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An Auckland petrolhead mistook his wife for a car ....and vice versa.
| That's
right there's a car for sale It's in good condition and the motor is running It was my wife's before she went away She's went to live ... in Invercargill Got everything you could ever need It's got bucket seats and the tyres they're radial Never said a word - I never thought she'd leave - I just found a note on the kitchen table. Come on round we could have a drink I don't live far away from the local It really must be sold this week Up to now I guess I was hopeful ... Don't really know what I can say The engine's small but it's got tons of power I know that we will never be the same Once we could do a 100 miles an hour ... Starts well on a winter's day Seats look like leather 'though they're only vinyl She came home to see the kids in May But soon went back ... to Invercargill Did everything I could to make her stay I even got her a warrant of fitness It's been a year now since she went away She wouldn't even come home for Christmas That's right there's a car for sale It's got a little rust but it's really not too bad Every day you know I check the mail But it takes so long ... to get from Invercargill |
The engine's small but it's got tons of power...
Apparently
this song is based on phone calls and conversations Wayne Gillespie
had when he was upgrading the band's tour car. A young solo dad in financial trouble was painfully leaving his carefree youthful days behind. Wayne writes... "Our band's Skoda Sedan was blue, then we updated to the Skoda Fastback (a contradiction in terms I know) which was bumble-bee yellow with red & black racing stripes. Amazingly this car fitted our band (myself, Brendan Power, Denny Stanway and Julian McKeen) and gear for our first tour from Auckland to Wellington in 1984." |
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Wayne Gillespie
Wayne
Gillespie was born into a musical family, his father Mick being a jazz
pianist and his sister Sally a clarinet teacher. He made his professional
debut playing in Paris subways, London folk clubs and Sydney cafes before
returning to Auckland in the early 80's.
His songs have always been written from a psychological perspective, like
"Invercargill" is, and Wayne has completed an Honours degree
psychology with a thesis on 'The Personality of Rock Musicians' at Macquarie
University.
He now works at the University of NSW. He also continues to record his
songs (click here)
and to produce CDs for others.
He
writes...
"I
first heard Leonard Cohen on the NZ National Radio Folk program in early
70's at age 14 and was inspired enough to want to become a folkie/songwriter.
He couldn't sing, no flashy guitar and songs about mosquitos - I can do
that!
My
first visit to a folk club many years later was in response to the Titirangi
Folk Club's Songwriting competition in 1978.
The active encouragement of songwriters through this competition also
I think drew a lot of younger people to the folk scene in that time in
Auckland. Later in the early 80's the Auckland Varsity Folk club under
the leadership of Chris Priestley, Mike Reid and others was the impetus
for the Auckland Acoustic Movement of the mid 80's.
The support of The Poles Apart club run by Frank Winter, and the Devonport
Folk Club with Roger Giles was
also vital in
encouraging young performers and songwriters at this time as well. Although
these folk clubs were generally run by people from the traddie world there
was a real tolerance and acceptance of contemporary acoustic musicians
as well.
I think the tradition of acceptance of floor singers of all types by folk
clubs is a crucial aspect of developing new talent. In turn they also
become influenced by the traditional music they hear there."
