Poet Study

Year 8
Paul Kelly
 ‘Winter Coat’
We were lovers once long ago
Walking through cold city streets like lovers do
Stopped inside a market
Kissed behind a stall
Someone said you'd better move on
If you're not buying at all

Then I saw the winter coat hanging on the rack

I thought about that winter coat
Hanging on my back
So you helped me try it on
It was just my size
Then you bought that coat for me
After haggling over the price

Now when it's chilly Up in these cold cold hills

I just put on my winter coat
My winter coat
Keeps me warm

Years have come along

Years have gone
Some friends have risen
Some have moved on
And my old winter coat still
Hangs by my front door
Holding all the stories
I don't remember anymore

And when it gets freezing

Up in these cold cold hills
I just put on my winter coat
My winter coat
Keeps me warm

My winter coat
My winter coat

My winter coat
My winter coat
 Analysis of ‘Winter Coat’

1. Dramatic situation
 Who is the speaker?
 To whom is he or she speaking? What is the situation?

2. Summary
 Write a one to three sentence summary of the song, include both explicit
and implicit meanings. (This exercise should help you focus in on the
central idea of the song.)

3. Figurative language
 Point out any examples of personification, simile, metaphor, metonymy,
or allusion. Explain (briefly) how these examples contribute to (or fail to
contribute to) the effectiveness of the song.

4. Literary techniques
 Point out and explain any symbols.

5. Aural Techniques
 What are the aural techniques you can identify?

6. Overview
 What is the subject of the song? (What is its central focus?)
 What is the theme of the song? (What does the song tell you about the
subject?) Explain why the theme is universal or specific.
 What personal insights, feelings, or comments do you have about the
poem?
 Paul Kelly pens ode to Shakespeare and Sherrins
Paul Kelly has broken into verse about his excitement at a new football season, focusing on the
Sherrin. The singer songwriter posted the following on his Facebook page, borrowing from
Shakespeare, and in that spirit we have borrowed from him, because it deserved a wider audience.
"Footy's back! At least for me and my pals in the park," Kelly wrote. "We start the year with a new
football. And a new football's worth a new poem. So with a little help from Shakespeare's Sonnet
60 …

SONNET TO A NEW SHERRIN

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

So does a football hasten to its end,

Each kick wearing it out a fraction more

Be it drop punt, mongrel, torp or banana bend.

A glory new and in its first sweet flight,

Dull scuffs and mud against its glory fight

And Time that gave, doth now his gift confound.

Time does his work by stealth and by degrees

And kick by kick unfolds his tale of woe

With rain and roads and fences, dogs and trees

And Dubbin cannot stop him, only slow.

And yet, to times, in hope, my verse shall stand,

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

 Paul Kelly and Ballads
‘Bradman’
Sydney, 1926, this is the story of a man
Just a kid in from the sticks, just a kid with a plan
St George took a gamble, played him in first grade
Pretty soon that young man showed them how to flash the blade
And at the age of nineteen he was playing for the State
From Adelaide to Brisbane the runs did not abate
He hit 'em hard, he hit 'em straight
He was more than just a batsman
He was something like a tide
He was more than just one man
He could take on any side
They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

A team came out from England

Wally Hammond wore his felt hat like a c***f
All through the summer of '28, '29 they gave the greencaps no relief
Some reputations came to grief
They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn
And in the hour of greatest slaughter the great avenger is being born
But who then could have seen the shape of things to come
In Bradman's first test he went for eighteen and for one
They dropped him like a gun
Now big Maurice Tate was the trickiest of them all
And a man with a wisecracking habit
But there's one crack that won't stop ringing in his ears
"Hey Whitey, that's my rabbit"
Bradman never forgot it

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide
He was more than just one man
He could take on any side
They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand
England 1930 and the seed burst into flower
All of Jackson's grace failed him, it was Bradman was the power
He murdered them in Yorkshire, he danced for them in Kent
He laughed at them in Leicestershire, Leeds was an event
Three hundred runs he took and rewrote all the books
That really knocked those gents
The critics could not comprehend hsi nonchalant phenomenon
"Why this man is a machine," they said. "Even his friends say he isn't human"
Even friends have to cut something

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide
He was more than just one man
He could take on any side

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand
Summer 1932 and Captain Douglas had a plan
 When Larwood bowled to Bradman it was more than man to man
And staid Adelaide nearly boiled over as rage ruled over sense
When Oldfield hit the ground they nearly jumped the fence
Now Bill Woodill was as fine a man as ever went to wicket
And the bruises on his body that day showed that he could stick it
But to this day he's still quoted and only he could wear it
"There's two teams out there today and only one of them's playing cricket."

He was longer than a memory, bigger than a town

He feet they used to sparkle and he always kept them on the ground
Fathers took their sons who never lost the sound of the roar of the grandstand

Now shadows they grow longer and there's so mush more yet to be told
But we're not getting any younger, so let the part tell the whole
Now the players all wear colours, the circus is in town
I can no longer go down there, down to that sacred ground

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide
He was more than just one man
He could take on any side
They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

Analysis of ‘Bradman’

1. Annotate the poem.

2. Why can this poem be considered a ballad?
3. Who was Bradman?
4. Why do you think Kelly chose to write about him?
5. How does Kelly describe Bradman? Find three examples
from the poem.
6. What are two techniques used to create a sense of
Bradman in the song?
7. Kelly’s songs are known for capturing experiences of
Australia. What experience does he capture here?
 Songs about Place
‘From St Kilda To Kings Cross’
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
And all around me felt like all inside me
And my body left me and my soul went running

Have you ever seen Kings Cross when the rain is falling soft?
I came in on the evening bus, from Oxford Street I cut across
And if the rain don't fall too hard everything shines just like a postcard
Everything goes on just the same
Fair-weather friends are the hungriest friends
I keep my mouth well shut, I cross their open hands

I want to see the sun go down from St Kilda Esplanade

Where the beach needs reconstruction, where the palm trees have it hard
I'd give you all of Sydney harbour (all that land, all that water)
For that one sweet promenade

...here was a song about exile and regret, perennial themes of folk music, yet rooted in the here
and now of a contemporary Australian setting. Other songwriters had used local reference
points before, as anyone who had heard Cold Chisel or Skyhooks (or Slim Dusty or Banjo
Paterson) could tell you. But 'From St Kilda To Kings Cross' had the protean lyrical detail of
experience actually lived, dropping you instantly into a wholly realised world.

The song's 14 lines sketched a tale of its narrator leaving Melbourne for Sydney, swapping one
seedy red-light district for another, arriving in soft rain to see the streets shining like a postcard,
only to discover that 'everything goes on just the same'. His grasping friends circle him
with hands outstretched, and the closing verse finds him longing for the ragged palm trees and
tired vistas of the home he's just left. The closing line—'I'd give you all of Sydney Harbour/
(All that land and all that water)/ For that one sweet promenade'—was a wry
provocation only an Australian could fully appreciate.

The places in the song ground this universal story of fear and longing to Australian specifics as
does the following – a very different view of an Australian city.
 ‘Adelaide’

The wisteria on the back verandah is still blooming,


And all the great aunts are either insane or dead,
Kensington Road runs straight for a while before turning,
We lived on the bend it was there I was raised and fed
Counting and running as I go,
Down past the hedges all in a row,
In Adelaide, Adelaide
Dad's hands used to shake,
but I never knew he was dying,
I was thirteen I never dreamed he could fall,

And all the great aunts were red in the eyes from crying,
I rang the bells I never felt nothing at all
All the king's horses all the king's men Cannot bring him back again
Find me a bar or a girl or guitar
 where do you go on a Saturday night? 

I own this town
 I spilled my wine at the bottom of the statue of Colonel Light
And the streets are so wide everybody's inside 

Sitting in the same chairs they were sitting in last year
(This is my town!) 

All the king's horses all the king's men 

Wouldn't drag me back again to
Adelaide,
 Adelaide, Adelaide, Adelaide...
 Analysis of ‘Adelaide’
The three stanzas of this song relate to three phases of one’s early life and, in fact, reflect Paul Kelly’s own
childhood.


1. How does each stanza characterise the persona’s early years?

2. What is the image of childhood created?
3. What feelings arise out of this portrayal?
4. What language techniques are used to achieve this?

5. What is Kelly saying about the relationship of the past to the present?
6. How can the verbs help us to see this? 

7. Repetition is a feature of most songs, both in the body of a stanza and in the chorus.
 What is the effect of the repetition of “never” in the second stanza
 What is the effect of the repetition of the place name “Adelaide” in the chorus? 


8. In this song, Kelly alludes to nursery rhymes. Why do you think he does so?
9. Identify the rhyming pattern of each stanza.
10. How do these changes evoke the persona’s attitude to Adelaide? 


11. Read the extracts and then compare these to the song. You may find it useful to build on the
following scaffold.

12. Describe a place, person or event to evoke a strong sense of longing. Limit this to 160 words, making
sure each word choice is used to deliberately capture a sense of place and the feelings associated
with it.

13. Everyone remembers places in different ways. Read the following extracts from two people who
remember Adelaide very differently. Compare these to Kelly’s description in the poem. How are they
similar and how are they different?
I’ve lived in Adelaide for little less than half my life, but it has always been my city. When I was a child,
everyone in my family, like the rest of our small South Australian farming community, referred to
Adelaide as ‘Town’. The word always had an audible capital as though ‘Town’ were Adelaide’s real name;
from the vantage point of the farm, Town was the archetypal metropolis, the place where all human
needs and desires could be met. Town was a place of traffic and bright lights, of department stores,
medical specialists, movies, buses, and the newfangled discount supermarkets where you could buy a
carload of non- perishable groceries in bulk for a fraction of their country cost: three months’ supply of
cornflour and cornflakes, ...crammed into the back of the station wagon for the three-hour drive home.
Town meant the paternal grandparents, the orthodontist, the Royal Adelaide Show, the crowded beaches,
the buying of shoes and winter clothes. Town was where the sporty kids from school went to compete at
higher levels, and where the clever kids went away to do fifth year of high school as sad but stoic
boarders.

Kerryn Goldsworthy, Adelaide UNSW Press, 2011 page 5-6

... When I remember the Midlands, it is almost always serene, windless and sunlit. It has a kind of
enchantment. Yet I know we arrived in winter, that the frosts and winds can be bleak and bitter. In
contrast, I remember Adelaide in much darker hues. Although I know its reputation as a beautiful,
graceful city, all my memories of it are imbued with the emotional texture of my early childhood. The past
rises up ... distorting my memory of the climate. I spent many blistering, suffocating summers there
visiting our father, my cotton dresses soaked with sweat. Yet when I conjure up a memory of Adelaide it is
always cold, a permanent winter.

This is because my parents split in that dark winter after so many years of turmoil, and we left on a
wintry night.
 So this is Life: Scenes from a Country Childhood by Anne Manne Melbourne University
Press, 2009, pp5-6

Songs about Place

‘This Land is Mine/This Land is Me’
One of the strongest connections that we experience is the idea of ‘home’, or belonging to place. While this
sense of connection often has more to do with family, growing up, friends and familiarity it also achieves a
deeper significance when we are away from ‘home’ or have a feeling of ‘dispossession’. How we ‘belong’ to
the land has both a cultural and an historical context worth exploring.

In Australian texts, this sense of alienation is explored in the attitudes of Europeans to land as something
that needs to be bounded, tamed and exploited – the land is something which is owned. For indigenous
peoples the land is a place of belonging, a place of personal identity. Rather than the land belonging to
them, they belong to the land.

Love for the land and the meaning of it – mutually held but with insightful differences– is at the core of the
music track ‘The Land is Mine/The Land is Me’ within Paul Kelly’s ‘One Night The Moon’. We discover
quickly that stories of the land formation and their cultural and spiritual meaning are at the heart of the
Indigenous culture. This connection to the land and their people’s relationship with it are evoked quite
extensively throughout the course of the film and quite specifically addressed within the music clip.

This song brilliantly encapsulates the differences between Indigenous and white Australian responses and
attitudes to land and landscape. For Jim, the land he has struggled over rightfully belongs to him and he
fiercely announces that the bank ‘‘won’t take it away’’. This is juxtaposed by Albert’s expression ‘This land
is me’ rather than ‘this land is mine’. This emphasises that for Albert, the land is his very being. It embodies
him and his spirit in ways that are evocative but intensely difficult for white people to deeply comprehend
or accept.

Analysis of ‘This Land is Mine/This Land is Me’

Structured like a dialogue, this song contrasts the white farmer’s possessiveness of his farm with the
Indigenous tracker’s conception of the land. While the farmer is worried about making the land productive,
the tracker sees the whole landscape as part of his being. Both speakers share a fear of dispossession.

Questions
1. As you view and listen to the song annotate the script. Underline or highlight anything to do
with a sense of place or feeling displaced.
2. Why do you think Kelly has used to two different voices? What might be the impact of this?
3. What does the title immediately reveal to the reader?
4. What is the tone adopted by the voice in the first two stanzas?
5. What is revealed by the farmer’s references to his land? What effect did fences have on
traditional use of the land?
6. What does the farmer means when he says “I’m working hard just to make it pay”? What
does this further reveal about how the white farmer uses the land?
7. To what does the farmer refer when he says “I signed on the dotted line”?
8. Examine the use of imagery in the next two line: “Campfires on the creek bed / Bank
breathing down my neck.” What is the effect of Kelly juxtaposing these two lines?
9. What does the tracker’s use of language reveal about his relationship with the land?
10. The 4th stanza is the only one beginning with a new line. Why do you think this is?
11. What is the effect of the final three lines of the song (note the repetition)?
12. Describe and explain three visual images that represent the white farmer’s relationship with
the land.
13. Describe and explain three images that represent the separation of the black tracker from
the crowd and his alternative relationship with the land.
 ‘This Land is Mine/This Land is Me’
THE BACK PADDOCK

DAY

MUSIC: This Land Is Mine

The VOLUNTEERS form up in a rough semi-circle. The FATHER sensing ALBERT's gaze, turns his back
on him to look out across the paddock. He finishes saddling his horse.

FATHER

This land is mine

All the way to the old fence line

Every break of day I'm working hard just to make it pay

This land is mine

Yeah I signed on the dotted line

Camp fires on the creek bank

Bank breathing down my neck

They won't take it away

They won't take it away

They won't take it away from me

The FATHER mounts his horse.

BACK FENCE

DAY

Meanwhile ALBERT has been grabbing his swag and now walks off in the other direction.

ALBERT

This land is me

Rock, water, animal, tree

They are my song

My being's here where I belong

He looks back at the search party.

This land owns me

From generations past to infinity

We're all but woman and man

 You only fear what you don't understand

VERANDAH

DAY

The MOTHER watches both men.

FATHER AND ALBERT

This land is mine

This land is me

This land is mine

This land owns me

ALBERT walks off down the road.

FATHER AND ALBERT

They won't take it away

They won't take it away

They won't take it away from me

The TRACKER looks back toward the house and sees the MOTHER at the window looking out at him.

VERANDAH

DAY

MUSIC: This Land Is Mine ends

The MOTHER shuts EMILY's bedroom window, closes the curtains and sits down on the bed.

END OF EXTRACT

One Night The Moon Copyright 2001

MusicArtsDance films

Pty Ltd Writers: John Romeril and Rachel Perkins Director: Rachel Perkins Composers: Mairead Hannan, Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly
 Songs about Relationships
‘Careless’

How many cabs in New York City, how many angels on a pin? 


How many notes in a saxophone, how many tears in a bottle of gin? 


How many times did you call my name, knock at the door but you couldn't get in?

I know I've been careless,
 I've been wrapped up in a shell, nothing could get through to me



Acted like I didn't know I had friends or family,


I saw worry in their eyes, it didn't look like fear to me,

know I've been careless (I took bad care of this)

Like a mixture in a bottle, like a frozen-over lake


Like a long-time painted smile got so hard I had to crack 


You were there, you held the line,

you're the one that brought me back

I know I've been careless (I lost my tenderness)

I've been careless (I took bad care of this)

How many cabs in New York City, how many angels on a pin? 


How many notes in a saxophone, how many tears in a bottle of gin?


How many times did you call my name, knock at the door but you couldn't get in?

How many stars in the milky way, how many ways can you lose a friend?
 Analysis of ‘Careless’

1. In pairs, consider each question in lines 1 to 3 one at a time and in order. For each of these
questions, answer the following:
 What is the effect of each on the listener? 

 What is the effect of all of them together? 


2. What do you imagine the question: How many angels on a pin means?

3. What is Paul Kelly saying about the persona in the song by using this expression? 


4. How does the music and Paul Kelly’s voice capture the punctuation in the song? Consider

the brackets in particular. 


5. Each stanza of the song has a similar structure but modifies the pattern as the song
progresses. Graphically represent the structure to demonstrate its development, noting its
repetitions and variations. Compare your representation with others in the class.
6. Listen to the performance again and describe how the music varies for different parts of the

argument. 


7. What do you think is the purpose of the persona’s argument in the song? How effective is it?

Would you let him get away with it? 


 Songs about Life
‘To Her Door’
They got married early, never had no money
Then when he got laid off they really hit the skids
He started up his drinking, then they started fighting
He took it pretty badly, she took both the kids
She said: "I'm not standing by, to watch you slowly die
So watch me walking, out the door, out the door, out the door"
She said, "Shove it, Jack, I'm walking out the f****** door"
She went to her brother's, got a little bar work
He went to the Buttery*, stayed about a year
Then he wrote a letter, said I want to see you
She thought he sounded better, she sent him up the fare
He was riding through the cane in the pouring rain
On Olympic* to her door
To her door
To her door
To her door

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?
He was shaking in his seat riding through the streets
In a silvertop* to her....
Shaking in his seat riding through the streets Buttery- A renowned rustic
non- Profit rehabilitation
In a silvertop* to her door centre in Bungalow,
Queensland.
To her door
Olympic- A bus service

Silvertop – refers to a taxi

service
To her door
To her door

‘Deep Water’

On a crowded beach in a distant time 


At the height of summer see a boy of five 


At the water's edge so nimble and free

Jumping over the ripples looking way out to sea

Now a man comes up from amongst the throng

Takes the young boy's hand and his hand is strong

And the child feels safe, yeah the child feels brave

As he's carried in those arms up and over the waves

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

Let's move forward now and the child's seventeen

With a girl in the back seat tugging at his jeans 


And she knows what she wants,

she guides with her hand

As a voice cries inside him - I'm a man, I'm a man!

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

Now the man meets a woman unlike all the rest

He doesn't know it yet but he's out of his depth

And he thinks he can run, it's a matter of pride

But he keeps coming back like a cork on the tide

Well the years hurry by and the woman loves the man

Then one night in the dark she grabs hold of his hand

Says 'There, can you feel it kicking inside!'


And the man gets a shiver right up and down his spine

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

So the clock moves around and the child is a joy

But Death doesn't care just who it destroys 


Now the woman gets sick, thins down to the bone

She says 'Where I'm going next, I'm going alone'

On a distant beach lonely and wild


At a later time see a man and a child


And the man takes the child up into his arms

takes her over the breakers


To where the water is calm

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling them on..

 Analysis of ‘To Her Door’ and ‘Deeper Water’

1. Annotate each song.

2. Write a short summary for each song. Aim for 3 sentences
for each poem.
3. What is the tone of the song ‘To Her Door’? How do you
know?
4. What is the tone of the song ‘Deeper Water’? How do you
know?
5. How is ‘Deep Water’ similar or different in structure to the
song ‘To Her Door’? 

6. Is there a similar use of musical repetition? If so, why do
you think this is such an important component of being a
successful songwriter? 

7. Why is the phrase ‘Deeper Water’ so easy to sing and so
memorable musically? 

8. Write an extra verse to “To Her Door”
9. How do these songs reflect Australian culture?
 ‘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
 Analysis of ‘Dumb Things’

1. Annotate the song.

2. What is the song about?
3. Make a list of all of the dumb things the persona
has done.
4. What is the tone of the song? How do you
know?
5. Find two techniques in the poem and explain
their effect.
6. If you were to write a song about the dumb
things you have done, what would you write
about? Make a list.
Meet Me in the Middle of the Air

I am your true shepherd


I will lead you there
 Beside still waters


Come and meet me in the middle of the air

I will meet you in the middle of the air

I will lay you down


In pastures green and fair


Every soul shall be restored


I will meet them in the middle of the air

Come and meet me in the middle of the air

Through the lonesome valley


My rod and staff you'll bear


Fear not death's dark shadow


Come and meet me in the middle of the air

I will meet you in the middle of the air

With oil I shall anoint you


A table shall I prepare


 Your cup will runneth over


Come and meet me in the middle of the air

I will meet you in the middle of the air

In my house you'll dwell forever


You shall not want for care


Surely goodness and mercy will follow you

Come and meet me in the middle of the air

I will meet you in the middle of the air

Analysis of ‘Meet Me in the Middle of the Air’

Psalm 23
Psalms are songs of praise and were originally sung. King David, the purported
author, was a poet and musician as well as a warrior and king.

1: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.


2: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over.

6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD for ever.
King James Version http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/KjvPsal.html

Student activity:

1. Highlight the metaphors in Paul Kelly’s song that are taken directly from the King James’ version of
Psalm 23. 

2. What are the differences in the wording of the two texts? 

3. Who is speaking in each text? How does this affect the meaning? 

4. What is the hymn inviting you to feel? What is the song inviting you to feel? 

5. Both texts are strongly metaphorical. Which metaphor is your favourite in each text? 
 Explain your
choice. 

6. What do you think is intended by meeting “in the middle of the air”? 

7. How does intertextuality contribute to the effects of this contemporary song? 

8. What is the effect of the chorus and its frequent repetition? 
 Come and meet me in the middle of the air
I will meet you in the middle of the air 


‘How to Make Gravy’

Consider the following song lyrics written by Paul Kelly. In the song, Paul Kelly adopts the character of Joe,
a father who is spending Christmas in prison, away from his children, sweetheart, family and friends. In the
song, Joe speaks to his brother Dan and reflects on all the people that he has hurt and the things that he will
miss while he is in jail. This unit is about relationships, friendships, soul connections and family. Did you
know that the police consider domestic violence (fights between people in the same family) the most
dangerous of all the jobs they attend? Police officers would rather be sent to a riot than a domestic violence
incident. This is because when an incident involves a person’s family, emotions run extremely high and, as a
result, people’s behaviour becomes unpredictable. Good or bad, our relationships play a huge role in
shaping who we are and how we live our lives.

In your own words

Understanding
1. When does Joe tell Dan he might be getting out of prison? What does this tell us about the seriousness of
Joe’s crime? (We’ll presume that this is his first Christmas in jail so the maximum amount of time he will
spend in prison will be one and a half years.)

2. List five things that Joe will miss while he is away on Christmas Day.
emotion: a
3. Why will Joe miss Roger?
mental state
4. Do you think Joe regrets his crime? Explain your answer. experienced by
humans in reaction
5. What does he not mean to say to Dan? Why does Joe say this? Is this a fair thing to to their thoughts or
say? the external world;
examples include
6. Describe the relationship between Joe and Rita. How does Joe feel about Rita? joy, sadness, fear
What does he think she will do for him? Would you wait for a partner if he or she were sent to prison?
Explain.

7. At the end of the song, Joe declares that he will make gravy again one day. Why do you think Joe cares so
much about making gravy? (Use a dictionary or the internet to find out the connotations of making gravy
8. Joe’s family celebrates Christmas in a particular way. Does his family seem close? Justify your answer by
providing evidence from the song.

9. What do you think Paul Kelly (the songwriter) is trying to say to his audience about family? Does he think
family is important? Explain.

How to Make Gravy

Why do we want to know?

Why are we reading a song about a guy in prison? People’s emotions are complicated. By analysing
this song, you will learn how to comprehend the obvious and hidden meanings in what people say.
This will make you a better judge of character and enable you to
communicate better at home and at work.

‘How to Make Gravy’

[Verse 1]
Hello Dan, it's Joe here
I hope you're keeping well
It's the 21st of December
And now they're ringing the last bells

If I get good behaviour

I'll be out of here by July
Won't you kiss my kids on Christmas Day
Please don't let 'em cry for me

[Verse 2]
I guess the brothers are driving down from Queensland
And Stella's flying in from the coast
They say it's gonna be a hundred degrees, even more maybe
But that won't stop the roast

Who's gonna make the gravy now?

I bet it won't taste the same
Just add flour, salt, a little red wine and don't forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and
that extra tang

[Chorus]
And give my love to Angus
And to Frank and Dolly
Tell 'em all I'm sorry
I screwed up this time