16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens

"Round and round, Up and down. 
Through the streets of your town. 
Every day I make my way. 
Through the streets of your town"


In July of 2010 they opened a new bridge in my home town. With a toll of $AUD3.02 for the 117m or 384 ft journey (and a completely free bridge not a mile further down river) it isn't one I cross in my car very often. I've driven over it just twice in fact and only once was on purpose. They suspended the toll while our buddy Obama was in town, so I drove over it simply because I could. The other was an accidental navigational error while running very, very late, trying to get from West End to The Gap. Real place names, I swear it.

I bring up these fascinating facts about Brisbane geography and my navigationally-challenged-ness because I recently went by this bridge for an actual musical reason. Combining three of my favourite things - bikes, beer and music, I was on an evening bicycle* tour, exploring some of Brisbane's musical heritage and the first stop was The Go Between Bridge, named after a Brisbane band I'd basically never heard of: The Go-Betweens.

As the tour wound down at The Triffid, and a beer or three had been poured, I decided I wanted to know more about The Go-Betweens. I also knew I had a musooklub post looming... Figured I might as well take you guys along for the ride. Ride. Bike tour. Get it? Yeah, I know. Seemed cleverer after the beer.

I randomly picked 16 Lovers Lane (1988) to start with simply because the title was painted on the wall of beer garden:

So I was genuinely surprised that I did actually know one of the songs quite well, go figure. 'Streets of You Town' with its Australian summer-in-the-80s bright, sort of pop sound that starkly contrasts with the dark lyrics about knives and battered wives.

Like most western music, the album is about love, beginnings and endings. Through a little background reading I learned that 16 Lovers Lane was written and recorded during a pretty tumultuous time for the Go-Betweens, one relationship starting while another was ending, being played out over a stressful touring schedule.


I think that's reflected in the lyrics that span the relationship spectrum, from the bubbly, exciting beginnings and quiet contentment of love going well - I quite like the very cosy, almost domestic feel the opening line of 'Quiet Heart':

/The heater's on/The windows are thin/

/I'm trying hard/To keep this warmth in/

/I turn to her/She's sound asleep/

- to the post mortem/reflection end of things when it's all over in 'Was There Anything I Could Do?' and the album's poignant closing track 'Diving For Your Memory':

/So when I hear you saying/That we stood no chance/

/I'll dive for your memory/We stood that chance/

The Go-Betweens effectively disbanded soon after. A few of the members released music under the band's name in subsequent years, but 16 Lovers Lane was the last one with the line up of Amanda Brown (vocals, violin, oboe, guitar), Robert Forster (vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica) Grant McLennan (vocals, lead guitar), Lindy Morrison (drums) and John Willsteed (bass guitar, guitar, hammond organ, piano).

My favourite tracks are #2 Quiet Heart, #7 Clouds and #10 Dive for Your Memory.

I'm going to give 16 Lovers Lane a 3.5, which is higher than I was going to award it after my initial listen. From the bios and documentaries I've since checked out, hearing the band talk about the stories behind the music, I've found it to be more complex than the 80s "jangle pop" (as Wiki puts it) than I was about to dismiss it for. I've probably heard it about 10 times through now, plus the going-back-to-listen-more-closely bits, as I've had the album on a loop these past few days while I've been writing. And hasn't THAT been a dreadfully slow, one handed task.

I somewhat naively thought that breaking my arm a month and a bit ago in NZ would lend me some extra time to catch up on albums and things while I'm on a total road/mtb bike, band & driving ban. Not the case. I think all that bonus time gets eaten up by all the every day tasks that take so much freaking longer when you're fumbling about like a demented T Rex. There's nothing quite like the frustration of being trapped in your own t shirt.

16 Lovers Lane can be found here on Google Play (Google Play subscription - I highly recommend it!) and here on You Tube with some hilariously bad late 80's fashion. Note, only the first 10 tracks on the Google album were part of the original release, and that's the one I've talked about.

*recumbent trikes are awesome and be safely piloted with one arm! Definitely take one for a spin should you get the chance. Think self-powered go-carts for grown ups.