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Intro

By Cira Riedel

“Andrew Kidman is what many try to be,” a well-know surfing photographer once told us. “Ultimately he is copied and others make money that is rightfully his.“ And when we then saw his film Glass Love, we instantly became fans. Andrew is multitalented. Someone who is able to transform everything they do into a thing of beauty. A musician, author, filmmaker, shaper and father … He is the exception in our line-up. For his song already existed before the text – he wrote this for us afterwards. Therefore you may already have heard the song If They Only Knew. But it is so beautiful that on this occasion artistic freedom demanded that we reverse the concept. His description of a walk through the night and the rain-soaked streets of L.A. left us with a feeling of fulfilment.

www.litmus.com.au

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If They Only Knew

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Andrew Kidman’ s 777th Dream

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Illustration by Jenay Loetscher

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I’m not sure if any of this happened. Sometimes, when I wake from dreams, it feels like I’ve been living another life, on another plane, existing in another time. This ramble that fills in the spaces that make up this song, feels something like those moments just after waking.

I was driving north to Los Angeles on the freeway with Michele. It was the perfect California day, the kind of day the Okies moved from the Oklahoma dustbowl for. Breaking neck, picking oranges on a day like this, knowing there was gonna be some food on the plate, followed by a dry, warm night, would make any man hop that train. It’s easy to picture and write about how that could have been good. But in reality, I have no idea. These days in Southern California I am just like the rest of them: a spoilt pussy with a credit card and my hand in the make up box.

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Neil Young was playing that night in a pretty open-air arena in the city. Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders hammered it out as Michele and I found our seats. We passed the great tennis champion, Pete Sampras, as he waited in line for a Coke, like everybody else. Michele didn’t even know who he was, which made me love her even more. We found our seats as Neil walked on stage.

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He opened the set solo, playing his sweet, mellow songs from Harvest Moon. Michele fell asleep on my shoulder as Neil moved into his second song. Who could blame her, as the lullabies rang into the night? It was like a father singing his baby to sleep. I looked up at the sky as the full moon rose above the trees.

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old man singing tunes
bending like a willow tree
if he only knew
how much of him is me
full moon on the rise
circle of city trees
the old man sings a lullaby
tonight’s the night
she falls asleep on me

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I was walking up Crown Street in the spitting rain with Michele. At the time Michele was only my girlfriend. We were falling in love with the wonder of each other: young love, untainted by time and what it reveals. We could do no wrong. It felt like a Morrissey song, “If a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side, well the pleasure, the privilege is mine.” This was in my head as we skipped along.

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Bob Dylan was playing in the park and we made our way to him. At first the streets were empty but the closer we got to him, the more people we had to sidestep. Bob was like a magnet, hauling souls in from all parts of the town. We found our place in the park and sat on our jackets to keep our bums from getting wet. We listened to ‘Lucky’ sing. Nothing he sang sounded like anything he’d ever sung before. If it wasn’t for the lyrics, I wouldn’t have known what song he was singing. He ended the concert with another version of ‘Blowing in the Wind.’

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been threatening rain all day
bats howling in the trees
the old man sings a tune
he’s been singing since ‘63
could be those times have changed
still nothing stays the same
the old man sings the blues
in the pouring rain

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Bobby took a bow and waved into existence a darkening sky, full of black bats. They screeched as they plummeted into the huge Moreton Bay Fig Trees that surrounded the park. It was time to make a move so I grabbed Michele’s hand and led her to the front gate. People were scattering everywhere, gaining their bearings and then wandering in the direction of their homes.

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A wind squall blew up the street, plastering our legs with wet leaves and Dylan posters. A busker found himself trapped in a Bobby Dylan nightmare, banging out “All Along the Watch Tower” to an unappreciative crowd doing their best to avoid him as they jostled past.
Michele and I made our way through Paddington and onto Oxford Street. Finally the buildings protected us from the wind and the rain, so we slowed it all down a notch. Enjoying the scenes of a wet city night, the rain glinting as it fell across the colored lights.

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Up ahead, in a store-front-doorway, a homeless man sat with his dog. His belongings surrounded him in a group of small plastic bags. He pulled on a wine bottle and looked down the street to the silhouette of Michele holding my arm. As we got closer he looked up at us and said, “Is that you Bobby Dylan? I know you’re in town tonight, play me a song, Bobby Dylan.”

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He paused and shook his head, “No, no, no… I used to be a guitar player; I’ll sing you a song, Bobby Dylan.”

He closed his eyes and began his song as we slipped away into the night. Maybe he thought I was Bobby Dylan holding Suze Rotolo’s hand on the cover of ‘Freewheelin’’. Maybe I was. Sometimes it felt like that walking in the streets with Michele.

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waiting for the wind to blow
show is over time to go
old man singing in the street
empty bottle at his feet
what is given what is gone
lonely eyes salute the dawn
choices made and coins are tossed
fate’s a friend until you’re lost

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who’s gonna save you?
who do you love?

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Andrew Kidman

Von Cira Riedel

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Andrew was introduced to you in connection with his text; therefore we are concentrating on the musical side of this multi-talent here. Andrew grew up with a violin on his arm and taught himself classical guitar. In 1992 he began appearing at open mic nights in Sidney with Mark Sutherland and his wife Rose. This resulted in “The Val Dusty Experiment“. In 1994 “The Val Dusty Experiment“ recorded the soundtrack for the film Litmus, on which they worked. After Val Dusty had released a second album in 1996, disappearing a short while later, Andrew recorded the albums The Spaces In Between, Glass Love and, most recently, Three Sails To The Wind by The Brown Birds From Windy Hill… The names chosen for his projects alone attest to his unique character and provide an insight into a romantic-wicked personal style, which always induce a reverie when you listen to his songs.
www.litmus.com.au
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Lyrics:

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„If They Only Knew“ by Andrew Kidman
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Old man singing tunes
Bending like a willow tree
If he only knew
How much of him is me
Full moon on the rise
Circle of city trees
The old man sings a lullaby
Tonight’s the night
She falls asleep on me

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Been threatening rain all day
Bats howling in the trees
The old man sings a tune
He’s been singing since ‘63
Could be those times have changed
Still nothing stays the same
The old man sings the blues
In the pouring rain
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Waiting for the wind to blow
Show is over time to go
Old man singing in the street
Empty bottle at his feet
What is given what is gone
Lonely eyes salute the dawn
Choices made and coins are tossed
Fate’s a friend until you’re lost
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Who’s gonna save you?
Who do you love?

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