Dumb Things – Paul Kelly Though Dumb Things may owe some of its inspiration to The Clash’s London’s Calling it owes just as much to Elvis Presley’s interpretation of the Garcia and Saunders penned Mystery Train. Ultimately, Dumb Things is a train song. It was written for his 1987 album ‘Under the Sun’ which also includes the classic ‘To Your Door’ a song of lost love and anticipation, and the political ‘Bicentennial’ focussing on deaths of Aborigines in custody. Although The Clash are often seen as a punk band, they were really part of the New Wave movement in Britain first, and America later. Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McClaren supposedly used the term ‘New Wave’ as an alternative to punk, but it grew into a very different musical style (see examples in resources). The music of The Clash is too complex to be punk and it contains many elements of ska, which was also, in England, a hybrid of rockabilly, reggae and punk. These influences can all be heard in Dumb Things. Despite his prolific output, Paul Kelly says he finds it hard to write songs, sometimes describing himself as ‘lazy’. Some songwriters enjoy writing alone and find collaboration difficult. Kelly often gets his impetus from listening to others and working with others, and so just as his lyrics can often flower in their own individual way from a line spawned from, for example, Greek mythology – ‘I melted wax to fix my wings’ or the sentiments of a Raymond Carver story, such as his song ‘Everything’s Turning to White’, so too, his music draws inspiration from myriad sources. He will often take a bass line or a chord progression, or even a melodic riff and see where it leads him. For example the chord progression at the beginning of his fantastic song ‘How to Make Gravy’ is very much the same as the opening chords of Thunderclap Newman’s ‘Something in the Air’, but Kelly takes the song into completely different territory both lyrically and musically. The harmonica playing in ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’ is pure Dylan, as is the whole style of the song. Kelly is equally at home bringing together a group of musicians and building a song with them. He will often bring lyrics and a melody. But one only has to look at the investment of the overall team in the meaning that comes from the combination of lyrics and music in Dumb Things and many of Kelly’s songs, to realise how important inspiration and collaboration are to him. He pays artistic homage to those who have trodden the path before him (Shakespeare is a favourite) and to the contemporaries who share his working life. He has worked with just about everyone in the Australian music industry. Kelly says that most of his songs are not autobiographical, that he creates characters who sometimes permeate more than one of his songs and writes about, or for, these characters. However, one would have to say that Dumb Things could be autobiographical, not only in the sentiments expressed, but it the delivery which is invested with Kelly’s ironic and self-deprecating sense of humour ‘I thought that I just had to sing. I’ve done all the dumb things.’ 1 Lyrics Let’s tackle the lyrics first, because the music is structured around them. And I have to say that Paul Kelly’s lyrics are studied in English. It’s sometimes at the expense of developing an understanding of the meaning brought through the music. The same can happen in an analysis of just the music. The lyrics are absolutely fundamental to the meaning of the song. Here they are: Dumb Things Welcome, strangers, to the show I'm the one who should be lying low Saw the knives out, turned my back Heard the train coming, stayed out on the track In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings I've done all the dumb things Caught the fever, heard the tune Thought I loved her, hung my heart on the moon Started howling, made no sense Thought my friends would rush to my defence In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings I've done all the dumb things And I get all your good advice It doesn't stop me from going through these things twice I see the knives out, I turn my back I hear the train coming, I stay right on that track In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings I've done all the dumb things I melted wax to fix my wings I've done all the dumb things I threw my hat into the ring I've done all the dumb things I thought that I just had to sing I've done all the dumb things (Kelly, p. 49) 2 The break-down Welcome strangers, to the show I’m the one who should be lying low Well here I am, standing out for all the world to see, strangers all, when I should be keeping a low profile Saw the knives out, turned my back People are stabbed in the back, which means they don’t see an attack on them coming, whether verbal or physical. He sees it coming, but he still turns his back. Heard the train coming, stayed out on the track (Obvious) In the middle of a dream Many people have dreams about trains. Apart from Freud, who saw everything as sexual (poor frustrated man) train dreams are often metaphors for aspects of people’s life journeys. People can dream about trains going in the wrong direction, there being no station, no end in sight, not going anywhere, or stopping between stations. The song is about life choices and the fact that although the character KNOWS the outcomes of his actions are likely to be pretty disastrous, he does them anyhow. I lost my shirt There are three sayings about shirts: 1. He’d give him the shirt off his back (He/she’d do anything for him/her) 2. He had nothing but the shirt on his back 3. Wearing one’s heart on the sleeve of one’s shirt Kelly extends the first two to a level of personal irresponsibility. The third links with the end of the line: I pawned my rings Rings are symbols of love, family, togetherness and eternity. They are circles with no beginning and no end. He has sold all this. He has nothing. I’ve done all the dumb things Yes indeedy! Kelly, as he does in much of his lyric writing draws on known sayings, metaphors and platitudes and gives them a bit of a twist! It’s humorous, but it’s also poignant. Caught the fever Felt hot for someone Heard the tune 3 Their song Thought I loved her, hung my heart on the moon This links back to shirt sleeves. It also links to the next line Started howling, made no sense Complex here. There’s a sexual element, the dog in heat howling at the moon – the werewolf who can’t control the change in his body and the actions of his body when there is a full moon. He’s also howling because he has a broken heart. And howling is a fine rock ‘n’ roll tradition made famous by radio broadcaster Wolfman Jack, who had the night spot on radio for many years in America (see links below) and blues singer, Howlin’ Wolf who had a howl to his voice and used to enrapture and simultaneously scare the wits out of his audiences with it! So it makes no sense because the body and mind aren’t always in sync with each other. One can be attracted to someone for all the wrong reasons, but it doesn’t stop one from being attracted to the person. Thought my friends would rush to my defence. Reality check. Let down by chick? Double whammy. Let down by friends. (Made no sense) In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream Two things. I’m dreaming if I thought my friends would rush to my defence. It isn’t just that he’s done a whole heap of dumb things, as we all do (on and on) but he has been betrayed by those he felt would be loyal to him. Secondly. Is it a dream? Where does the dream end and reality begin? Hard to tell. One can try to wish away reality by pretending it was all a dream. And I get all your good advice (Someone, at least, is still there for him) It doesn’t stop me from going through these things twice Oh yes, that’s what we do! And this is so clever because it’s the line that leads back to the repetition of the lyrics that have come before. I see the knives out, turn my back I hear the train coming, I stay right on that track All in present tense this time. I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings I’ve done all the dumb things 4 Back to past tense. As is the rest – a reflection on a life dumbly lived. I melted wax to fix my wings This refers to Greek mythology. Daedelus created the wool to give to Theseus so that once he had entered the maze at Knossos, he could kill the Minotaur bull and high tail out of there by following the trail of wool he had left.