Julia's Rain - Bathurst

"Bathurst" was one of the half-dozen songs singer Kelly McKeigan and I wrote together in Julia's Rain. What I did was take some of her poems, which always contained some great imagery but lacked the required structure for a pop song, and "edited" them down into a song, then added music and my own words, usually the chorus, as is the case here.



Kelly sort of fulfilled the "Lennon" role, in that her poems were always dark, full of angst and melancholy. I would pop in as the "McCartney" figure, adding a hint of hope in the midst of the despair. "Bathurst" is my favourite of the songs we wrote together, because it's about someone whose either lost their love, or loves someone from afar in an unrequited love, but then in the chorus he / she manages to express... well, some hope that true love could win out, or at the very least a longing that it will.

"Take my hand
and cross your heart,
and say to me
that we'll never be apart,
'cause I want to cross
that line and be with you
here tonight,
oh, I wish i may,
I wish I might."

Even if it's only a wish / fantasy, one must always have hope. That was me back then... still is - a guy who was always happiest writing what McCartney called "silly love songs".

And I presume Kelly is still darkness personified! :-)

Also in the band - drummer Dave Croft, bassist Mark Winkelman, and guitarist Chris MacKenzie. This clip is from a demo recording session back in 1997 that we videotaped as well.

- Paul Kimball