I've Still Got The Blues
This song brings together a couple of very Melbourne-focused traditions.
Firstly, Melbourne is well-known for its traditional pubs, many of them serving the nectar of the gods - Guinness. Secondly, one of the city's most traditional football clubs - the Carlton Football Club - is struggling at the moment. Their supporters are very likely to be found in the front bar of a pub in Fitzroy, still wearing their club jumper but drowning their sorrows with a pint.
They are drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper ... but they still have the Blues.
IYKYK.
Lyrics
Vocals: Artie Fishall
I’m in a corner of an old Fitzroy bar, rain on the window in June.
Watching replays from ’95, like they’ll be back any minute now, soon.
There’s navy on my chest, foam on my lip, and a long, long list of whys.
Every sip is black and creamy, every year’s another “next year, guys.”
I’m drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper
But I’ve still got the blues.
Got a four-leaf clover on the tap above me
And a curse I can’t shake loose.
I’ve got Irish stout in a Melbourne winter,
Old dark navy in my view.
I’m drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper
But I’ve still got the blues.
They changed the coach and they changed the board, said the culture’s turning ’round.
Raised the scarf like a holy flag when we finally left the ground.
We got close enough to touch it once, then the siren cut us down.
Now we’re singing songs of almosts, in another one-horse town.
I’m drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper
But I’ve still got the blues.
Every pre-season’s a promise
That September will come through.
But the ladder don’t take lay-bys,
And the flags don’t take IOUs.
I’m drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper
But I’ve still got the blues.
Maybe I was born this way, in navy from the cradle.
Grandad swore by Jezza’s mark, Nan cursed at the kitchen table.
Now the only silverware I see Is the spoon in my Irish stew.
The harp on the glass keeps shining, But the cup’s still out of view.
There’s a stranger in a Tigers beanie, grinning at the screen.
Says, “Mate, you’ll get there one day,” like he knows what losing means.
I just raise my glass to Princes Park and the ghosts in locker rooms,
To the players that broke and the ones that stayed, and the seasons that went boom.
I’m drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper
But I’ve still got the blues.
Got a heart full of old man stories
And a soul that won’t change crews.
When the siren sounds on my last quarter,
Lay me down in navy hues.
I’ll be drinking Guinness wearing a Carlton jumper,
And I’ll still have the blues.
Yeah, you can change your drink and change your jumper,
But you can’t change the blues.