Over forty years and across thirty albums, Paul Kelly has made himself unique among world songwriters by the sheer range and innovation of his work. With each song he writes, he feels like he's starting anew – every one a puzzle to be solved, a mystery that can never quite be explained. Few songwriters find ways to keep that creative fever burning for as long and as brightly asKelly.
The country of his birth, its emotional interior and geographical landscape, its heroes and villains, our hopes and failings, have been a constant in Kelly's long list of Australian-set songs. From St Kilda to King's Cross, Adelaide, Leaps and Bounds, Maralinga (Rainy Land), Randwick Bells, Sydney from a 747. From the bus ride through the cane in To Her Door to the childhood memory of Deeper Water. He has written about the country's greatest cricketer, Bradman, and its most infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly, in Our Sunshine.
Some songs take their time to make their mark. How to Make Gravy, a message from a prisoner who can't be home for Christmas, wasn't a hit at the time of release in 1996 but now is recognised as an Australian classic.
