Surfing Magazines (2000) – The Go-Betweens

I first heard this iconic Australian surfer tune watching The Go-Betweens live concert at The Tivoli, Brisbane (August 6, 2005). I got the DVD soon after it came out and played it all the time. I was hooked on Surfing Magazines upon first listen with it’s beautiful and stark simplicity. I can relate so much to it – being an Aussie kid growing up in the 70’s and 80s and spending our summer’s mostly down at the beach near my Nan’s place on the mid north coast, New South Wales, Australia. I love how The Go-Betweens manage to capture the whole vibe from those days perfectly in one simple yet charming little tune. Also it contains a really nice video (seen below) with old footage of Aussie surf beaches. It’s just a great tribute to the Aussie beach life in the 70s and 80s.

Surfing magazines comes from The Go-Betweens 2000 comeback album (after a 12 year hiatus) – The Friends of Rachel Worth. The album was recorded in Portland, Oregon at Jackpot! Recording Studio by Larry Crane. Co-founder Grant McLennan who tragically passed away soon after The Tivoli concert below said about the album: “Rachel felt really natural – it wasn’t like Robert and I had separate managers or any of that industry bullshit. We’d always wanted to record in America, too, so that was a real dream. I think it has a really mysterious, otherworldly, ‘lost’ feel to it.” The Friends of Rachel Worth received generally positive critical reviews. It holds a score of 77 out of 100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic.  

[Verse 1]
We used to get our kicks
Reading surfing magazines
Some good looking people
Wearing Lee Cooper jeans
They’re breaking on the headland
They’re breaking on the shore
And when you’re living in Hawaii
They’re breaking at your door

[Refrain]
Da da da da da da
Da da da da da da
Da da da da da da
Da da da da da da

[Verse 2]
We used to wet our fingers
On surfing magazines
Going to throw school
And follow those scenes
Going to get a Kombi
And go from beach to beach
Be the kind of people
The Authorities can’t reach

[Verse 3]
We used to get our kicks
Reading surfing magazines
Wake up in the morning
And the waves are clean
Standing on the headland
Taking in the scene
Just like they do it
In surfing magazines

[Refrain]
Da da da da da da (surfing magazines)
Da da da da da da (surfing magazines)
Da da da da da da (surfing magazines)
Da da da da da da (surfing magazines)

References:
1. The Friends of Rachel Worth – Wikipedia

About observationblogger

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand