One Million Years DC digital album by Dave Graney and Clare Moore out now

pic Barry Douglas 

How good a songwriter do I think I am? Probably better to ask me how poor I think most other peoples ideas of what a song can be are. And by that I mean people who talk about music and people who think they write and play it. (I used the word "poor" as a starting point there)


Songwriters I admire? Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Milton Walsh, Greg Walker, August Darnell, Paul Westerberg, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Matt Walker, Scott Walker, Nick Drake, Bobbie Gentry, Jodi Phillis, Lisa Salvo, Malcolm Hill, Jonathan Bree, Lawrence Arabia, Sylvia Robinson, Judee Sill, Carly Simon, Alex Chilton, Jim James, Bill Callahan, Bonnie Prince Billy, Mick Jagger and Keith Richard, Roy Wood, Ike Turner, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Burning Spear, Lee Hazlewood ....... AND A FEW -  QUITE A FEW- MORE......

 Anyway, we have kept a very high standard of song crafting, summoning, conjuring, teasing and construction since 1987 or so.  The Post Moodists period. Well, the last EPs by the Moodists - the David McClymont period- had a more intense focus on song writing. Before that it was more unconscious. Thug life. Started out bawling, ended up balling.
I really love all the songs we've put out. All the albums. A really consistent standard. Few other people have matched it. There, I said something almost qualitative.

ONE MILLION YEARS DC is a pretty high water mark though.  It follows ZIPPA DEEDOO WHAT IS/WAS THAT/THIS? Some of the songs were finished before most of those tracks. I just thought they'd hang together better in their own set. That album was about the mistLY playing songs for the most part. This one is all Clare and myslef and it's about the songs. It follows from Lets Get Tight in that way, though there are more live drums and bass on this one.




You can get the album at Apple Music here. 

He Was A Sore Winner

“it was a thing/ a real thing/ they gathered in mobs/ they gathered together to howl/ the sore winners…”

How many recent political players have tapped into popular feelings of bitterness in the community? Jealousy and envy. Fears that “others” are getting a “free ride”. Uneasy chords over a swinging beat.
Kind of Kinksy. The chords in the chorus have an A#major seventh and I drop the bottom note to A and hold the shape to A#. Then do the same with Fmajor7th.

he was a sore winner he was a sore winner
it was a thing  

a real thing
they gathered in mobs 

they gathered together to howl
the sore winners

they were the real people
the forgotten ones
he was their boy
their man I mean
oh yes a man
he was big on that
the sore winner

they had everything that you could want
but they heard whispers
about other people who got stuff
too, too easily
they turned to the sore winner
they heard the sore winner
he spoke for them
he said
“I got this…”

he was a sore winner
he was a sore winner

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass.
Clare Moore - drums, keys, vocals.
Shane Reilly, pedal steel. 

Hell Is You, Babe 

“you got to tell me what I look like/ How are my shoes babe? How is my breath?”

Slide guitar over a slack key tuning (G Major seventh). Lyric is about a hot, intense personal relationship. Using language inspired by Jean Paul Sartres “No Exit” where the protaganists are in hell and there are no mirrors and they have to ask each other what they look like and who they are. (This play inspired the phrase “hell is other people”).
I don't really think this song has a beginning point or an end pony though. Its not about anything. More of an erotic play on long felt intimacy.
I made a Spotify playlist for this song.

Hell is you, babe
c’mon over here
and give me a taste of whatever you feel like givin’ me
throw me a bone
finish me off babe
tell me what I did and what I do
hell is you, babe
I got no reflection
you got to tell me how I am
you got to tell me what I look like
how are my shoes? babe
How is my breath? babe!

hell is you, babe
O beast!
machine!
unfeeling presence!
unseeing eye!
octopi
lets gild the lily
I’m burnin up with your eye
you never look at me no more!

you know all about me
I cant do anything to change
to be new in your eyes
I’m at the mouth, the hellmouth
I don’t care
oh its dark and hot
we don’t know much and we’re cool with that

hell is you, babe
it’s wherever you are
that’s where I wanna be
hell is you, babe
burnin’ in your reflection
it’s the only one I’ve got

hell is you, babe
hell is you!

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, rhythm machine beat, bass.
Clare Moore - vibes, vocals. 

 

Pop Ruins

“look at that beautiful song/ lyin’ there in the sand/ busted/ hey where did that sand come from? Must’ve been with the song…”

For this song, I was thinking of the ending of a sci fi movie like Planet Of The Apes where a person encounters the ruins of a great civilization. I was thinking that has been a lot of my experience working in music. It’s so much like wandering around in a wasteland with ghostly transistors half buried in the sand, still playing an old monster hit.
I made a spotify playlist of the pop references in this tune.

Oh look at that beautiful song
lyin’ there in the sand
hey, where did that sand come from?
must’ve come in with the song
Pop Ruins

I love this song!
Hey, you know, we built this song
this song in the sand
Pop Ruins

Edith Grove
Powys Square
56 Hope Road
Petrie Terrace

This Brokedown Palace
on Shakedown Street
this Family Dog
we listened from a window in the Mars Hotel
there’s a Marquee Moon as well
busted
absolutely wrecked
Pop Ruins

The Roxy
The Odeon
Apollo
Palais
Olympia
The Whiskey
Detroit Grande

yeah I felt bad for places and times that were never mine
Brooklyn 79
back in the day, back in the day
the Zen Arcade
arcady
arcadium
with the Jimmy Castor Bunch
Pop Ruins

yeah
I love this song

credits

Dave Graney - vocals, guitars.

Clare Moore - vibes, bass xylophone, backing vocals
Stu Thomas - backing vocals

 

56 Hope Road, Jamaica. Bob Marleys home.

Powis Square, Chelsea - home of Turner in Nic Roegs film, PERFORMANCE.

I'm Not Just Any Nobody

“I’ve got words! I can describe my rooms/ I know the limitations of my moment…”
It’s hard to be humble. I goofed around on some new chord inversions and when recording, lucked onto a “ghost bass” sound.

I’m not just any nobody
I’d have you know
if you could hear me
I’ve got words
I can describe my rooms
I know the limitations of my moment
I’ve got ideas
I’ve got ideas about my station
I’m not just any nobody
I’d have you know
if you could hear me

I’m not every nobody
they’re not in me
nobody knows nobodies like nobody knows no no nobodys know nobodies no
it’s the celebrated ones that fascinate like nobodies business
I wouldn’t say I’m the nobody’s nobody but
if you could find a way to drop that into a conversation
could ya?
I’m not just any nobody
I’d have you know
if you could hear me

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass, keys.
Clare Moore - drums, vocals.
Shane Reilly, pedal steel.
Stu Thomas - backing vocals

Comrade of pop

“Comrade of pop/ FKOP/ former king of pop/ ironic ‘uh?”

The opposite of King Of Pop. Two verses address Iggy Pop, Jim Morrison who have been my comrades of pop. All the mythical stories, “cincinatti pop-peanut butter” and “miami Jim – Sagittarius bullshit”. Lots of pop culture phrases like “make the scene/kill the Dean” which was from an episode of Get Smart. "Gabba Gabba hey- we accept you" from the 1932 movie FREAKS by Tood Browning.

I made a Spotify Playlist of references in this song.

FKOP
Former King Of Pop
ironic? unnhh
Iggy Pop
Cincinatti pop
peanut butter
Radio Birdman up above
yeah, hup
Gabba Gabba Hey
we accept you
one of us
Comrade Of Pop

no time for talk of kings and queens
got to make the scene
got to kill the Dean
Gabba Gabba Hey
we accept you
one of us
Comrade Of Pop

Miami Jim
Sagittarius – bullshit
got to get your kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames
Gabba Gabba Hey
we accept you
one of us
Comrade Of Pop

a spectre walks the earth
comrade of pop
Gabba Gabba Hey
we accept you
one of us
Comrade Of Pop

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass, keys, rhythm machine beat.
Shane Reilly - pedal steel 

Where Did All the Freaks Go?

“where’s our green light? wheres’ our Kings Cross? where’s our Soho? “

Just occasionally have the feeling the world is very straight and no place for freaks. Especially when some kind of “freakiness” is all around the place. (See tattoos and piercings etc). The bvs are mostly Clare Moore, with some texture from harry and Edwina. I was very happy with my guitar solo.

when the going can’t get weird
and the weird can’t get going
when the going is only weird
and the weird can’t get going
where did all the freaks go?
huh?
how straight are weddings?
they must be in a church
though nobody knows a church
it must be right
anything else would be just weird
when the going can’t get weird
and the weird can’t get going
when the going is only weird
and the weird can’t get going
where did all the freaks go?
huh?
where’s our green light?
where’s our Kings Cross?
where’s our Soho?
what’s our sound?
how can we tell what’s happening?

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass,
Clare Moore - keys, vibes, marimba, vocals.
Extra backing vocals Harry Howard and Edwina Preston 

You’ve Been In My Mind

“you got access/ Triple AAA/ You know my ways/ my passwords…”

We released an album of this name in 2012. Its always a big thing for a rock artist to reference an earlier release on a later album. This is me having that moment. Robin Casinader who played with us in the Coral Snakes for ten years flew in some some amazing mellotron.

Lyrically it chimes in with Finally I Come Clean. Thinking about being exposed to the elements for so many years, pouring my voice and words out. Never really been confessional as a writer but you don't know what people will hear.

you’ve been in my mind
person
where is my Id?
where is my super-ego?
you’ve got access
Triple AAA
you know my ways
my passwords
you’ve got clearance
you’ve been in my mind
person
you’ve been in my mind
you’ve read it and heard it all
you’ve been to places I never want to know

you’ve been in my mind
person

where is my north?
my south?
east or west?
where is my evening star
where is my donk?
my badonk-a-donk?
you’ve been in my mind

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars.
Clare Moore, vibes, percussion.
Robin Casinader – mellotron 

Answering Machine 

“Once I had an answering machine though I never asked it a question..”

This wrote itself. Like a machine tooled it! In some ways inspired by William Burroughs talk of inventing a “wishing machine”. Back in the days when we could be just a little but available and also unavailable. People knew each other better. The chords were irregular in their number but it sounded great when all the cassette noises were thrown in. (Thanks to Matt Dower from Sizzletown for sending them through. Though only three!)

Once I had an answering machine
though I never asked it a question
it wasn’t for me
I suppose I could’ve called it myself but those were more serious times
things were simpler
everybody had one
they were filters
extensions
others threw them up as screens
force-fields
that’s how simple things were
you were in
you were out
you were how or away
people knew you
you knew how people knew you
if you weren’t around they could leave a message on your answering machine
don’t you wish you had an answering machine?
it never got smart
it never got any smarter
it didn’t answer back
it just answered
people had no reason not to believe that you weren’t really there
that you were sittin’ there listenin’ in real time
“hello, you have called Blah, Blah and Blah
we ain’t here right now
leave a message after the beep and we might get back to ya
hah!”
Once I had an answering machine though I never asked it a question
don’t you wish
don’t you wish you had an answering machine?

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass, sound effects, rhythm machine beat.
Clare Moore – ride cymbal, tom-tom brushes, tambourine. 

You Can’t Have Your Boogie 

“is the world so small that people like YOU can grab it? No! You can’t have your boogie and boogie too!”

I started writing songs for my guitar with a slide and open G tuning. The lyric concerns people who see themselves curators or “creative” when they are just barkeepers. I find “rock theme” bars to be really dopey. More Pop Ruins…
The title came from some old schoolyard joke I was sure I heard Conway Savage say one day. 'You can't have yer boogie and eat it too" . Though every conversation with Conway was full of half heard mutterings and jokes as he expectorated and honked the words from out of his thin body and face. RIP.
I made a Spotify playlist so you could actually have some boogie - if you'd care to.

you can’t have your boogie
and boogie too
you can’t re-pop a cherry
just your cork now
all you curators out there
all you curators nowhere
phony rock’n’roll clubs
guys collectin dogtags
cosplay cos
curators over here
is the world so small that people like you can grab it?
No!
you can’t have your boogie
and boogie too

you’re a bad shopkeeper
a sad barkeep
got your bar in the street with the gunslingers
we got the tales to tell
you can’t have your boogie
and boogie too
dunno thyself
I dunno
dunno thyself
barkeep!
what’s with the make up?
shave off that beard
so many brands in one face!
you can’t be iconical and be iconic too
you can’t have your boogie
and boogie too
woah!
you can’t have your boogie
and boogie too

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass, rhythm machine beat, keys.
Clare Moore, percussion, vibes, marimba. 

Finally I Come Clean 

“I was at the mic so long / losing my head / but I never squealed / how would you be?”

Of course I never squealed but standing there singing for so long, I must have betrayed myself at some point. When you're singing or playing you're wide open to the world. Mostly I like to stay pretty buttoned up.

I was at the mic so long
losin’ my head
I sung like a bird
but I never squealed
how would you be?
In the afterlife
in the words in peoples minds
how would you be?
finally I come clean
and I’m dirty
I got drunk in your eyes
and let you crawl all over me
don’t tape me up
when I’m winding down
when I won’t know what I’m sayin’
and I’m ridin’ in my wits
how would you be?
what if I come clean?
and I’m dirty

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, bass, keys.

Old Friends 

“old friends/ old busted couches and dead lawns/ I walked out of the room for a decade and blinked/ old friends…”

I wanted to write a song that was a little bit Samuel Beckett and a little bit Merle Haggard and this is it. Lots of tension in the chords but a simple conversational vocal. No bass, just lots of guitars. Amazing backing vocals by our friends Will Hindmarsh and Emily Jarrett from Go Go Sapien.
There's no bass and it gives  alot of room for teh vocal and th acoustic guitars. I thought it sounded like the Who when they did acoustic tracks like Magic Bus.

old friends and the way they lay their heavy hands on ya
bony hugs
when they drop down
like birds
of prey
whatever
grey
old friends
they know you for so long
no no no no
you hear a familiar song and groan
you go back to the hits
you play the standards
the classics
old friends
re-creatin’ the scenes again
they were finished when I met them
that was very attractive
compelling
they’ve been over forever
there’s been no boom
no bust
old friends
there’s a wreck on the lawn
the gate is broke
there’s a wreck on the couch
lookin for coins
old friends
old busted couches and dead lawns
I walked out of the room for a decade and blinked
old friends
they were over early
closed off
gated
it was great
old friends
smilin’ skulls
lampshades covered in human skin
shocking
teeth like
what can you say?
fuckin’
fuckin’ like cadavers
what?
like fuckin’ cadavers
so many ways to say it
old friends
hello
don’t take this bad
just got the horrors
old friends

credits

Dave Graney – vocals, guitars, keys.
Clare Moore, percussion.
Will Hindmarsh and Emily Jarrett, backing vocals.

2019 shows 

October 24th Dave Graney and Clare Moore will be playing with the mistLY at THE JAZZ LAB - 27 Leslie St, Brunswick
Melbourne. 

October 25th and 26th Dave Graney and Clare Moore will be appearing at the JUNK BAR in ASHGROVE, BRISBANE. (Nights mostly full but tickets remain for the Afternoon show on the Saturday)

November 15th Dave Graney at the Music Lounge, Merrigong theatre Company, WOLLONGONG.

November 16th Dave Graney and Clare Moore at SOUNDS DELICIOUS in HUSKISSON, NSW. 

November 17th - Dave Graney solo at Gasoline Pony, Marrickville, NSW. 

Thursday November 21st - Dave Graney and Clare Moore at DUSTY ATTIC MUSIC LOUNGE in Lismore, NSW

Friday Nov 22nd - The Dust Temple, Currumbin

Saturday Nov 23rd - Pelican Playhouse, Grafton NSW. 

Thursday November 28th Dave Graney and the mistLY at Birds Basement jazz club in Melbourne.