Paul Kelly has been no stranger to the NSW Northern Rivers during his long and illustrious career, so it is not surprise the region features in new music from him which was released last week.
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As part of his Rivers and Rain compilation the song Northern Rivers is the album's new track.
An emotional Kelly appeared at Bluesfest this year and also played at Lismore's post flood concert along with Grinspoon.
One of his most famous songs, To Her Door, contains a line about The Buttery.
Northern Rivers was written last year, and recorded soon after with his band, but the timing of its release couldn't be more apt.
As residents of the Northern Rivers cleaned up - twice - after the floods earlier this year, Kelly's songs could be heard coming out of shops, houses, halls, boats, utes, vans, cars and trucks, lifting spirits.
Meanwhile, the long, hard work of picking up the pieces and rebuilding lives goes on.
Northern Rivers once again shows Kelly's deep engagement with the natural world.
"It is a love song set in contrasting landscapes. I took it to the band and it came out really easily like they'd been playing it forever," he said.
It's more than a love song, it's a hymn of praise to the region and to our harsh and beautiful country, replete with vivid imagery, close observation and irony.
Yet at its heart is the mysterious 'girl from the Northern Rivers' whom the coloured birds sing out of bed each day.
As Kelly's philosophical narrator from the song says, "The more I know her the less I do".
IN OTHER NEWS:
Kelly shared some of his thoughts on his relationship to water and how they featured in his songs.
"Water appears very often in my songs. I live on Port Philip Bay and when I'm home I go down to the sea several times a week if I can," he said.
"When I'm traveling and visiting new cities, I always look for the water, be it a river, a lake, a canal, the sea or a swimming pool.
"If I were to make a compilation of all my 'water' songs the track list would be overflowing.
"So, for the second instalment in this series, I've decided to narrow the channel to Rivers and Rain. Songs to do with oceans and shores I'll save for another time.
"Rivers run through cities, run through wildernesses, and run through history. You can dream by a river. Court and picnic by a river. Swim or fish in a river. Sail or row or float down a river. Drown in a river.
"In Australia, some rivers are dry or low for long periods then roar to life, sometimes dangerously, after certain storms."
