1.The First Song I Wrote
The first song I remember writing down was when I was about seven or eight. I listed a bunch of native Australian animals, put them to a bouncy tune with the words ‘we’ve got’ – i.e. “We’ve got wombats, kangaroos, bilbies and koalas / We’ve got numbats, fruit bats, magpies and galahs…” and on it went. I didn’t miss out many, I sung it out proudly in front of the class – I was a fat kid and a smart arse from an older grade yelled out, “We don’t got ’em anymore cause you ate ’em.”
2. The Last Song I Released
The last song I released was the first single from my self-titled debut album. It’s called ‘Priest’ – the lyrics explain it best, so if you have four minutes and 25 seconds to spare, please check it out. I recorded it with some friends and family down at Burrinjuck Dam.
3. Songwriting Secrets
I don’t really have any songwriting secrets. I find songs easier to write when I’m being 100 per cent honest with myself, but those ones are harder to sing when your mum’s in the crowd.
4. The Song That Makes Me Most Proud
The last song on my record is a song called ‘Beautiful Night For A Dream’. My daughter Olive asks me to sing it to her before bed sometimes.
5.The Song That Changed My Life
There are a few songs that have stuck with me since my first time hearing them and it’s still happening. I’m not sure if any one song changed my life, but I know many are shaping it. My nan used to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ to me and my mum used to sing ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’ – they are both real special songs to me. Hearing Neil Young and Crazy Horse for the first time blew my mind. ‘Beds Are Burning’ always has a big effect on me. Frank Zappa’s ‘Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow’ opened my ears; ‘Killing In The Name’, ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’, ‘Everybody Knows’ (Cohen), ‘Desolation Row’ (Dylan) – I could go on and on.
William Crighton plays theCourtyard Sessions 2016 at Seymour Centre on Friday March 11, andWilliam Crighton is out Friday March 18 through ABC/Universal.
