Original Music #14 - So You Want to be a Drummer in a Rock'n'Roll Band
Some philosophy about following your dream, but your dream doesn't really know where it's going.
Dig the fresh-faced kid on drums, rockin’ The Who Maximum R&B t-shirt. That’s me! Playing my first real drum kit - a Yamaha 5000 series. I still have most of it in storage in Melbourne.
I reckon this was taken in the Bootleg Wine Bar and Bistro in Wagga Wagga where there was a vibrant live music scene in the 80s, and I was honoured to be a part of it. It could be taken at the Mac too - the John Macarthur Tavern, another very popular live music venue at the time.
Anyway, the song deals with following your dream, even though your dream is a little vague about where it’s going.
Here are the lyrics:
So you wanna be a drummer in a rock'n'roll band,
Well, here's a coupla things that you should understand.
It might look easy but you practice for years,
You got 4 limbs working but you play with your ears.
Come on! Let's go!
Now you're getting ready for another gig, (The highs are high and the lows are low)
With another rockin' band that'll never be big. (The highs are high and the lows are low)
The money's good but it'll run out soon, (Sometimes you're off and sometimes you're on)
'Cause not everyone can be a Moon the Loon. (My friends call me Keith but you can call me John)
Come on! Let's go!
(He used to be a drummer in a rock'n'roll band
But now he holds an hourglass, watching the sand.)
Come on! Let's go!