their faces are convulsed in mortal pain
the fairest cries
" we all have loved you rael!""
"each empty snake like body floats
silent sorrow in empty boats
a sickly sourness fills the room
the bitter harvest of a dying bloom"
rael decides to eat their bodies
" oh lamia your flesh that remains i will take as my food"
then a very strange line
"it is the scent of garlic which lingers on my chocolate fingers"
then an instrumental interlude
the piano and portamento synth intertwine
then a stately organ appears like bach or something
rael says
"looking behind me
the waters turn icy blue
the lights are dimmed
and once again
the stage is set for you"
then flute guitar and mellotron go out in a magnificent coda
wow
well
the meaning of all this?
the esoteric symbolism
the beauty sadness and triumph
and yet
its a fantastic example of how arcane and spiritual rock can be
the opposite of ac/dc or their meatheaded ilk
this music this song is loaded with inspiration for thought
you can listen to it for 36 years like me
and still get that hit of the wonderful unknown
the hairs on yer neck will stand to attention everytime
an eldritch thrill
the sexual cannibalistic myth of the lamia
the fucking lovely music
gabriels perfect singing
go on
you better get this one now and prepare to start digging it
HARD!

sacred songs : song to the siren (this mortal coil)

a 24 carat stunner
released in 1984 or thereabouts
credited to this mortal coil
this was really the cocteau twins in disguise
the song written by tim buckley
who of course is jeffs dad
i never really grokked tim buckley
i tried but i could never really dig him
i prefer mortal coils version so much more than his
its a bare minimalistic performance
a chiming guitar like a bell at sea
elisabeth frazers (or is it elizabeth fraser?)mournful voice
her wonderful phrasing
the string thing playing in the background
truly conveys a sense of supernatural longing aching love loss
the sirens were creatures from the odyssey
with beautiful voices whose song was irresistible
they lured sailors to the island where they died upon the rocks....
of course
our hero odysseus wanted/needed to hear these songs for himself
his sailors stuffed their ears with beeswax
while odysseus
was tied to his ships mast so he can listen
my whole life i have wondered
what these terrible songs must have sounded like
what incredible words must they have sung to him
this song turns things around
it is a song TO the siren
rather than a song BY them
the odyssey metaphor is kept up through the song
with its marine lyrics
"the shipless oceans"
"as riddled as the tide"
"now my foolish boat is leaning"
etc
and the song works on many levels of meaning
as all good songs should
including the ultra strange question
"were you hare when i was fox?"
all filled with such sad bewildered unfulfilled desire
"oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow"
this song captured me the first time i heard it 26 years ago
and it still holds me to this very day
bleak lonely desolate just like odysseus' long journey home
sacred majestic magical stuff
the video on youtube is so so
youre better off to just hear it
and imagine the awful love which inspired this amazing piece
odysseus says :
"this was the sweet song the Sirens sang
and my heart was filled with such longing to listen
that i ordered my men to set me free, gesturing with my eyebrows
but they swung forward over their oars and rowed ahead
and they jumped up and tightened my ropes and added more..."
circe the witch who was odysseus' lover warns :
"there is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares
and hears their voices
no welcome from his wife
no little children brightening at their fathers return..."
wow!
god how i would love to hear those songs
incredible!

sacred songs : atlantis

remember that bit in my biography
where i'm walking down the school hall at lunchtime
and i hear a kid playing the guitar
and i blah blah blah blah
yeah
well the song the kid was playing was called atlantis
he taught me the chords too (my first chord progression!)
they are C D F C G
i felt as if i had learnt a spell
the spell still has not worn off
even after 40 years
now most pop music is a load of old rubbish
uh huh aint it the truth
meaningless tripe knocked out to try n make a buck
the kinda thing you listen to once and never again
however
once in a while someone writes something so good n powerful
it can stay with ya forever n forever
atlantis by donovan is such a song
in spades my my oh my word
i always liked donovan
he was a big influence on my uber-hero marc bolan
when i first heard this song back in 69 or 70 it floored me
a feeling of sacredness pervades the simple chords
donovan starts talking over the gentle strumming
the most beautiful delicate scottish accent imaginable
he rolls his Rs
and the whole thing has an air of the most confidential information
the continent of atlantis was an island
which lay before the great flood
in the area we now call the atlantic ocean...
(well
i was instantly hooked
he goes on to amazingly tell the story of atlantis so succinctly
as a piano chimes in playing the wistful melody)
so great an area of land that those beautiful sailors
journeyed to the north and south americas with ease
in their ships with painted sails
to the east africa was her neighbour across a short strait of sea miles
the great egyptian age is but a remnant of atlantean culture...
(yes it is ...ask herodotus !)
the narrative continues:
the ante diluvian kings colonised the world
all the gods who play in the mythological dramas
in all legends from all lands were from fair atlantis
(all spoken so carefully in that wonderful soft accent)
knowing her fate
atlantis sent out ships to the four corners of the world
on board were the 12
the poet the physician the farmer the scientist the magician
and the other so called gods of our legends
tho gods they were
and as the elders of our time choose to remain blind
let us rejoice and lets us sing and dance
and ring in the new
HAIL ATLANTIS!
this is followed by a good old fashioned hey jude ending
with pounding drums and piano and electric guitar
while donovan sings
way down below the ocean where i wanna be she may be
fucking brilliant!
meaningful
longing
great tune
great production
and sending me off into an atlantean obsession
wow
imagine if all the stuff you heard on the radio was like this...
and it was in the charts....!
life changing pop music...whooda thunk it?
now go n download it if ya aint got it
and dig this fairly accurate history of atlantis
in the shape of a 4 minute spell

very busy

last nite played in band for jimmy little
famous indigenous oldtime aust singer was given award
at some big do here in sydney
temper trap rightly won an award for their marvellous sweet disposition
the usual bloated ratbags and music biz parasites were there
rabbiting on with their usual codswallop
who cares?
but hurrah for jimmy and hurrah for the temper trap!
jeffrey cain arrives in under a week and we will do some swimming
and some singing and knock out isidore 2
have just been offered a great part in a brand new very funny musical
will let you know more as details come to hand
martin k n i have put the wraps on new kk
its finished and its a corker!!
many other goodies in pipeline stay tuned
watch this space
steve-0

hierophant for hire

*
its too early to tell
i cast my fate in the sand
the sea is calm
the sky is blue and grey
my eyes see through you
winter solstice
who will you resurrect?
i walk forever on this strand
the gulls squabble
the tiny waves leave foam
music plays in my head as always
words come into mind
the shortest day of the year
night threatens day
the king in check
the queen moves along her most convenient diagonal
path of least resistance...as is her wantonness....
the pawns oblivious as usual
the bishops ....oh what a crooked bunch
they burn joan of arc
they burn wendy the white witch
they burn your mother and your sister
the knights...ha ha
on some wild goose chase through the forest
lancelot in ms guineveres chamber with his trusty sword
galahad all golden lost in lyonesse
sir parsifal tries to staunch the blood of the fishy king
sir isaac newton battling gravity
sir mick jagger poncing about like a ninny
meanwhile your narrator lonely at the top
the temptation of st steven
martyred by the slings n arrows of outrageous 4tune
staggering neath the wait
words music paintings fill my echoing skull
chip on my shoulder coated in ancient grease
my enchantment undone
i strip off my armour
and languish in chapel perilous
i fail the test again n again
my own external exam
3 x 7 = 21



* tarot card by my dear friend MEM

elysium

rest in pieces
some otherworld
some before n afterlife
wind sings in the reeds
reeds sing in the wind
everything i touch turns to spirit
no winter here
the forest is alive
the waving fields of wheat and barley
golden summer day stretch endlessly
purple summer night move through me
friend, swim in cool lakes of dream
etruscan wife
she tramples the bursting grape
horses crop the grass contentedly
my scars heal leaving a silver mark on the brown skin
my children play out there in the dusk
i can hear their plainsong
i can feel their pleasure
the different stars shine in the sky
the different birds sing in the different trees
midnight comes without darkness
noon arrives without its heat
mercy in my hands to bestow
patience in my heart to choose
my patron goddess hidden in clear view
pallas athena swift as light
move towards me smiling still
lily white
eyes black as night
hair lustrous falling in coils of jet
wielding wisdom as her shield
evenings of marvel
mornings of grace

sugar bloom

soft succinct and sweet
sugar bloom
through cold clear water i swim as if in dream
ionian sea or astral soul river
where my muse doth wait
whispering wordless words only i can hear
spirit come and take me now
oh spirit come and fill me now
dark matter intoxication null and void
i have wasted these 55
now i stand here empty handed outside this door
i cannot pound it down
i cannot find my way in
i am freezing out here in this outside
i knock and knock half heartedly
inside the 4 chambers my muse lies waiting patiently for me
havent i given thee enough? she dreams to me
you never worked for even one of my gifts... she gently chides
so why then do you now bang bang bang on the door to my chambers?
i fumble in my pockets for some key
i roar and whimper and call her nameless names
the names she has always had
all my lives all my days
youre trying too hard she admonishes
let it be easy as its always been
try not to grasp and gasp and blow your chances mind
believe and believe and trust and trust
oh its so close now
oh its still so far away
she smiles
i see her smile of invisibility
i hear her melodious laugh
yes she says
i think this time you really might make it
how? i ask
sacrifice everything ! comes the answer in my chances mind
everything? i ask
oh it will all be returned one thousandfold ...her voice very faint now
like a thought that lingers fleetingly
like a childhood memory of being so warm and safe
like falling in love with life
like hearing the most beautiful music
as if from an impossible distance
as if coming from all directions
like krsnas flute in the twilight jungle
like jesus lovely laugh in the aromatic garden
like aslans mighty song
that awoke all things
on the very first day

christian wolf

a friend of little girls and their grandmothers
i roam these gloomy woods
in my wolfsuit
growling and howling
oh heel you dirty dog
fur all flecked with grey
always hungry
in these forests of saxony and prussia
my long yellow-white teeth same colour as moon
my black eyes which shine no light
devouring pilgrims in a single bite
my rough tongue which licks you raw
my lupine mind outside the door
as still as this i hide
under your bed
its 1215
how i love your bones
loose in the convent
salivating and waiting
hunted for my pelt
i melt into the snow
i feel no cold
padding silently away
to feast another day
come good doctor
i bet you taste so nice
and woodcutters
your axes blunt
i dont think
i move
i jump with a mighty leap on the back of the slowest sheep
and i creep towards you in your sleep
my poor paws with their bastard claws
my tongue so long and red
amongst the pines amongst the weeds
dribble as the young knight bleeds
no trap could hold me
my jaws clamp shut
oh little princess in this dark place
gaze with horror
'pon my face
your friars your priests your men-at-arms
your saviour on the cross
your bishops in aachen
your kings at mass
your mother says her parrot prayers
your brothers rushing down the stairs
he'll have my guts on this he swears
i know a little cave you could get warm
i'll take you there...no i insist...look its really no trouble..
please follow me
the evening close is falling down so swiftly
and i'm starving
i'm ravenous
i'm as empty as all hell
i need to feed
you need to rest
i know whats best
you'd do as well...
mmmm
ok
delicious
in my dingly dell

rockwiz finale

in this photo clare bowditch, adalita and your 'umble 'ero

rockwiz the live show is over
ive got a complete doco up my sleeve but that'll be for my new
impending mega-site ....eh, kip mcc?
itll have footage backstage onstage etc etc

the rock wiz people are amazing
the crew were amazing
the rock wiz orkestra ...crikey what a band....!
my fellow singers...what a great bunch
the audiences were too kind and just fantastic
the whole experience was fucking groovy
everyone so cool n calm
not one jerk
not one grumpy tosser
not one idiot
please have me back
i loved it
it was a breath of fresh air
melby was a great place to finish
vika bull was a dream to sing with
her voice always in tune and strong
i had a ball
a very very happy camper i am
love to all
steve-0

double or nothing

eventually
you on your own
fooling round with a camera in an empty room
or being born again
or walking along some pier stretching across leaden waters
you see people in restaurants drinking booze n eating cuisine nouveau
you see homeless wrecks shivering in the winter afternoon
you see the snobs and slobs and blobs the bits n bobs
betrayed delayed afraid
calm now in determination
hysteria not for me
flowery words wilting on the page
promises become threats
i walk along and i laugh to myself
i walk along thru the endless ages
the son of man
getting warmer getting colder
i need no one
i need no food no drug no orgasm no money
self contained self restrained
i look for nothing
yet i see everything
i am a singer in a show
i appear n i go
surrounded by flash and bang
i am a stillpoint
i look out at you all
i sing from a million miles
under pressure
burns a building down
splits a family in 2
puts people on the street
i read my name in the paper
my current name that is
i realize more n more that is not me
over a double barrel
inside a double helix
i sit with the performers and talk
i joke with the crew
i pause in the limelight
never so weak or powerful
double your trouble back guarantee
disgracefully graceful
i even confuse myself
head on ism
oh i only feel the cold
good calm cold
the grim winter
the dumb summer
the double edged sword
the panther in his winter
i'm not your 20th century man oh no
an unknown in an unknown land
its quiet i talk to myself
finally someone who makes sense
my double whispers in that drawling accent
half english half australian half asleep
half life
double shot
clear headed
across between fox and cat
i purr with my phlegmy engine
my calves sacrificed to the bitter wind
i cough up tears
i cry blood
i leave my body : a trial separation
i wanted to be like everybody else but it was never on
a unique nobody i blow down acland street
double back
buy a coffee
buy some time
double time
sick of women sick of men
double sick double cured
i licked smack
i smacked lick
i fought my own double
and was double whipped
i double and redouble your bid
my head is an entertainment centre
i book seats at my own show
black n white double features
orpheus comes n goes through mirrors
ulysses in his black beaked ship
siegfried drenched in dragon blood
joe schmoe at some karaoke night
good with words
bad with numbers
double 6 double 6 double 6
dabbles with doubles
i leave my body again
i leave your body again
i always loved jesus
i meet him in the darkening park
we sit in stony silence
until its time for me to go in
my mother calls me....listen :
steven.....
steven.....
i enter by the stage door
some grizzled ex angel nods and winks
fucking singers he thinks ...what a joke....
i go down deep into the orchestra pit
where my lyre is waiting to tell its lies
music sweet music
sing us a song your the lyre man
and make it a double
and make it on the double
and then
double up
twice

orpheus in the undertrick

i sing the bloody eclectic
i sing the unsingable song
i sing of crete and concrete and the discrete layers of life
i sing of the underworld and the overdrive
i sing of hashish i sing of myrrh
i sing of aphrodites ichor
i sing of enkidus fur
i sing of the garden now barred
i sing of men ill-starred
i sing of whores and virgins and hags and beauties
i sing the deepest song of the seven seas
and the seven seals
and the seven dwarves
and seven years of bad luck
and seventy seven sunset strip
i sing of dillinger and derringer and delicates and doom
i sing of zeus amon and white hippy moses and burning bushes
i sing you asleep
i sing you awake
i sing to your skins and your hearts
i sing of seances and ectoplasm
i sing dimensions i sing spells
i sing unaccompanied i sing with birds
i sing badly i sing well
i sing roughly
i sing smoothly
i sing and i croon and i shout it all out
i sing even if no one listens
i sing even if no one hears
i sing to the sailors and soldiers
i sing to the head neck and shoulders
i sing to the stones and the boulders
i sing to myself in the shower
i sing and i vaguely can remember the power
i sing to arcturus to antares to sirius to andromeda
i sing childhood in
i sing old age out
i sing the chemical nuptials
i sing the storm i sing the calm
i sing in the vibrating dawn
i sing wordless
i sing epic tales in sanskrit and greek and english and swedish
i sing the mahabharata i sing the gospels
i sing dr seuss and dr dee and dr death and dr my eyes
i sing with my heart i sing with my soul
i sing without remembering in amnesias black hold
i sing to my mothers i sing to my brothers
i sing to you and any others
i sing to macbeth and miranda and to lear and round here
i sing the milky way and i sing the hard way
and i sing the old ways and old days
i sing the hits and misses
i sing young and old
i sing and i stop and i sing once again
i sing glam classical mineral gnostic and inner country
i sing with gb3 and the 3 fates and the 3 norns
i sing sometimes with my 2 horns
i sing hell and i sing well and i sing in one fell swoop
i sing bohemia i sing in my deleria
i sing in the school cafeteria
i sing in corpuscles and bacteria
i sing in sickness and in health
in poverty and in wealth
i sing in this life in last life in everylife
i sing everyman i sing for no one
i sing for profit prophet and for fucking fun
i sing as i come undone
i sing U#23 i sing only for me
i sing for thee
i sing and i begin
i sing anything everything
i sing what no one else can or will sing
i sing for eurydice i sing for medea
i sing for my supper and i sing on some upper
i sing in my slippers
i sing for day trippers and night riders
i sing the hurt inside us
i sing as my muse bids
i sing for the bedsit kids
i sing soundless and groundless and endless
i sing the sacred i sing the ephemeral
i sing the horrible and the terrible
i sing to keep the outside out
and the inside in
i sing of virtue and sin
i sing of cabbages and kings
and whether pigs have wings
and i sing the things the darkness will bring
and when its all over
still
even then
i sing

a new song

sing then o muse
sing of my wanderings
sing of my lost years
sing of my other lives
sing of athene who came to me in waking dreams
sing of my ship and the star who guided her
sing of the cities of the plain destroyed by a jealous god
sing of nineveh cold and forgotten
sing of enkidu dying of fever
sing of grant mclennan and david mccomb who sing no more
sing of baby krsna with the universe in his mouth
sing of houdini and the great cagliostro
sing of my strangling hands and trampling feet
sing of leslie kilbey 18 and in germany 1940
sing of joyce bennett in the ruins of london
sing of eris and her golden apple inscribed kallisti
sing of aegypt and her long centuries in the sun
sing of saint-saens and scrubby stokes
sing of lemuria and lyneham
sing of monsters n mirages
sing of mustard gas and barbed wire
sing of opium sing of nepenthe
sing of wine sing of mead
sing of loki who shudders forever until ragnarok
sing of elli n minna sing of eve n aurora
sing of my bass guitar sing of my lyre
sing of the christ up on the kings cross
sing of hannibal barca and his dark troubled brow
sing of joan who shone like an arc where you walk
sing of kennedy and sing of lincoln
sing of the tower of babel and the towering infernal
sing of 666 and 911
sing of the elusive grail and the knights templar
sing of heroes and cowards and cowherds and vrindavan
sing of the red sea and the blue tide and the green man
sing of the war of the roses and sing of the jackals of war
sing of cemeteries sing of nurseries
sing of solomon who sings his own song
sing of lyonesse between england and france
sing of the planet between earth and mars
sing of jagger and jesse james and john the baptist
sing of marathon and sing of alexander
sing of the lion headed sphinx and sing of oedipal hi jinks
sing of glenn miller sing of tom miller sing of henry miller
sing of hoaxes and hexes and executive decisions
sing of the axe and the scalpel
sing of the time and the distance
sing of narnia and sing of charn
sing of the bermuda triangle and the blackest hole
sing of mark feld and david jones
sing of erskine and sad conesuela
sing of trees sing of bach sing of amadeus in the dark
sing of jeff buckley who sang like a lark
sing of breton sing of normandy
sing of the wind singing through the longest night
sing of ern malley and sing of bin laden
sing of the mermen and sing of the mainmen
sing of the haunted
sing of the unforgiven
sing of the dead still singing for a living
sing of the animals that were butchered today
sing of the world behind my eyes
sing of sydney sing of sumeria sing of esoterica
sing of impossible things the phoenix and the roc
sing of the dark cages and sing of the rhymeless reason
sing of saturn and satan and black satin sheets
sing of murder and sing of mayhem
sing o muse
let the singing begin
sing in my veins
sing in my head
sing in my fingers
sing in my soul
sing o muse
and let your song be ever so long
unending unbending
unbelievable
undeniable
undying
undone
sing o muse
let the singing begin
then
sing it all
again n again

ulysses is granted

after a long time
after life has moved on
and the blasted shadows have faded from the path
and the children grew up and could see for themselves
and their children live in the fertile valleys surrounded by snowy peaks
and the kings have departed to seek empires elsewhere
along silk routes and longitudes unmapped and uncharted
and new stars have appeared in the sky
and new skies have dawned in mornings i wont see
and the ocean still churns restlessly at the foot of its bed
and my head is cleared
all bad memories deleted
and i am exonerated of my sins
and my good deeds rewarded
and my reward is to know everything that was unknown
everything i could stand to know that is
and i stand holding my hand that god has dealt out
and the four angels of the four cardinal directions
golden haired neither male nor female come down to this plane
and i count the grains of sand
and i see the sparrowfall
and i hear the language of the trees
and i swim with the nereids
and i behold vishnu in his universal form
and i walk with jesus on my kentucky blue lawn
and i am soothed by venus who ceases to mourn
and ride with the valkyries out of this storm
my men are gone and never to return
my snow has melted
and my fire has burned
every lesson finally learned
some lovely day
some blessed eve
some wonderful spring
the women sing
a song
i cannot write but long to hear
maybe then
you will appear

tori n me

tori n me
take scarlet for a walk
i guess we're in dakota or wyoming or somewhere
the lonesome whistle blowing down the trestle: ooooeeee
its the 1950s everything all black n white
no beatles
no internet
no tiramisu
no aioli
no dice
john dee in the dried out river bed
playing some old chuck berry number
and skyping his angel within the crystal ball
some gunslinger
dock holiday
or wild bill
still holding the deadmans hand
americana
toris a waitress at joes cafe
i just been laid off by the mining company
times are tough
maybe this is a dream
no...maybe not...
its always 3 o'clock on some fall afternoon
the clouds are ominous
my heart is heavy
a burnt out ford customline
a rattle snake in the dust
nothing for miles n miles
horizon disappears behind the black hills
we dont say much
tori answers my questions with a shake of her head
or an uh-huh
shes wearing her one good dress
the one her daddy bought for her in bismarck
i'm wearing my old suit patched n worn shiny
i got ten bucks in my pocket that i clutch for consolation
life is harsh
we always seem to be sad
are you sad ? i ask her
she shakes her head
are you happy here ? i ask her
she looks at the silent slag heaps and circling distant black birds
uh-huh she says so quietly
i was thinking i could get us a piano ...i suggest
uh-huh she says
maybe you could learn to play i say
uh-huh she says her eyes glassy and lost
we walk back into town
the saloon has closed down
and the train dont pass this way anymore
i scratch my head squinting into the dull glare
what you gonna do now ? i ask her
she shakes her head
and the wind gently blows tiny whirlpools of dust down mainstreet

when isidore not adore

my dear friend in colleague
jeffrey cain is on his way to australia
arriving june 29
to start n finish isidore #2
maybe you have or havent heard isidore #1 yet
its a very melodic smooth kind of record
jeffrey wrote the music
i came up with the vox
we make a good team
jeffrey writes tricky chord progressions
at once familiar yet with a sense of the strange
it inspires me to come up with words i wouldnt normally
have come up with...
hes renting a flat here in bondi n we can 'ave a winter swim n a sauna
n get stuck into our work
jeffrey is an impish alabaman with a wicked laugh n kind heart
like martin kennedy and ricky maymi hes much younger than me
and was inspired in his teen years by the church among others
hes absorbed his sk musical lessons well
and thoroughly transmuted them into his own lovely trip
we will both be mourning the loss of gregory slay isidores drummer
who died on new years eve tragically too young
mr slays radiant and mischievous spirit
will illuminate proceedings i'm sure....
the first isidore record heralded a new era for my singing n words
i turned some corner in making it
finding new ways to sing
new types of words to write
i am lucky to have collaborateurs such as jc n these other guys
so you got gb3 coming real soon (its a corker...mixed by jorden brebach too!)
then kk2
then hopefully i can get david neil finally fixed n mixed (thats with ricky)
then isidore2 which i know will be a special record
melbournian fiendss can look for me next week
although i cant necessarily spill the beans on what it is i'm doing
as i am merely one of a number of special secret guests at 2 shows there
(at the palais....)
yep i'm pretty busy
and thats how i like it

great new book arrived on my desk
my immortal by anakki mayhem
an australian coastal teenage vampire love story (what?)
available on amazon now

regards to dave rundle my novocastrian china plate
put the box set kk dvd and ato cheque (bastards!!) in the mail today

thats it
a long weekend here in sydney but dunno why
see ya then
sk

kilbey kennedy heads its ugly rear

today received new kk dvd
nice one!
the total live kk experience
(in tuxedos!)
featuring evil graham lee on pedal steel
n michael evans-barker on drums n perc
here we are live at the toff
(oooh is that diamanda galah my one true fan in the front row?)
old crooner me with the crows feet n scuffed up blunnies
mutton kennedy the modest maestro concentrating on his gig
i tell you its not a bad old vid
we play our entire 1st album n
give under the milfy weigh the kk treatment
plus providence
plus exclusive sneaky preview of kk2 with "the demo"
speaking of witch
i been listening to today
and its almost finally ready
martin has again come up with some music
which is just so right for your old 'umble hero
to stick his rag tag grab bag of lyrical tricks on top of
(oooh ended a sentence with a preposition!)
the songs are a lot more eclectic than the 1st record
some bloody good hummable tunes
with mks inimitable touch
and your old groaners smooth voice
which causes savage beasts to be soothed
and old grandma groupies to faint in their wooly stockings
wow! it really is a great record n i want ya to hear it right now...
but ya gonna have to wait
so have some patients
songs about the esoteric hodge podge
and the friction when you enter this atmosphere
you gonna love it
why bother arguing?
its at least probably the best record ever made
and thats just an understatement
it will enlighten you while it enlivens you
the sad songs'll make ya happy
n the slow songs'll make ya fast
kennedy is the antipodean eno
and i'm the equivalent of lying in a bath of opium
whilst reading baudelaire and shakespeare and patanjali
with yer eyes tied behind your back
doubtless it'll go to number one all round the world
coz people here can appreciate our subtle brilliance
(when the footballs over...of course)
send me a thousand bucks now n i'll reserve you a copy, cats
mucho love
or watt ever
kilb-0

secret history of sk

my brother russell
recommended i read this book called
the secret history of the world
an esoteric trawl thru the philosophies
of the secret societies that exist n have existed...
to put it all in a simplistic nutshell
mind before matter


long before anything else
there was the boy
a boy born out of time n place
growing up in australia in the fifties n sixties
i read alice in wonderland n alice thru the looking glass
when i was 5 or 6 n i was gone
then the greek myths, the norse myths, the celtic myths
then the chronicles of narnia
(frequently referred to by t.s.h.o.t.w.)
this was my world
the world of spirit
the world of magic
the world of imagination
more real to me
than the humdrum ordinary one
in which i never felt right or at home
anyway the narnian chronicles blew my tiny mind
and a lot of the secret encoded (rosicrucian) information
went straight thru to my heart n soul
(and verily i grokked it!)
i could never turn back from here on in
i could never be an ordinary person happily living
in the ordinary world
(cue duran duran ; no, please dont!)
then came lord of the rings
gormenghast
psychedelic rock
drugs etc
i have read the bible the koran
the bhagavad gita
and almost got thru the 18 volume srimad bhagavatam
the hindu secret doctrine or as krsna puts it to arjuna
the most confidential information
i have read extensively on yoga
i have read buddhas the path of dharma
and many other esoteric and exoteric treatises on or by the buddha
of course as you all know too well
i have been doing yoga on n off for almost 25 years
the last 5 years very intently n intensely
all of my study is confirmed in this book
mind before matter
mind over matter
all esoteric literature has to be interpreted
like poetry
like heiroglyphs
like sunsets
and life and death
and astrology and alchemy
you cant solve this stuff literally
you need some strange inclination
which i have in spades
finally
my own work
thirty odd years of songs packed full of esoterica
messages puzzles clues
random name dropping of things i had no real idea about
its all there for you to see
hardly any stuff about the ordinary world
i have poured my heart n soul into the surrealism of it all
my music my words my paintings n now my blogs
dedicated to the marvellous in the mundane
finding the strangeness n charm on this plane
i dont believe in jehovah i dont believe in darwinian evolution
i dont believe in a one way scientific world
i dont believe its all for nothing either
i visit a healer
who 5 hundred years ago would have been burnt at the stake
she manipulates my chakras and tells me impossible things about myself
she works away on me without touching me "as if by magic"
healing the damage i have done to myself
occasionally she chuckles :
"sometimes i cant believe i'm doing it, myself"
my life has shown me karma in action
bad things come back
good things come back
inevitability is, well, inevitable
baby baby i was born to boogie sang marco boleyn
n fuck me he sure was
i reject the plausible sensible scientific christian explanations
i embrace the weird and wonderful meanings i feel n i sense
when i write music
it all flows to me
appearing in my mind fully formed
music is magic
yoga is magic
life is magic
i dream n i yearn for the inexplicable
i devote my life n my work to its exploration
i dunno what i'm doing but i know i'm meant to do it
i heartily recommend this book by jonathan black
if you like what i do
i know you'll love it
thanks rusty n amy
i'm thoroughly enjoying the read
abra fucking ca dabra !

a new clear power

dearly beloved and devoted readers
sunday morning here in sydney
i get up do my yoga
practice my chi gong
think things thru
its a lovely sunny morning
full of the future

gone fission

see ya in a little while

elegy

this sky's disguise
rain pissing on
the wild madman broken down on the other side of limbo
aimlessly going nowhere soon
deep sadness heavy burden
feeling olden and helpless finally
as someday we all must
gotta start my picture again
too much hurt in this
oh i never fucking foresaw it!

the roof rattles
the window shakes
i turn towards my music but its out to lunch
my paints sit there untouched
just the fucking internet whence all trouble comes
tempting screaming begging me to log on again
one more time
give it a shot sucker
write the saddest most heartbreaking thing you can muster
that might just make someone stop and listen
listen to the sound of of some horrible terrible future
almost upon us
now separated by the flimsiest luckiest chance now itself unravelling
some kid of thirteen sees some stupid singer on tv
hey he seems so familiar....
and the kid leans into the future and shouts
does it really all have to be this way?
ok then this is the brave new world now
and anything goes and then everything goes wrong
and then you fight wrong with wrong and you get more wrong back
and no one ever learns and
long after i'm pushing up dazes
the same old idiots going thru the same old thing
squabbling over THE FUCKING DECK CHAIRS ON THE TITANIC!!!!
whatever you reckon
insert yer own pointless example of futility here
all these words but none of them going thru
absent voice : you hurt me.....
i'm sorry
absent voice : you hurt me good
look i said i'm sorry!
absent voice : you bastard you hurt me!
look fuck it all I SAID I"M SORRY
absent voice : Dont you Shout at ME !
I"M NOT SHOUTING!!!!!!!
I"M NOT SHOUTING!!!!!!!!!!!???????
(the actor (its roy scheider( from all that jazz))
appeals to the darkened audience
AM I FUCKING SHOUTING??
AM I FUCKING SHOUTING!!!???
but the audience are already leaving the building
silently
erskine turns to conesuela who shot him right between the eyes
erskine : why .....
conesuela : i didnt think the gun was so loaded...
and the people in the cinema say
aw fuck! is this the bloody ending
and they want their money back
and erskine wants his money back too
but boo hoo hes fucked whichever way he turns
he tries to be understanding but this magician has
no control over his temper trap
his magic seems awfully thin
his eyes are quite unmesmerizing
fuck! he says
and ya gotta laugh
and ya gotta cry
and you gotta wonder why
and you gotta get over it and get by
made your bed
you oughta lie
a nice long sleepy sleep
you wake up
n yer outta prison n outta hospital n outta the rain
and outta the cold and outta the hurt
and outta the poison
that clear almost tasteless colourless poison
going straight for mens hearts
like a liquid spear
killing everyone at once

reboot

everything i thought i knew about myself is wrong
money flies out of my bank account
money evaporates as it sits in the drawer
money taken by the spirits
i am not clean
i am grimy
a dirty fighter who always loses in the end
something so fundamentally wrong with my picture
some instrument in my orchestra can never get in tune
some unseen error in my calculus fucks up the answer
you never saw someone so close
so fucking close to this
so fucking close to that
but in the end.....what?
a 2 byte singer
knocking out 4th form poetry
in a place wheres theres no school magazines anymore
weak and feeble and docile and grubby
i can do some yoga pose but inside im inflexible and snap....
look at me whinging on the internet
i guess you are
listen to me rave on about my inadequacies
my false modesty
too late to be fucking humble mate
i can sling a sentence together
i'm a real smart alec sander
i'm a clown at a funeral
a spare prostitute at a pricks wedding
i couldnt go a round in a revolving door
now youre confused
who are you sticking up for ....me?
you know deep down i am a ratbag
you almost like it when it suits you
a clever little ratbag but a ratbag nonetheless
flagellating my straps moaning down easy street
as i squander the $ i made from some useless behemoth
still with enough energy and time to discount my blessings tho
re read the liner notes to the soundtrack of yer lives then
have another look at the finite print
cop another high
cop another low
a new low
a whole brand new low
how low can ya go?
i still dunno

post

things are good
nice breeze
pool is a warm 19
working on my logic
be back with more stuff soon