Song of the Day: After The Crack Up by Augie March

It’s even more Aussie indie rock for this Wednesday morning! Like I did say yesterday, it’s one more “After” something song before moving on the next “A” something song for my SOTD posts, OK? It does seem I’m finally get into the daily posting thingy again, I shouldn’t say that because I’ll most likely drop the ball like tomorrow or something?

For anyone who doesn’t know them, Augie March are a band and not a solo artist because it does sound like a name for a person. They’re named after an old novel called The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow of 1953. It’s now published by Penguin Classic so would be pretty easy to find, if you’re looking for a book to read? It’s the second AM song included in my SOTD posts, the last one can be found here. Today’s song After The Crack Up was the lead single/song/video clip from Augie March 2014’s album Havens Dumb, their fifth album. Above is the video clip which is based on a piece of cinema history: the world’s first ever feature-length narrative film, made in Australia in 1906 The Story Of The Kelly Gang. The lyrics to After The Crack Up are:

After the fun, after the freedom,
The discipline of married men?
What a fanned out feather paints it rosy,
What a rank file of flowers make the posey,
What a limp congregation.
I was sick before the germ got a handle on,
I might’ve been the very cattle it was riding on,
With the right information,
Moderate education, middle home.
What a fella needs to know,
Is all a fella doesn’t need to know,
If you suffer you don’t talk about it,
Which was the lie that laid me low.
Under the coat, under the blanket,
In the wicker chest, in the sparrow breast.
What does it tell you when it tells you now you grow up?
What does it tell you when it tells you now you be a man?
Tidy your thinking up, finish your drinking up?
Be the Tom, be the Jack, beat the beaten track,
Die the slow death your forefathers died, in fact
Be ever lonely and angry inside of that
Maze of rage and inchoate affection.
What a fella needs to know,
Is all a fella doesn’t need to know,
If you suffer you don’t talk about it.
To “men who know and men who knew…”,
Who for the “Silent grip of hands will do”
And if you suffer you don’t talk about it,
Which was the lie that laid me low…
After the fall, after the crack up,
Nothing then? Nothing then.

Here’s the whole album of Havens Dumb on SoundCloud:

Augie March just last week have released a new live album, entitled On The Quiet: Live recorded in Brisbane 2019 at The Old Museum, it’s got 15 tracks. This doesn’t seem to be on any streaming sites and looks like a self-released because you can only find/get it from their website, linked here. If your a fan of them like me, you’ll love it! Edit: it’s been added to streaming sites just now: