Melburnians are always happy to tell you what’s great about living here – that “most livable city” thing has well and truly gone to our heads – and the vibrant local music scene is often mentioned when such peacocking is in order.
Musicians have also immortalised Melbourne in songs.
Many parts of inner Melbourne now have words written and sung in their honor, and as a result listening to these songs enriches your understanding of where these places fit in the fabric of the city, and how they came to be that way.
Take a tour of Melbourne, as seen through the eyes of its musicians, below.
Melbourne CBD
Thomas’ lyric is a reference to the clocks on the main entrance of Flinders Street Station, and that same line (maybe less poetically) precedes many a rendezvous in Melbourne.
Though the protagonist has his eyes on the adjacent Yarra River, anywhere in the city is accessible from here given you’re next to a station, and for this reason many see the iconic structure as being the start of an adventure somewhere in the city.
Docklands
In the late ’90s, Melbourne was in the midst of a large-scale urban development. In the city’s immediate west, CityLink and the Bolte Bridge were under construction and Docklands was building high-rise apartments to shake off its dirty image and reputation as a crime hotspot.
Melbourne’s parks and historic buildings were the victims of this trend, something not lost on Living End frontman Chris Cheney.
The standoff between heritage groups and developers Cheney details – “Both striving for a perfect world/ each having their own opinion” – often reignites when live music venues in the city are threatened by property development.
Preston
In these two lines, Northcote local Barnett sums up the generational struggle of Melburnians trying to find their first home.
Now that inner-city suburbs such as Brunswick and Fitzroy have become cool and consequently expensive, young househunters are forced to compromise and look in more affordable suburbs further out, such as Preston.
Fitzroy
The violent, dingy roots of pre-gentrified Fitzroy get a mention in this tune, providing the background to Sultan’s tale of a youth forced onto the streets by a dysfunctional family.
St.Kilda
By day, St Kilda’s long beaches and palm trees sufficiently charmed Paul Kelly for him to long for it while he lived in Sydney.
By night, the beach is a place to wind down and take in the city after a long night, a feature Cat Empire co-frontman Harry Angus paid tribute to with this song. Fittingly it was in St Kilda venues, the Prince and Esplanade Hotels, that TCE cut their teeth as an act.
Carlton
Lygon Street, Carlton, has always been Little Italy: a haven of Italian restaurants and culture. But in the ’70s, it was also a place of underground uni theatre companies and ever-evolving music and fashion styles, which Skyhooks bassist and lyricist Greg Macainsh acknowledged with the verse above.
