Australian Indie Lyric Quiz - Answers.

[reddragdiva]

At long fucking last.

1. "It is neither fair nor reasonable to expect sadness to confine itself to its causes. Like a river in flood, when it subsides and the drowned bodies of animals have been deposited in the treetops, there is another kind of damage that takes place beyond the torrent."

   The Go-Betweens, "River Of Money", from Spring Hill Fair (1983). The spoken-word album track that got as much radio play as the singles. Anyone who's heard it should have picked it straight away.

2. "I'm not an elephant/Or a kangaroo"

   The Sunnyboys, "Comes As No Surprise", from Get Some Fun (1984). A prize-winning silly lyric.

3. "For sixteen years you've been hanging around/Trying to bury me in a hole in the ground"

   Lime Spiders, "Slave Girl" (1983) - a single that would have sold a zillion copies had it been on a major. An Australian rock classic. Now available on the Nine Miles High compilation.

4. "You've gotta make up your mind/She's grooving everything you see"

   Spikes, "She's Melting" (1983) - thrown in especially for Barbara.

5. "My heart rips open 'cause you're my all/Staring at my blank white wall/The old clock is getting heavy-handed/Waiting for a plane that never landed"

   Radio Birdman, "What Gives?" (1978), from Radios Appear (Overseas Version).

6. "Drifters and dreamers in the pit of my heart/Dragging me deep down to their warning"

   Died Pretty, "Godbless", from Doughboy Hollow (1991) - '90s major hit for '80s indie rock band. You missed this one?

7. "Don't give me back that/It was a corner way back/I saw it/You took it/It turned"

   The Moodists, "Runaway", from Thirsty's Calling (1984) - Dave Graney when no-one could have imagined him as a lounge lizard. Currently available on the new Moodists compilation, Two Fisted Art.

8. "I stand by the fire/I stand by the fire/While a solid gold guitar swings a heart throb of carnal desire"

   Or "solo guitar". Scientists, "Solid Gold Hell", from This Heart Doesn't Run On Blood (1984), currently available on The Human Jukebox '84-'87. I gave you the title!

9. "Just because I watch Dinah Shore/Doesn't mean I need a facelift"

   The Victims, "Television Addict" (1977) - Dave Faulkner's contribution to the history of Australian punk rock. Missing this one would have me wondering what they're teaching young rocknerds in school these days.

10. "My house is a mess. My head is a mess. My bedroom is disgusting, my mind is obscene."

    I Spit On Your Gravy, "Alright Peter", from St. Kilda's Alright! (1985) - just rereleased on CD, God help us. You had to have heard the record, but if you have then you have no excuse. The lines after this are (from memory): "The cat shat on my doona, Dave Dog's dog rolled in it. Lost my dole cheque, some Sydney cunt stole my drums." "How's it going?" "Alright ... got twenty cents?"

Prizewinners are Barbara and (on aus.culture.gothic) Sandro. The questions are here if you still want to have a go.

Essential Australian indie rock purchases: Various Artists: Do The Pop! (Shock), Various Artists: Born Out Of Time (Raven) and Various Artists: Tales From The Australian Underground (Feel Presents). All run at least half brilliant.

A rant about "eighties nostalgia", that I posted to a.c.g a couple of years ago:

You people are all sick and wrong.

Australian indie rock
Australian indie rock taking over Europe
People going to see bands in pubs
Readable and informative fanzines
More vinyl records than you could bloody imagine
That post-punk thing whose fans wear a lot of black (before it had a name)
Hardcore punk and its fans
Some of hardcore punk's fans turning it into music
The stuff later marketed as 'grunge' when it was the cutting edge of
    rock'n'roll
The Triffids
A million Perth bands sounding just like the Triffids while denying any
    such thing
Suits, pointy shoes and BASS GUITARS!

THAT is the fucking eighties. You sick little MONKEYS.

And Barbara's response rant. "I never owned a Cabbage Patch Doll, or a Transformer, or a Garbage Pail Kid, or a sodding Care Bear ... The Eighties I grew up in was full of wondrous bands, excellent basslines, lots of black clothes, pointy-toed boots, spiky hair, experimentation and being called a freak on an alarmingly regular basis."

A few minutes of SNOW!!! over Knightsbridge. Of course, it all melted the moment it hit the ground. But still!

Comments

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

SNOW!!!

We had a brief teasing spatter here as well... only served to make the ground damp. Fneh.

[redcountess]

You enticed Barbara to visit LJ? \0/ (Actually, I thought for a moment it was the other Barbara).

[reddragdiva]

Which one? Ms .45, I presume. I seem to collect them ...

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Apropos of nothing you've posted here...I created undergroundgoth, so feel free to toddle along and join up! ;-)

[reddragdiva]

I shudder to think what the Evil Cow-Orker will make of that ...

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Hence the disclaimer in the userinfo - plus I doubt she reads uk_goffs. If need be, I can always set it up so one of my "secret" LJs is the maintainer...but I don't think it'll be a problem. Especially as she's now being investigated on harassment claims...not by me, but someone else she's managed to upset!

[trayce.livejournal.com]

God dammit, how could I have missed the Died Pretty song? I shall duly flagellate myself at once (why does that sound dirty? heh).

[(Anonymous)]

You enticed Barbara to visit LJ? \0/

I visit various peoples' journals on a semi-regular basis. Easiest way to keep up to date with some people, I guess.

I'm not going to be getting one myself or anything silly like that, though. :)

l,
b.