PAUL KELLY DOES TIME

Considered by many to be Australia’s musical poet laureate, Paul Kelly has written enough songs to fill a book*. Time, first released in May 2022 as a 2 CD set and now out on vinyl, is a three LP collection compiling thirty of those songs into a themed album spanning his entire career. It is a joy for fans and a comprehensive introduction to this legendary songwriter, a storyteller who explores the human condition in a uniquely Australian voice.

Why Time?

Kelly answers.

“We kill time, we waste time, we do time, we use time, we find time, we lose time, we race time, we hate time. Time keeps ticking - a heartbeat, a bomb, a spur. Time doesn’t wait, nor does it hurry. It moves too slow for lovers apart, for lovers together too fast…we play songs in praise of, in spite of and in the shadow of time.”

After two albums with The Dots, Kelly’s first solo record was Post, a stripped own affair released in May 1985. The first song on the LP captures two of the songwriter’s major concerns: place and time.

From St Kilda to Kings Cross is thirteen hours on a bus

I pressed my face against the glass and watched the white lines rushing past.

There is one new song on the Time collection, “Back to the Future.” The others are drawn from Kelly’s 28-album back catalogue with the earliest being “Standing On The Street Of Early Sorrows” from Post.

As well as beloved songs such as "Before Too Long" and "When I First Met Your Ma" there are many lesser known gems from Kelly’s extraordinary folio. "For The Ages" from 2012’s Spring And Fall is a fine example; simple, wry, and loving.

Darling, you’re one for the ages

You’ll never go out of style

You walked into the ball

Dressed by Saint Vincent de Paul

With that shy and serious smile.

Several iconic songs appear on Time as recently recorded live versions. An electric atmosphere attends the performance of "From Little Things Big Things Grow", recorded at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 2021, for example. “I’m always trying to find ways to do new kinds of shows and not be boxed into playing well-known songs all the time,” Kelly says.

With thirty songs across six sides of vinyl there is a lot of listening. I’ve found that dipping into the set for a side at a time is a very satisfying way to hang out with Paul Kelly. He has the humility of someone who knows about suffering, the observational skills of a novelist, and a deep love for the Australian culture and landscape that birthed his muse. Yet in the end, it’s mostly about the human condition.

It’s about family.

Going about my father’s business

Doing my father’s time

What’s done to me I’ll do to mine.

("Going About My Father’s Business", Gossip, 1986)

About ageing.

I got 'em always now, sunshine or rain

Oh, these little aches and pains

I don’t count my losses now, just my gains.

("Aches And Pains", Spring And Fall, 2012)

About love.

I wake up every day

On my tongue, a song of praise

You still take my breath away.

(You’re 39, You’re Beautiful And You’re Mine, Stolen Apples, 2007)

After listening to these songs you will find yourself nourished and more connected with the world and yourself. With each listen something new is revealed, surely the ultimate test of fine songwriting.

* The book is Paul Kelly: Don’t Start Me Talking — Lyrics 1984-2012 [Allen & Unwin, 2004]

Quotes from Rolling Stone (19 May 2022) "Wasting Time is a Perfectly Fine Thing to Do: Paul Kelly Reflects on Time", accessed September 2023.