On a Bad Day is the fifth song to be presented here from Australian country music singer Kasey Chambers’ second album Barricades and Brickwalls. It is one of my all time favourite Australian albums and was listed in 100 Best Australian Albums.
Wikipedia states: The album would end up going platinum in 2002, becoming the highest selling album by an Australian artist in that year, along with the highest selling single.
I remember when, where and what I was doing when I first-heard this album. It was a hot summer day back in 2002 and I was driving my car through Crib Point on my way to Hastings in South East Victoria, Australia and I turned on ABC radio (which always hosted great non-commercial music like the Go-Betweens etc) and I heard….(Am I) Not Pretty Enough the first song to feature here from Kasey. It reached No1 on the ARIA singles charts in 2002, where it remained at the top spot for 4 weeks.
Every time my tears have ever fallen
I keep them in my pocket for a rainy day
So when its pouring I take them outside
I let the rain start washin’ my tears away
But on a bad day when hearts are breaking
There’s not enough rain to carry all the tears away
Every time I’m blue I take my feeling
I hold it tighter and I don’t let go
And when the sky gets whiter and the air is colder
I throw my feeling to the fallen snow
But on a bad day when hearts are breaking
There’s not enough snow to carry all the blues away
Today’s song On a Bad Day was a sleeper track for me. Its soft and smooth sound has grown on me over time. Apart from Kasey Chambers obvious talent and superior singing voice, I always admired her down to earth and Aussie next-door girl demeanour. Kasey born on June 4, 1976, is arguably Australia’s most popular country music performer, with three consecutive albums reaching No1 on the Australian album charts in 2002, 2004, and 2006, each achieving multi-platinum sales.
References:
1. Barricades and Brickwalls – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Hi Matt, nice song, good words!
Kasey has appeared here so much. Well perhaps not as much as Christina Perri, but she isn’t far behind. I’m delighted you like the song. I’d recommend her ‘Little Bird’ or ‘the Captain’ if you like her lyrics here. Cheers.
I will look them up. I love good lyrics!
I hope you enjoy them Sharon.
Hi Matt, just looked these up. Very nice lyrics especially ‘Little Bird’. Cheers!
I’m glad you saw and liked Little Bird – Excellent lyrics. Try ‘the Captain’ – the story behind the Captain is the ants pants.
I love when Kasey recalled how a friend of hers told her ‘oh your song ‘The Captain’ just appeared on the Sopranos’ and Kasey asked what is that? The friend replied, ‘Oh it’s just the most popular show in the world at the moment’. haha
Yeah Matt, ‘The Captain’ lyrics were good also! I think Kasey Chambers wrote it herself! Never heard of her before now! Nice one.
Oh, do you know the Burt Bacharach song, ‘This Guy’s In Love with You’. If you do try the version by a band called Fastball. I only discovered it recently. It’s quite nice. Great song anyway. Have a listen in your spare time.
I listened to the Burt Bacharach song. Thank you. I really enjoyed it. So smooth..great texture. They don’t make music like that anymore lol I believe I’ve heard it before. I have to add it to my collection. The Fastball version didn’t really grab me, but thanks for suggestion.
Yeah, the Fastball version has an unusual arrangement! It’s not my favourite version, but it’s got something! What version did you listen to, as so many artists have covered it.
I caught the original Burt Bacharach song. I loved it. I will hear it again now.
Hi Sharon, I’m delighted you liked The Captain. Unless I’m mistaken, I believe she writes almost all her songs or at least in collaboration with some of her band members including her Father. I remember an interview she did discussing the origin of ‘The Captain’. She was on holidays with her family in Norfolk Island (an external territory of Australia located between New Zealand and New Caledonia). They went on a bus tour and the tour guide / driver showed them around the Island. He called himself the Captain and she was impressed by his demeanour and what-not and she wrote this song about him:
And you be the Captain, and I’ll be no-one
And you can carry me away if you want to
And you can lay low just like your father
And if I tread upon your feet, you just say so
‘Cause you’re the Captain, I am no-one
I tend to feel as though I owe one to you
To you
Very original lyrics! Thanks Matthew. Good Morning.
Hi there Sharon, what’s weather like today in London? It’s gorgeous here, well so far… hehe
Hi Matt, you are up early! The weather is the same, cold and damp. Wishing you a wonderful day! Are you Christmas shopping yet?
It’s 733am here. I’ve been thinking how I need to go XMAS shopping soon to beat the crowds. I’m sorry to read about the weather there.
Good morning Matt, I’m not sure what messages are getting through to you. Well at least you got the films. I wanted to send you the song, but nothing. So this is it: Linda Ronstadt, ‘Blue Bayou’. She has the most perfect voice. Beautiful song. It is in the movie ‘Man on Fire’ with Denzel Washington. Great movie by the way, quite gritty in places. Enjoy!
Hi there Sharon. Top of the morning to you. I imagine the ‘text’ of your messages are coming through, but the videos aren’t for some bizarre reason.
My parents owned a Linda Ronstadt when I was growing up. I am more familiar with Roy Orbison’s version of Blue Bayou, but I enjoyed listening to Ronstadt’s version. Thank you.
I haven’t seen the movie ‘Man on Fire’, but I have noticed it on cable here. I will try to get round to seeing it.
Cheers.
Hi Matt, I listened to the Roy Orbison version of ‘Blue Bayou’ it’s quite nice. Tell you the truth, I didn’t know he did a version. It’s a great song! Good morning!
Yeh, Roy did pretty good. I’m glad you heard it and got back. Thanks for that Sharon. How’s your day in London fairing?
I’m OK here in London Matt! I’m not about to set off any fireworks about it though, if you follow! I trust all is good for you and family. Kind regards.
All is pretty good here Sharon. Just finished writing a post on a Terri Clark song. I hope you like it also. Have a wonderful day.
Video won’t play here. I will play it another way. I really like her.
I think it’s worth it. It’s a good song.