When I worked for Camelot Music we had these yearly conventions, the highlight of which was Vendor Day, when all of the record labels, big and small, would set up booths and give all of us all kinds of swag. At one of the conventions (God only knows which), I got a promo cassette featuring this week's artist, and at some point, looking for something new to listen to, gave it a try. Which led to my falling in love with this week's tune, and then after a few years, forgetting about it until I was doing a thorough spring cleaning during the pandemic and came across the aforementioned cassette. Brought back some really good memories of a really good tune....
Every now and again when doing my half-assed research for each week's post, I learn about an artist that was a one off for me who turns out to have had quite the career unaware to me. To say that Paul Kelly is the Australian equivalent of Bob Dylan in America really wouldn't be that much of a stretch (other than to say that, near as I can tell, Kelly hasn't sold out in his later years). Though Kelly hasn't had much commercial success outside of his homeland, he is quite respected as a songwriter and artist by music critics around the world. Kelly has often tackled social issues indigenous to Australia, toured the world numerous times, and lent his talents to a number of performers. He has won seventeen ARIA Awards (Australia's equivalent of our Grammy) and has been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Since his career began in 1974 (at the all too young age of 19), Kelly has released 28 studio albums (with eight making Australia's top ten and three going to number one), and sixty-six singles. Kelly has two songs and two albums listed on Australia's best albums/songs of all-time.
Fun Fact: As I was doing my half-assed research, I noticed that this week's album was listed as being by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls (a great take off of Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side"), but I distinctly remembered the album as being by Paul Kelly and the Messengers. Turns out I was correct--Kelly used the name the Messengers for North America for fear that his backing band's name original name would be seen as racist.
"To Her Door" was the first single released from Kelly's 1987 album Under the Sun. The song reached #14 and the album #19 on the Australian charts (no info as to its charting here in the States). "To Her Door" was rated as one of the thirty best Australian songs of all-time.
"To Her Door" tells the tale of a young couple whose marriage collapses under the strain of the husband losing his job and developing a drinking problem, and his journey on a bus back to see her and their kids after he cleans up in rehab. Kelly opts for neither a happy nor a sad ending--he leaves us with the man, "shaking in his seat", as the bus takes him "to her door." The song is three minutes and twenty-seven seconds of Kelly giving a master class in storytelling and delivering vocals oozing with humanity. The band (wonderful piano to open, two Johnny Cash-esque guitar solos) combines to deliver a sound that encompasses all the fear, anticipation, and hope of a desired, but by no means certain, reunion. In the end, if you wanted to explain to an alien what poignant meant, you could merely play him this song. Brilliance.
Lyric Sheet: "He came in on a Sunday, every muscle aching/Walking in slow motion like he'd just been hit/Did they have a future? Would he know his children?/Could he make a picture and get them all to fit..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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