BORROWED VERSE
bringing poetry to life
through music
released FRIDAY JUNE 15
PLAYING AT DARK MOFO, HOBART ON JUNE 22
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Borrowed Verse lifts poetry out of the wilderness, bringing it to life in song — conjured up by a collective of acclaimed songwriters including Glenn Richards (Augie March), Angie Hart (Frente), Ben Salter and Emily Lubitz (Tinpan Orange). Their musical meditations explore diverse poetic orbits, from legends of Australian poetry (Kenneth Slessor) to our living legends (Uncle Herb Wharton), and from poets of the ‘canon’ (Judith Wright) to outsider poets (Michael Dransfield).
In making the Borrowed Verse album, the brief to each musician was simple: write a song based on a poem that you love, by a poet you connect with musically.
Borrowed Verse was devised by Brisbane arts producer and musician Simon Munro, who says, “These works are the product of songwriters being led into song by the hand of a poet. Borrowed Verse aims to challenge songwriters and excite listeners by approaching music from an entirely new direction.”
He adds, “The project is about interweaving the familiar worlds of music and poetry — that possess a shared spirit — and taking an audience to a new realm. In working with musicians who love poetry, and poets connected to the music of words, the album has grown organically from shared passions.”
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GLENN RICHARDS Pic – Carly Devine
Glenn Richards from Augie March contributes the song ‘A Strange Bird’ (Poem by Michael Dransfield). Glenn comments, “I was introduced to the poetry of Michael Dransfield many years ago by a Tasmanian friend who felt some kinship between what I was trying to do lyrically and thematically at the time and some of Dransfield’s work. The Augie March record Strange Bird had already been released, any titular crossover was coincidental, but happily, and we used a projection of Michael’s ‘A Strange Bird’ as a backdrop for the following tour. The poet died at the age of 24, I don’t recall reading anything of his that could be called immature, maybe idealistic at worst — considering the breadth of his subject matter the impression that stays with me is of reserve and consideration.
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ANGIE HART
Angie Hart found inspiration from a poem by Dorothy Porter called ‘The Bee Hut’. Angie explains, “I came across Dorothy Porter’s The Bee Hut when it was given to me by a writer friend after I’d lost a friend to breast cancer. My grieving process was swirling around over my head like a hurricane unable to land and do its necessary grief. When I finally dared to open the book, all winds died down and whether I was in the eye of the storm or not, I had focus for my unnameable feelings and I began to be able to feel them, which is the first step”.
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BEN SALTER
Ben Salter’s song ‘Tracks’ is a poem by Uncle Herb Wharton. Ben says, “I was first introduced to the poetry of Herb Wharton through Simon around four years ago. Herb is of mixed Aboriginal and Irish heritage and has spent most of his life working on cattle stations in Western Queensland before coming into his second career, that of an internationally renowned poet. Simon sent me a bunch of Herb’s work to consider for the project. The thing that struck me straight away was just how unadorned and direct Herb’s language is – almost shockingly so. But within the fortress-like simplicity of his words and descriptions is a disarming stoic beauty that betrays Herb’s deep love for and implicit understanding of the Australian landscape and our place in it, as well as an almost nonchalant mastery of meter and tone. All of this is evident in his poem “Tracks” which I chose for our collaboration. For a white Australian like me, confronting Herb’s words is a little like confronting our country’s shared Aboriginal heritage, and the country itself – superficial elements give way to a deeper understanding that is ancient, beguiling and truly liberating.
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EMILY LUBITZ
Emily Lubitz (Tinpan Orange) contributes ‘Today You Asked Me If I Remember What You Told Me About Love’, a poem by Oscar Schwartz. She explains, “I was fumbling around with some Emily Dickinson poems and not really getting anywhere, so I emailed the only published poet I know, Oscar Schwartz and asked him for some recommendations of contemporary poets. While he was at it I asked him to send me some of his work. He sent me a list of wonderful poets and his book of poems, The Honeymoon Stage, published in 2017. I fell in love with his writing. He has a beautiful conversational tone, that gets pretty weird and philosophical, but stays humble and is often funny. I came across “Today You Asked Me If I Remember What You Told Me About Love” and it seemed like one of the few poems of his that had few enough words to turn into a song. The song came quickly and easily. He is subtle yet specific enough to paint a scene that is full of feeling that is new but familiar.”
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BORROWED VERSE
Tracklisting:
1. Glenn Richards — A Strange Bird
[Poet: Michael Dransfield]BORROWED VERSE
2. Tom Cooney — Morbid Fascination [Poet: Pascalle Burton]
3. Augie March — Mephistopheles Perverted [Poet: Kenneth Slessor]
4. Angie Hart — The Bee Hut [Poet: Dorothy Porter]
5. Ben Salter — Tracks [Poet: Uncle Herb Wharton]
6. Paul Bonetti — Midwinter (Making a Shelter from the Rain) [Poet: Michael Dransfield]
7. Ben Salter — Where Corals Lie [Poet: Richard Garnett]**Only non-Australian poet
8. Angie Hart — Not The Same [Poet: Dorothy Porter]
9. The Stress of Leisure — Straws [Poet: David Stavanger]
10. Emily Lubitz — Today You Asked Me If I Remember What You Told Me About Love [Poet: Oscar Schwartz]
11. Jessie L. Warren — Dear John [Poet: Maria Zajkowski]
12. Nausicaa — Silence [Poet: Judith Wright]
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Working with poets and musicians from around the country since 2014, the Borrowed Verse project has commissioned new work for TEDxBrisbane, Woodford Folk Festival, the Queensland Poetry Festival and now Dark Mofo in Hobart on June 22.
Dark Mofo audiences will be enthralled by live performances from the Borrowed Verse album. Beyond the album, Tiny Ruins is playing two adaptations of W.B. Yeats and there’ll be a number of new adaptations just for the show. For example, adaptations of a poem by Leonard Cohen and Sylvia Plath.
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Dark Mofo tickets are available HERE
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BORROWED VERSE
released JUNE 15
on ABC Music.
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www.borrowedverse.com
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