All Through Talking

David Bentley  

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  There’s a bone of contention that’s been bothering me
  We keep talking in circles never able to agree
  We could argue here ‘til the cows come home
  Racking up bills riffing on the telephone
  But baby, baby I know that you know how
  So hush your mouth – I’m all through talking now

  You could talk underwater, you could talk through sand
  Talk to me in body language - that’s the talk I understand
  Mama sweet mama don’t you say a word
  (got the) the sweetest lips that anybody ever heard
  And baby, baby you’ve got words to burn
  So hush your mouth – all through talking now.

  In your own dimension you see things differently
  You bask in the sunshine, I prefer the might time scene
  I propose a solemn pact- a lot more love
  Less yacketty yak yak yak yak yak
  And baby, I know that you know how
  So hush your mouth – we’re all through talking now

  To me you’re poetry in motion - a book I can’t resist
  We rewrite the karma sutra every time we kiss
  Little by little we’ll negotiate
  The terms of love naturally communicate
  And baby, baby I know that you know how
  So hush your mouth – I’m all through talking now.

  LINER NOTES
  Here’s a hot shuffle about someone who talks too much. Great grooves from Greg Lyon (bass), Scott Hills (drums) and Jim Kelly (guitar)….not to mention some sassy vocals from Jo Jo Smith, Cheryl Black and Juanita Otene Wittika. That’s me on Hammond and piano. It was a hot shuffle because there was a heat wave outside - and the studio air conditioning chose that day to give up the ghost.

1

Refugee

David Bentley  

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  I’m a refugee, a refugee in my own land
  Yes I’m a refugee, a refugee in my own land
  When the stranger come with his charity and his gun
  He say he gonna save us from ourselves
  But in those days the rivers ran free
  And I was not a refugee
  A refugee in my own land

  You took away the children, stole the water and the land
  Raised up a mission built your fences and your dams
  Now I’m a refugee, a refugee in my own land
  That’s why I’m a refugee, a refugee in my own land

  And still you won’t say sorry because we were black and you were white
  Not a people, just a problem, out of mind and out of sight
  And sometimes I wonder how you sleep at night
  I guess God was on your side – and that’s what makes it right

  I’m a refugee, a refugee in my own land

  LINER NOTES
  I felt slightly apprehensive about performing this song - which is written to be sung in the first person by an Aborigine. I played it to an Aboriginal schoolteacher I happen to know and she said it made her cry. She understood straight away what it was about. You can taste the dust and the heat in Kirk Lorange’s guitar and the brass section - John Hoffman (tot), Ashley Lewis (tmb) and Mark Spencer (reeds) lifted the groove higher. Great drumming from Greg Shean, too

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Lie to Me

David Bentley  

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  Better lie to me baby when you whisper in my ear
  Tell me pretty stories/ you know the ones I like to hear

  My friends ‘bin talking/ they say I should clip your wings
  I see the game you’re playing/ darlin’, it don’t mean a thing

  You better lie to me baby (lie to me baby)
  Lie to me baby (lie to me baby)
  Lie to me baby – love me all night long.

  Keep on dancing/ I love your wily ways
  Love you so much/ Don’t give damn what people say

  Make me feel like a young man/ one day soon you’ll have it all
  Lie to me baby/ come here when i call

  You better lie to me baby (lie to me baby)
  Lie to me baby (lie to me baby)
  Lie to me baby – love me all night long.
  You better lie to me baby – love me all night long

  LINER NOTES
  Here’s a blues that slightly older men with a bimbo on one arm and money in the bank might relate to. I invoked a New Orleans rhumba to give this song propulsion. Lineup is Greg Lyon (bass), Scott Hills (drums), Kirk Lorange (guitar), Jo Jo Smith and Cheryl Black (backing vocals) and me on piano and lead vocals.

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Irretrievably Blue

David Bentley  

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  I’m in over my head, please take it as read
  I’m deep on the downside of blue
  Not a thing to be done, it’s an eclipse of the sun
  Since my heart went missing with you

  I put on a glad face, a smiling not sad face
  I mix with the usual crew
  But I’m feeling so down/ now that you’re not around
  Irretrievably blue

  So I take a drink or three and romance perfect strangers
  I’m the life of the scene, hip to all the changes
  Everything seems so passe
  There’s no warmth to the flame, no pleasure to the game

  And I watch this masquerade from a café at the crossroads
  The waiter clicks his heels, serves a bouillabaisse of sorrow
  The axis of life is askew – not a damn thing I can do
  Irretrievably blue

  I haunt the realm of night/ caress it like a lover
  Neon lights my way/I take comfort in its cover
  No happy ending in view
  Rain upon rain/ blue upon blue

  I blend in with the crowd/ laugh a little too loud
  Lose myself in gin and vermouth
  There’s no thrill to the chase; I’m just not in the race
  Irretrievably Blue

  LINER NOTES
  This is probably the standout track on the album…though it came close to being jettisoned. I’d recorded the track in a key too difficult to sing and had to start from scratch using just the drum track. Mark Spencer brought along his amazing collection of horns to the re-recording and delivered some wonderfully slurred sax lines. I was still without a real bass part, however, when I turned up to Steve Berry’s studio to find that Melbourne bass player Rodrigo Aravena had overnighted there. The track eventually entered Abc National’s playlist and was included on Airplay 8, a compilation disc of rare but worthy tracks .

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Soul Rites

David Bentley  

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  When I’m troubled and life holds so much pain
  You bring me comfort; raise me up again
  You’re the one that sees me through
  You’ve got faith in me, I believe in you

  You heal my heart, you soothe my soul
  You make me strong, you make me whole
  Every word you say rings true
  You’ve got faith in me, I believe in you

  I fell so deep, I fell so low
  No-one to turn to, nowhere to go
  Now the light is shining through
  You’ve got faith in me, I believe in you

  (I’ve got) soul rights to the gift of your love
  Soul rights – take the smooth with the rough
  Thank the good Lord in heaven above
  Hear me signifying to the gift of your love.

  LINER NOTES
  Maori singer Juanita Otene Wittika performs a duo with me on this gospel-tinged track. Juanita has a powerful voice and a strong presence. Band comprises Greg Lyon (bass), Scott Hills (drums), Jim Kelly (gtr), Mark Spencer (reeds) and me on keyboards and lead vocals.

5

Only Human

David Bentley  

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  Clinging to the wreckage of the dreams we left behind
  Tangled in the debris, drifting with the tide
  Pictures in an album, a face I half recall
  Life used to be so certain - only human after all

  Fragments of a poem, I knew it once complete
  The grey and sullen faces of strangers in the street
  Everybody needs a place to shelter from the storm
  I get so sentimental – I’m only human after all

  At night while you lay sleeping
  There’s a stillness in the air
  I hear your gentle breathing
  Smell the perfume that you wear
  And part of me is reaching our for the way it used to be
  God knows it can’t be easy to walk this road with me.

  Love is just a battleground and we’re deep behind the lines
  Hoping for redemption, seeking peace of mind
  When the sky comes down you’re still the one I call
  Call me sentimental - I’m only human after all

  LINER NOTES
  Some people rate this song as the best on the album. It features Rodrigo Aravena on bass.

6

Passport To The Blues

David Bentley  

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  Seen a lot of smoky skies, I’ve seen the molten rain
  Walked in desert country that won’t ever bloom again
  Dogs of war are howling, changes coming through
  On a one-way ticket - a passport to the blues

  Seen a lot of burned-out tanks, I’ve seen the rivers boil
  Burghers in their business suits talking up the oil
  That soldier in the body bag could be me or you
  On a one way ticket - a passport to the blues

  The tyrant wears a snappy tie, tells neatly tailored lies
  Venom in his honeyed words, evil in his eyes
  The widow draws a veil of grief as he tightens up the screws
  On a one-way ticket - a passport to the blues

  Up the Irrawaddy in the streets of Mandalay
  Women smoke cheroots, the men sit round all day
  And no-one says a word about the generals in Rangoon
  That’s a one-way ticket - a passport to the blues

  New York 9/11, the slaughter in Iraq
  On and on it goes: reprisal and attack
  Chechnya and the Russians; the Arabs and the Jews
  On a one-way ticket - a passport to the blues

  You’d think we learned our lesson back in 1945
  Can’t push people round, tell them how to lead their lives
  Do we really need a sequel to world wars one and two?
  Destination nowhere: a passport to the blues

  LINER NOTES
  This song was recorded in 2005. As a commentary on the middle east situation, it still holds true. Mark Spencer delivers impassioned rhythm n blues sax and Jim Kelly delivers a quirky post script. Greg Lyon on bass, Scott Hills on drums and Yours Truly on keyboards complete the lineup.

7

Chiang Rai Hilton

David Bentley  

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  Address my mail to the chang rai hilton, I’ll be here for a little while
  I may be busted but I ain’t broken, doing justice Asian style

  If I had wings like an angel above these prison walls I would fly
  And these days of pain and sorrow would be clouds a’passing by

  When time has lost all meaning and there is no night or day
  I hope my friends back home in brisbane think of me so far away

  Good times and easy money have proved the ruin of me
  Now I wait the final curtain that will set my spirit free

  Don’t ring hard on the golden triangle, don’t ring hard that golden bell
  For the chimes that bring such pleasure hold the key to this prison hell

  LINER NOTES
  Inspiration for this song came during a visit to Thailand. Apparently the jail population in Chiang Rai included a number of Australians who’d been dobbed by Tuk Tuk drivers seeking to curry favour with the local police. Again, I’ve given it the ‘Nawlins treatment, aided and abetted by Kirk Lorange’s guitar playing.

8

Two Steps Back

David Bentley  

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  It’s a heartache and that’s a fact/Two steps forward three steps back
  Fly too high - wings might snap/Two steps forward three steps back

  Working stiff earning day by day/Tax man come to steal it away
  Do the dance or you lose the knack/Two steps forward three steps back

  Oh Lord it’s a heartache/No matter how it spins/The dealer always wins

  Like a marionette in a puppet show/Can’t say yes, can’t say no
  Bite your lip, hide your tracks/Two steps forward three steps back

  If Mr Big says day is night/It might just be that black has turned white
  Always somebody to take the rap/Two steps forward three steps back

  No matter how it spins/The dealer always wins

  If Mr Big says your time has come/Pack your kit, start to run
  Keep on moving, don’t look back/Two steps forward/ three steps back

  Life is one big greasy pole/Slip and slide until you grow old
  Watch your step, don’t spring the trap/Two steps forward, three steps back

  LINER NOTES
  Greg Lyon delivers a powerful bass riff on this track which also features Paul Hudson on drums.

9

Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy

Mose Allison  

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  Can’t believe some things I’m seeing/ can’t believe some things I’ve heard
  Everybody cryin’ mercy when they don’t know the meaning of the word

  A bad enough situation / is sure ‘nuff getting worse
  Everybody cryin’ justice just as long as there’s business first

  Straight ahead/ knock ‘em dead/ drop that bomb/blow’em all to kingdom come

  You don’t have to be on off-Broadway to see something plain absurd
  Everybody cryin’ mercy when they don’t know the meaning of the word

  People running’ round in circles/ don’t where they’re headed for
  Everybody’s cryin’ mercy when they don’t know the meaning of the word

  LINER NOTES
  This is the only song I didn’t write on the album - but I wish I had! Mose Allison uses his Southern drawl to good advantage when he does this one. I opted for a hip hop version. Mark Spencer takes out the song….and the album…with a romping sax solo.

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