Essay by Luke Foster
“It took me a long time, but I don’t feel as anxious about stupid things anymore – or perhaps they’ve just been replaced by more complicated stupid things.” Neil Finn
Neil Finn was member of the band Crowded House formed in 1985.
I used to just like listening to the ocean while doing my two hours daily morning beach walk but now I wear a carry pouch around my neck with my iPhone and listen to music. It used to be Sinead O’Connor and Björk and Jessica Mauboy and now it’s the Aussie band Crowded House. The song that speaks to me most of all is Everywhere You Go You Take the Weather. The lyrics go:
“Walking ’round the room singing “Stormy Weather”
At 57 Mount Pleasant Street
Well it’s the same room, but everything’s different
You can fight the sleep, but not the dream
Things ain’t cookin’ in my kitchen
Strange affliction, wash over me
Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire
Couldn’t conquer the blue sky
Well, there’s a small boat made of china
It’s going nowhere on the mantlepiece
Well, do I lie like a loungeroom lizard
Or do I sing like a bird released?
Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you
Everywhere you go, always take the weather
Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you
Everywhere you go, always take the weather, the weather with you”
I am not sure why I like the song so much as its very simple and a mish mash of ideas. Two weeks ago, in Rome I was catching a taxi to see an exhibition at a contemporary art museum; a Bob Dylan retrospective and the song came on in the taxi on the radio and there was a amazing juxtaposition of the ancient buildings of Rome passing by along with the melody of the song and layered lyrics.
While I was writing this essay and reviewing the lyrics these two lines stand out about my time in Rome hearing this song: Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire
Couldn’t conquer the blue sky.
It was interesting going to a Bob Dylan retrospective in Rome as I didn’t realise that he could paint as well as he writes and perform iconic songs like Blowin in the Wind and Times are a Changing.
Dylan is like Crowded House in the fact that they both penned and performed amazing songs that spoke to a generation.
“I change during the course of a day. I wake and I’m one person, and when I go to sleep I know for certain I’m somebody else.” Bob Dylan
Sometimes I wish my creative outlet was as a song writer and musician like Bob Dylan, Crowded House, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Kurt Cobain from Nirvana but my lot in life is to be a visual artist and writer. However, it’s the waste of the person you are always wanting to be someone else. I stole this line from Kurt who said:
“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
Kurt Cobain
For decades I always wished I could be like Nick Cave and in my comix zines imitated his style.
“At the end, we’re kind of observers – creative people, I mean. I feel like an observer, and I’m pretty much able to step out of things and see how things are playing out. “Nick Cave
Crowded house album cover
Bob Dylan
Me at the Big Ci studio residency sketchbook in hand
Kurt Cobain lead singer from the band Nirvana who sadly died age 27