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  1. Little Bits Of Wire

The most personal of the four tracks, Little Bits of Wire is about my swimming/gardening/painting/trad-jazz-listening father, the late Peter C Hirst. Like many children of the Great Depression, who then went to war, Dad never threw anything out, and never hired a tradie. Rather, if anything needed fixing at home, he’d use little bits of wire. Jim’s light-touch piano and mellotron, and Jack Howard’s (H & C) trumpet near the end, are a standout. Hamish’s N’awlins-style buzz rolls in the slowdown make me weak at the knees! - Rob Hirst

Lyrics

With these little bits of wire
You could build a great empire
With these little bits of wire
You could build a great empire

I see you swimming in the harbour
I see you digging in the garden
You taught us everything everyone needs to know
I see you painting late at night
Cézanne on masonite

I hear you humming an old Count Basie tune
Hear you sing along to Satchmo in your room
Hear you hidee hidee ho to Cab Calloway
Hear you playing Mum the best
The best of Billie Holiday

With these little bits of wire
You built a great empire
With these little bits of wire
You built a great empire

You showed us how to trim the wire
Taught us how to twist the steel
Taught us how long to wait until the big reveal
You wore a soldier’s silence
We knew when to keep our distance

Your world gets smaller every day
Walk up to the IGA
Down 300 metres to the bay

With these little bits of wire (etc)

I hear you humming an old Count Basie tune (etc)

I love the hissing and the crackle of your 78s
Miss the dying sound that your turntable makes
Hear you dancing to the Darktown Strutters Ball
I only see you at your best
I remember nothing else at all

(For Peter C. Hirst: swimmer/gardener/artist/trad jazz fan)