I used to live in a share house on Faraday Street in Carlton. It was a well known place, and lots of musicians in Melbourne were familiar with it.
I painted the walls when I moved in, and in preparation, I took down the posters and most of the worst nails and lumps- but was defeated by the bluetack in the end.
The paint was a pearly shiny kind of stuff and I never did use a curtain in that upstairs, back room. The light from the McArthur Place streetlights used to highlight every shiny, pearly bump, where I had failed to remove the bluetack of years of past tenants.
It was previously the room of an old boyfriend, and painting is a really boring thing to do (even when you have friends like Ros and Dan to help).
And so a song was born
lyrics
BlueTack Constellation- Mandy Connell
(Capo 5)
C F Am F
I am painting, slow and ever-thicker coats of paint
Am F F
Upon the Windowsill that once was yours is now my room
F G C F
The walls and doors are shiny white now
C C F
Shiny white….. now
Am F Am
Oh brilliant white that picks up all the pretty colours
F F G C C C
of my pretty dresses, hanging up
C F F F
Oh, hanging up…..
C F F
CHO I painted over, the greasy black stain
Am F
Left by your hand, left by your head
Am F
Above the mattress where you slept
F G C C
I left the blue-tack on.
C F F F
Bluetack Constellation
F C C C
Bluetack Constellation
C F F F
Bluetack Constellation
Am F
I knew that you would leave me here
Am F F
But I told myself I didn’t
F G C
And I should not have held on so tight
Am F
Like someone’s little sister
Am F
Like someone’s second cousin
Am F
Like someone’s little sister,
F F
Had to join the party far too early
F F G C
Had to leave before it really Got Interesting….
C, F
CHO
END
credits
from The Northcote Sessions,
released October 11, 2017
Recorded, mixed and Mastered by Myles Mumford (Rolling Stock Recording Rooms)
Fiddle by Fred Holden (UK)
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