Paul Kelly

FHM, February 1999
By Diane Godley

Is it true that you get embarrassed when you hear one of your songs playing over a shop PA?
Yeah, I do. There have been times when I've blushed. I had to walk out of a book store in Acland Street (St Kilda) just the other day. It got worse when the Greatest Hits record came out last year. That has some really old songs on it - and it was being played a lot.

How long will it take you before your latest album Words And Music embarrasses you?
Six months, a year. Hopefully it will take a bit longer. It's like the ship that sails away from you. When you hear it again much later, it sounds really distant. I love great singers and I know I'm not in that category. I don't really like the sound of my voice much. A great singer can sing, "Baby, I love you" in a certain way and it can be great. I can never do that so I have to find another way. My words have to be good because I'm not a great singer.

Nick cave also admits he's not a good singer...
He's not a good singer. He's a great performer. But I'm a better singer than Nick Cave. I do sing in tune.

You've written quite a few songs about beer in your long career...
I know, and I'm getting a bit worried about that. I just looked back on some of my old songs and without ever being conscious of it, there is always some line about a guy in a bar... What was the question again?

Are you a bar fly?
I'm not a big drinker. When I was younger I was, but I don't spend a lot of time in bars. I mean, it's something I do for work. I don't spend a lot of time in bars socially, but I'm in bars a lot because I play in bars.

You often use snippets of conversation when writing lyrics. Did any of the songs from Words and Music come from eavesdropped conversation?
First of all, "eavesdropped" is too strong a word. I've always thought songwriting was just a matter of keeping your ears open. The songs I write are conversational. The song Nothing On My Mind was a song that was written from accumulated snippets of the way people talk in bars. I pictured this guy ranting, "Rip a scab off a cold, little vicious one." I've always wanted to get that into a song. The opening track, Little Kings, came from a conversation I was having with Rebecca Barnard from Rebecca's Empire. She said something about the "little king". And I thought, who are the little kings? Johnny Howard, Jeff Kennett and Kerry Packer are little kings - although Kerry Packer's a bit big to be a little king! the first line of that song is, I'm afraid for my country". It's true, I am afraid, but I'm hopeful as well.

In the song Melting, you sing about some kids smoking bark. did you and your brothers indulge in a bit of tree bark when you were kids?
I don't actually remember smoking bark, but I must have. It feels like a memory. I remember going camping with my brothers in Adelaide Hills a couple of miles from where we live. See, that's why I became a writer: to document life. I have a shocking memory. I wanted to write songs so that life didn't pass by like water through a net. Writing is like putting a bit of a net out. I hate the way I forget. I can remember smoking my first pot, though. It was in Darwin in 1972 on Lameroo Beach and getting pretty freaked out.

Are you a loyal AFL supporter, or are you a bit of a football prostitute?
I've had a tragically-confused 20 years. It's a long story. I grew up in Adelaide, so my grandfather and my father all barracked for Norwood. I grew up in a family that all barracked for one club. I moved to Melbourne in 1976 and thought about what team to barrack for, the without even choosing it really, I was drawn to Melbourne. They were called the Demons, which was Norwood's name, and they were red and blue. Same as Norwood's colours. so I followed Melbourne. Then when Adelaide joined [the league], I was sort of split. I didn't know whether to barrack for Melbourne or Adelaide. So, I didn't really barrack for either. But when Adelaide got in the grand final last year, I kind of jumped on the bandwagon.

How old were you when you were taken to your first footy match?
I think I was seven. I can remember the headlines, the whole town was talking about the "Redlegs", which is the other name for Norwood. And that was 1962.

What sort of impact did your father dying when you were 12 have on the family?
That's probably one thing you could observe about me. As a child I was a bit oblivious to things. My older brother tended to fight most of the battles: smoking pot, long hair, Vietnam. My father died in '68 and the next year my brother went to uni. suddenly he was coming home with his friends and disappearing into the bedroom. We would hear this strange music - early Pink Floyd albums - and a strange smell coming out of his room. That time was very hard for my mother. She didn't quite know how to handle him. He went on a hunger strike for a week over the Vietnam War. But it wasn't his political priorities that worried my mother so much, it had more to do with him having long hair.

Were you a bit of a daydreamer at school?
No, not at school. I did well at school.

Did your mum have hopes of you becoming a lawyer or something?
Definitely going to university. I was dux of the school. I was expected to go to university. I took a year off to go and see the world. I travelled with a friend to Darwin - that's when we smoked our first pot - then Queensland and Western Australia. I went back to uni the following year, but only lasted one term and quit. That was a big deal. We were always brought up to use our talents. We were always told that we were very gifted and smart, so we were. So, not to go on at university was considered to be throwing away your gifts.

What was your first job?
When I left school I started working on the Indian Pacific from Port Pirie to Kalgoorlie as silver boy. One of my jobs was to polish the silver. There were three meal sittings a day and it was my job to wash the knives and forks. They were very particular about it. I had to hand-dry them and make sure they didn't go back with streaks.

Since you were raised as a Catholic, were you ever a member of the church choir?
No, but I was an altar boy. And I played the trumpet in the school orchestra.

There have been quite a few scandals involving men of the clergy recently, have you heard undesirable stories about your parish priest?
I was talking about this to my older brother recently. There definitely was a brother at school that everyone knew was a bit dodgy. But I never heard any specific stories until much later. My brother said, "You know the So-and-Sos, they all had problems with that brother." But we never got it. No brother ever tired to fondle me. The thing about the Christian Brothers was that some of them joined the order at the age of 14. They finished school and went straight into the Christian Brothers. So they lived very sheltered lives. I do remember being told to sleep like this (crossing his arms over his chest) so your hands wouldn't wander.

Shane Warne packs his own food when on tour. Do you, as an ex-school-cricket captain, do you pack tins of baked beans when abroad?
Ha! No. I just take the usual stuff. Vegemite and Panadol.

Are you guilty of playing air guitar?
Yes. I used to play it on the tennis racquet. Is that the same? I've definitely played some tennis racquet guitar. I still do it now sometimes. I haven't written a song on it yet. Tennis racquets are very nice to pretend to play on guitar now.