Tim Rogers from You Am I, taken at the Gaelic Club, Sydney on Friday 29th October 2004.

Had a scratch only you could itch
underneath the Glebe Point Bridge

Purple Sneakers, You Am I (from Hi Fi Way)

Surely these are two of the most fantastic opening lines to a song. Purple Sneakers appeared on one of the (if not THE) best Australian rock albums of the 90s, Hi Fi Way by You Am I (http://www.youami.net); their second album (1994), following the remarkable Sound As Ever. Recorded at Geene Street Studios in New York, produced by Lee Ronaldo (Sonic Youth) and mixed by Ronaldo and Jon Auer (The Posies) following their support slot for Soundgarden (http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/) across the US (after being ‘found’ by them at the Big Day Out), it hit the Australian music scene with a thump. It spawned the singles Cathy’s Clown, Jewels and Bullets, and aforementioned Purple Sneakers. The Sydney band sold out six shows at the Metro Theatre (Sydney) in a row – the only band to ever do so to date.

As a Juice magazine review said at the time:

The cause behind them is the near (just for the record, "Gray" is simply good) comprehensive brilliance in conception and execution of this album. Put simply, Hi Fi Way sets a new benchmark in Australian music. 5/5

The songs hark back to lead singer Tim Roger’s childhood, and dwell on the daily grind of life and growing up in Sydney. They rock, they strum, they strut, they take hold of the foot and make it tap, tap, tap. The track Applecross Wing Commander is about pretending to be an airplane as a 9 year old (in the Perth suburb Applecross), and the tracks She Digs Her, Minor Byrd and Punkarella are inspired by people around him. Purple Sneakers was released as a single in June 1995 and reached number 24 in the 1995 Triple J Hottest 100. The song was inspired by the school-yard taunts Tim suffered after he wore purple sneakers (a twelfth birthday present from his father) to school. It also touches on the over-use of drugs to keep inattentive children at bay.

The Glebe Point Bridge, permanently swung open to allow shipping to pass through.

But, as with many of the tracks, the lyrics capture the heart of the listener, and take them on a reminisce. The Glebe Point Bridge, now decommissioned, squats insignificantly below the huge ANZAC (Glebe Island Bridge) that feeds traffic from the west into the heart of Sydney. But before 1997, the little four-lane swing bridge was an archaic (and infuriating at peak hour) reminder of a time past, when Sydney was about cans of KB lager, Fords and Holdens, and when we could play cricket on the street in bare feet and ride our BMX bikes off into the distance.

Find this song on your music-swapping programme. Listen. Love it. Then buy it.

Purple Sneakers

Had a scratch only you could itch
Underneath the Glebe Point Bridge
And now every boy in a knitted vest
Has got some precedent
So we took a personality pill
And something red to swill
And now every fire has gone out
in every heart that wanted to kill
Let's call it a day

Every thought that once had a sound
We'll have to hide 'til no one is around
'cause there ain't no room in the city today
For explanations that you just can't say
Found out what shame can mean
In purple sneakers and grey jeans
And every walked to a school that once made sense
Sure felt like an accident
Let's call it a day

For every trouble you found
There's a drink to lose it and drown
But do you need somebody, to feel somebody?

Every day that once had a sound
We'll have to hide 'til no one is in town
I don't hate I just feel better
When no one else is around
So we'll take a personality pill
And something red to swill
And now every fire has gone out
in every heart that wanted to kill
Let's call it a day

For every trouble you found
There's a drink to lose it and drown
But do you need somebody, to feel somebody?

You can shave a million ways
To make damn sure that the twelve in you stays
But do you need somebody, to feel somebody?