All language subtitles for Colin Hay-Waiting For My Real Life (2015) -[eng]

(fireworks crackling)

(tranquil orchestral music)

- One word to
describe Colin Hay,

how do you do that?

- Let me think.

- God, I'm gonna take ten
seconds and make it good.

- He's a story teller.

- Storyteller.

- A storyteller.

- Don't want to say
storyteller, mate,

'cause everyone's
been saying that.

- Funny.

- Hilarious.

- Hilarious.

- Complex.

- Obsessive-compulsive.

- Martian.

- Alien.

- Scottish.

- Scottish.

- Genius.

- Well, not genius,
but (laughs).

- Is a man one word?

- Living legend,
that's two words?

Can I hyphenate?

- Elegant.

- Honest.
- Honest.

- Generous.

- Generous.

- And, he's a treasure.

- Intense.
- Resilient.

- Brave.

- Bubbles.

(Colin laughing)

* My, my, my, it's
a beautiful world

* I like swimming in the sea

* I like to go out
beyond the white breakers

* Where a man can still be free

* Or a woman if you are one

* I like swimming in the sea

(gentle guitar music)

- My name's Colin
Hay and I was born

on the Southwest
coast of Scotland.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

Britain, in the
'50s and '60s was,

it was in black and white.

And, there was something
beautiful about that, you know,

but bleak, bleakly beautiful.

It was usually raining,
the sky was gray.

It was economically depressed.

It fucking black
and white, you know.

There was still big holes

where they dropped
bombs, you know?

I was brought up in a music
shop, from the age of five

until I was 14.

Amazing way to grow up,
surrounded by pianos and guitars

and drums and records.

It was the only
music shop in town.

It was the only place where
you could get records.

- My only memory is
us in the music shop.

And, it's only when
you think about it now

how incredible that
was, to be immersed

in such an exciting
period of history,

as far as music was concerned.

- One day, I came
home from school

and my father was sitting there.

He goes, "Come here.

"Have a listen to these guys,"
and he played me a track

by the Beatles, just
blew my mind, you know?

He said, "They're pretty good."

He said, "I think
they'll do well."

(audience laughing)

My father and mother were

very hardworking
people from Glasgow.

They were ambitious and
they wanted to provide a,

have a good life for
them and the family

and my father got
sick of the rain.

The weather was horrible and
I was a bronchial asthmatic

and he figured he'd
go somewhere warmer.

- Colin's health was
not good in that climate

and Dad had also served in the
War, in India and Singapore,

so he knew there was
other things in the world.

- [Announcer] Come over
to the sunny side, now.

Australia, a great
place for families.

Opportunity for you,
fine for your wife,

great for your children.

You could be on your way

to a sunnier future
in the New Year.

- So, in the '50s the
government, obviously,

was, you know, encouraging
skilled or unskilled laborers

to come out from, you
know, the UK or wherever

and, you know, for 10 pounds,
you could jump on the boat

and come on out to
Australia and work out here.

- He was very heroic, my father,

as fathers should be,
in big ways and small.

You know, we went to the
other side of the world.

That was a big thing,
(mimics explosion)

like, it just blew our minds.

I sailed across the sea,

my family, me.

It was like going from black
and white to Technicolor.

Everyone was different; like,
kids my age were different.

It was less social entrenchment.

It was less, less difference,
you know, religious division.

- So, it was a prosperous
time for the children

coming from the gray
part of Scotland

to come to the warmth of sun
and the sky and openness.

- People had that
free vibe about them,

like, they just would go surfing

and they would go to the
beach and they lived outside

and they wore, you know, flip
flops and shorts and stuff.

- The very first day
I ever met Colin was

when he arrived at our school,

straight off the
boat from Scotland,

and his Scottish
accent was so thick,

nobody could understand
a word he said.

- People used to say to me,

"What kind of accent's
that you got, mate?"

Oh, it's a Scottish accent.

"No, you can't talk
like that here, mate.

"Gotta learn how
to talk like us."

So, I learned how to speak
like an Australian bloke,

just to assimilate and get by

and not get into
too many fights.

- The Australian kids
would make fun of you

and you hit one of them and
they were bigger and stronger,

they'd had a good diet, and
they'd beat the crap outta you

and you'd start to speak
the way they speak.

- Everyone knew who he was,
red hair, big personality

and a very talented musician,
right from the word go.

- The guitar was always
an extension of Colin.

He had it with him all the time.

* I dream of lying in the sun

* In my ears, hear
the ocean roaring

* Like all good wayfaring sons

* I traveled home

* With some more good stories

* I build them up through time

* They'll all become
a pack of lies

* When I'm beyond my prime

* Oh my, my, my, oh, my, my oh

* Oh my, my, my, oh, my, my, my

* Oh my, my, my,
oh, my, my oh, oh

(strummed guitar music)

Around '68, '69, I was
playing the guitar and singing

and Jeff Richardson put together
the Balmorals Folk Club.

- It was his first
professional gig

where it was like the
grownups, I suppose,

and Colin became a fixture
in the Balmorals Folk Club.

- I was playing
in bands as well,

but I didn't really
relate to bands that well,

because I never really
played Blues very well.

I couldn't play
anything very well.

I wasn't an expert at anything,

but I knew that I
wanted to write songs.

- He had that, you know, there's
nothing else I want to do.

- The only reason he
was at university was

because his parents wanted,
insisted that he went.

- And so, I realized that
I needed to strategize,

I needed to plan, I
need to plot and scheme,

that this was not
gonna happen easily.

("Be Good Johnny"
by Men At Work)

- I first met Colin
in 19, late '70s.

He was then acting
in a play, a musical.

The first thing that
struck me about him was

his singing and his presence
on stage, really, bang.

- [Colin] And,
just before I went

to do that show, I met Ron.

That was a real creative
light going off.

- We jammed and it was like I
was fitting in to what he had.

- Meeting Ron was a
watershed moment, I think.

I can remember Colin coming home

from having visited
friends and he said,

"I've just met this guy.

"I've just met the guy I want
to play with, he's amazing."

- He tracked me down and
said, "We're gonna continue."

I said, "Yeah, that
was pretty good.

"Yeah, let's do that
again," and then (laughs).

- [Colin] We wrote Down
Under during that time,

maybe a year before
Men At Work formed.

- [Ron] I would have
something half-finished

or just an idea.

I'd pass it to him, he would
come and we'd, you know,

we started to get
really combined.

- Ronno, who's a
brilliant guitarist

and, you know,
normally in a band,

you'd want someone who's,
could do everything and flash

and Ronno was just a
very unique guitar player

who'd play wrong styles
of music in other styles.

He would play, like, a
swing guitar in reggae

and he'd play, he
mixed things up.

- That was like a musical
marriage, the two of them.

It was magic.

(electric guitar music)

- Men At Work probably
would have never happened

if it hadn't have been for Kim,

because Kim
introduced me to Greg,

because Greg had gone to school
with Kim, and also, Jerry.

- [Kim] And, I played
in a band with Jerry--

- Called Lace Medallion.
- Lace Medallion.

- One of the guys who I'd
played with for years,

he basically said he didn't
want to do it anymore

and I went and saw
Colin the same day

and, and said, you know, "Do
you want to do something?"

- [Colin] Then Jerry
brought in John.

John was Jerry's guy and
then, that was the lineup.

(electric guitar music)

- Melbourne was Mecca and the
quality of bands in Melbourne

was just so strong.

- It was a really
happening pub scene,

like, people loved live music.

- It's the only thing
that made any sense,

because it was young
people telling their story.

- Cricketer's Arms, they
actually had a residency

at the Cricketer's Arms.

- It wasn't a rock gig
until we made it one.

- [Jeff] Well, The Cricketer's
became a huge residency

for Men At Work
and it was a scene.

- Incredibly tiny,
free, chaotic,

unsafe, hot, sweaty, smoky,
but an unbelievable gig.

- The place got so crowded,
you know, and I remember,

I remember Greg playing the
sax and there's this, someone,

there's a guy
standing, you know,

like inches away from his face.

- So, even if we only had
50 or 60 people there,

it was packed.

When we put a hundred
and 50 people in there,

they were hanging
from the rafters.

- One guy drunk-fell on my bass

and snapped my neck, the bass.

I had to gaffer it up and
play the rest of the gig.

The audience was great.

It was a good audience.

(rhythmic guitar music)

- You need the smelly, smoky bar

and the drunks falling on your
equipment to get in touch.

- As you went along to
successive gigs, you could see

how the songs were being
refined and developed

and the audiences were building.

- We played at the Pier
Hotel in Frankston,

every Wednesday night;

Cricketer's Arms,
every Thursday night.

- Five nights a week,
they'd be playing.

- Even seven days a
week, for weeks on end.

- [Linda] His ambition
was so powerful.

That's what drove it.

- We were on our way.

I was gonna make sure of that,

you know, I just, like, "This
is, just get out of the way."

- It was obsessive.

It was all we talked about.

It was our entire life, and
the only way to be with Colin

was to be a part of that.

- Dare I say, that also
was one of the things

that attracted people
to me, is that they knew

that I would do that, so
they could latch on to that

and I would deliver.

(upbeat guitar and
saxophone music)

- They were a funny
band, Men At Work,

because they were
very idiosyncratic.

They rejected most of the norms

of the pop music
business at the time.

They wore clothes
that no one else,

you know, when everywhere else
was wearing big shoulder pads

and they'd wear singlets

and they kind of were
proud of this difference,

which created this
really loyal audience.

- Paul Russell said to me,
"Look, there's one guy,

"in particular in the
Melbourne sales branch

"who keeps digging
up the carpark

"and putting Men At Work
signs around the place

"because he's so
passionate about this band

"that I want you to
take a look and see

"if there's anything in it."

I saw them and I thought, hmm,
oh, this band's interesting.

I got more into their
material and came back

and I told Paul, who
was running the company,

that I thought, you know,
"I think they're worth

"having a go with, you
know, they're really good."

* Get ready to run

(rhythmic guitar music)

- So, I went one night
to check them out again

and along with me came
this guy, Peter McIan.

- And he said, "I just really
like 'em, I love 'em, come on.

"I want to see what you think."

- And, he said, "I'd really
like to produce these guys."

- What do you want to do?

I'm in, whatever it is.

You know, I just
think they're great.

- I managed to sort of bring
them around to the point

where he could do
a single with them.

- We started to work
on Who Can It Be Now?,

in a small rehearsal space.

And, right from the
get-go, you know,

I started moving parts around.

- There was too much
shit in there, you know.

It needed to be just weeded
out, and that's what McIan did.

- You know, I started to move
the sax part to the front

and Jerry's famous drum
fill to open the song.

- When we played it live, that
saxophone hook never came in

till halfway through the
song, which is ridiculous.

But, when you're playing
in a pub, it doesn't matter

'cause everyone's
getting fucked up

and they're just,
you're playing away and,

* Dun gun gun, gun gun gun

and then, all the sudden,
halfway through you're,

* Ba da mm ba da da

and people are, "Oh, oh!"

But, you know, a radio
programmer's not gonna,

you know, he's not in the pub.

He's not drinking.

He's, you know, nine
o'clock in the morning,

you know, "Good morning, WZ,
WNZK, you know, here we go,"

and you have, dum, dum.

("Who Can It Be
Now?" by Men At Work)

(rhythmic saxophone music)

* Who can it be
knocking at my door

* Go away (drowned out)
- So I walk in

and I hear this thing
and I go, "Oh my God.

"This, this is an, this
is an absolute smash

"and it's not even finished."

No, I just thought, this
is so going to work.

It was so exciting.

* Stay away, don't
you invade my home

There's a lot of
things that conspired

to create our success.

Firstly, we were good
and we had good songs

and we had a great
record producer

and we made a good record.

- We tried very hard to get them

to release Men At
Work in America,

but they were so, the only
commitment I could get was

a commitment to
release the single.

- Unless it came
from Great Britain,

there was no rest of the
world, in terms of music.

- So, we had all these
little spot fires,

all over the world, where
the record was doing well

and the States was
the last country

and the United States in,
you know, a supreme example

of cultural arrogance
rejected the record twice,

said, "Look, there's
no hits on this,

"We're not gonna release it."

- I went and saw
my old boss there,

who was head of the
international company,

a guy called Dick
Asher, and I said,

"Look, the American
company won't release this

"and it's ridiculous
they don't release it

"because it's happening
all over the world

"and charting incredibly well."

- So, Dick Asher listened
to it and he overrode the,

he overrode the NR, Not to
Release, and they released it.

- But, the moment that went
to radio, it just went bang.

* Yeah

(rhythmic saxophone music)

- The pivotal thing that
broke them in America was

the launching of MTV and the
video, 'cause MTV was launched

right when the American
company finally decided

to pick up the single.

- The whole thing just
started to build and build

and it was like we
just created this wave

and then, we just
rode the thing.

It's like we couldn't,
there was a point

where it was like we
couldn't do anything wrong.

* Who can it be now

* Who can it be now

* Who can it be now

* Who can it be now

* Oh oh oh

* Who can it be now

* Oh we oh

- I was going down to
Australia to visit my family

and to do some advance work
for the Fleetwood Mac tour

and while I was there, I was
at a big department store

and, trying on a pair
of new jeans, as you do,

and I'm hearing this through
the speakers of the store,

I'm hearing this,

* Do do do do do do do do do do

I'm hearing it
and I go, hang on,

this is a damn good track,
you know, who is this?

And, I just got into this album.

I thought, this
album's incredible.

- I was connected
to Dennis Dunstan,

who later became my manager,

and he had a great
sense about music

and he related this band

and we were looking
for an opening act

and he literally called
it before it happened.

He said, "Mick, they're gonna
have a number one album."

- At this fancy dress
party, I went up to the DJ,

at about 12:30, one o'clock

and he was playing
the same old material

that was around at the time

and I said, "Just put
this on and crank it up."

Obviously, the rest is history.

The whole party just got
up, started jumping around

and dancing and having a ball

and that's when
Mick came up to me.

He says, "Is that those guys

"that you've
playing in the car?"

I said, "Yeah,
that's Men At Work."

I said, "That's the guys
I think we should have

"as the opening act."

He says, "Well,
you got my vote."

- They came on the
tour, they opened up

and as the tour progressed,
this little, unknown band,

they ended up, by
the end of the tour,

with a number one album or,
certainly, a number one song.

- It was, Who Can It Be Now?

It went to number
one during the tour

and by the end of the tour,

their album was number one
and ours was number three.

- They took us under their wing.

They actually taught us
how to work a big stage.

- They showed their mettle
with what they did with us

and became a very powerful
component on that tour.

- Well, you have
to get to the point

where there is
that critical mass.

You have to get to the point

where there's that
tipping point.

You have to get to the point
where those little fires are

smoldering,
smoldering, smoldering

and then they go
(imitating explosion)

and once they take, there's
nothing can stop it.

- The '80s kind of
began with Men At Work.

That was the shot
that was fired.

("Down Under" but Men At Work)

It was like this different
type of ecstatic energy,

running through their songs.

- We were traveling, doing
the Hippie Trail across India,

I think, and we'd left
this small pub band

and we'd been traveling
for, I don't know,

six months or something and
we were in the middle of India

and I was sure I
could hear Down Under.

And then, somewhere, I don't
know, in the Middle East,

I thought I heard it again.

I called the waiter over

and I said, "I know this
song, I know these people,"

and he looked at me
like I was an idiot

and that, which I was,
and he said, "Well, yeah.

"They're the biggest band
on Earth at the moment."

(upbeat pop music)

- We were doing five day
sales at 325,000 records,

every five days.

* Buying bread from
a man in Brussels

- Men At Work absolutely
was the entire consciousness

of what Australia meant
to Americans at that time.

* He just smiled and gave
me a Vegemite sandwich

- Vegemite!

Has anybody talked
about Vegemite?

- No one in this
country had ever heard

of a Vegemite sandwich before.

- I do believe that that song
was a mass representation

of, you know, like, Vegemite
culture, Australian culture.

- And, now, everybody kind
of knows what that is.

They won't eat it, but they
at least know what it is.

* Yeah

(upbeat guitar and flute music)

(audience applauding
and cheering)

(orchestral music)
(audience applauding)

- When I think about all
the people who've won

the Best New Artist
Award in the past,

I realize that this award is

not just for the new star
of today, but for someone

who just possibly may be
a star for years to come.

- A Grammy is a huge
accolade, you know.

It's a huge thing.

- Our dressing room was
next to Miles Davis,

which was next to Lena Horne,

which was next to
Ella Fitzgerald,

which was next to all these
people, famous, famous people,

famous, famous people.

And then, there was us.

- And the award goes to,

(audience cheering)

Men At Work.
(audience applauding)

(orchestra playing
"Who Can It Be Now?")

(audience cheering)

- Where am I?

Best New Artist, 1982, that's
when we were Best New Artist.

And, we are the Men and
we'll see you again.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

(sparse bass and drum music)

* No one knows what I can see

* And what I see, it pleases me

* Oh my, ooh

- I got into Men
At Work at Cargo.

Like, I knew the radio
songs for Business as Usual,

but I was a little young to
be like, "I want that record."

But, then, Cargo, it was
just, when it came out,

it was just, like, for
some reason, I just,

I have to buy that record.

("Overkill" by Men At Work)

* I can't get to sleep

* I think about the implications

- I hold Overkill in
such a high regard.

I mean, that song is gorgeous.

* Well, day after
day, it reappears

* Night after night, my
heartbeat shows the fears

We played at Radio
City Music Hall,

which is a very
exciting place to play.

I think we did either
five or seven nights

and I called my
mother and I said,

"Well, you'll have to
come and see the band,"

and she said, "Oh,
yeah, we'll come."

So, I brought them across.

Well, my father was quite
truly awestruck by the city

and everything about it.

I had a limousine for them,

I had a limousine for them
all the time, at one point,

and my father got
in the limousine

and I said, "Is
everything okay?"

And, he goes, "How
does that guy know

"that every time I walk down,
he seems to be just there,

"how does he know
that I'm coming down?"

I said, "Oh, well, he's there
for you all the time, Dad,

"so he's waiting for you."

- We were over at their house

and then Linda, his
wife then, said,

"Carol, Carol, you
haven't seen my new car."

So, out we go to the driveway

and there's this beautiful
little black Alfa

and then, down the driveway,
there's a little red one,

just like hers and I said,
"Whose is the red one?"

And, everyone goes quiet
and he says, "It's yours."

So, I was driving
along, in that car,

and one of his songs
came on the radio.

I had to pull over,
because I just,

it was just completely
overwhelming.

- I quite liked the caviar
and vodka in First Class,

that was quite nice.

- These guys went from playing
a pub, within two years,

we were in a helicopter
flying over the US Festival

on our way to be
second on the bill

with The Clash, 300,000 people.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

- Well, you are here
and you are them.

This is us,

(audience applauding
and cheering)

and we are the Men!

(rock guitar music)

* By your leave

* I think that I'll be going now

* I think I'll
stay (drowned out)

- Flying in on the helicopter,

seeing all these
people was amazing.

- The stage was so big,
we had to wave, you know,

to the saxophone player,
"Hi, I'm up here."

* Like chasing wild
geese in the snow

* Pressing faces
on the windowpanes

* That's a long, long time ago

* We go to a restaurant

* You're saying
it's love you want

* I realize, I can
see it in your eyes

* You're moving
to something more

(upbeat rock guitar music)

(audience applauding
and cheering)

Thank you.

- The real test of a band is
not when you're on your way up,

it's when you're
on your way down,

because when you're
on your way up

and you're going for something,

then you have
something achievable.

But, once you've achieved it,

the next logical
question is, "Now what?"

(upbeat electric guitar music)

- Because America
was so late, Cargo

and Business as Usual collided.

- It was a constant Men At
Work song in high rotation

in America for
probably three years.

- It was saturation.

There was no break between the
first and the second album.

- And, it was so big and
there was so much airplay

that they were having.

- No Men At Work.

- No Men At Work.

- No Men At Work.

- Non-Men At Work days on radio.

I'd never heard that, ever.

- As soon as you
bring in the potential

of large sums of money,

things, all the sudden,
get very, very weird.

- Egos sort of
start to take over.

Perhaps there's a
sense of believing

what everyone's
saying about you,

you know, that you're
so fantastic and famous.

- Conflict began to
happen in the band

and it wasn't being resolved.

- Things that are not said
are usually more trouble

than the things that are said.

- And, even a very simple
thing like a band having

some kind of sense of unity.

And then, Rolling
Stone comes along,

take all these pictures,
all these pictures,

all these pictures, ends
up, Greg and I on the cover.

It had nothing to do with me.

It wasn't my idea, but
it's how they saw the band.

So, external things
start to come into play

which cause all these
resentments and divides

that have nothing,
really, to do with you.

- Jerry had decided he was
going to get his own manager

and that new manager was
actually going to be his sister.

- Who knew nothing
about music business,

knew nothing about bands

and nothing about anything to
do with what we were doing.

Jerry said, "Oh, well, you know,

"Russell's not a real manager."

Maybe Russell's
not a real manager,

but I'm not, am I, am I a
real musician, you know?

You put a but of
music in front of me,

I'm gonna take a few
days to get through it,

but I can knock out a
tune and entertain people,

so we'd gotten to where we
were because of what we had.

- I basically made a decision
that I was gonna leave.

- I wanted out of the band.

I was gonna leave.

- But then, thought,
I'm gonna hang in here.

- And, Russell talked
me into staying.

- Then, I was asked to leave.

(frenetic guitar music)

- And, I was very, just
disappointed because of the,

the way it was done
because I thought

we'd at least work it through.

- I didn't want to sack anybody.

This is not what I wanted.

In the first place, I
don't want to get on stage

with these guys
anymore and I'm done.

Russell said to me,
"But, it's your band.

"What, what are you
gonna leave for?"

- He probably underplayed
the contributions

of the other people.

- So, Ron left.

- I didn't really have a reason.

It wasn't, like, thought out.

- And, of course,
that was funny,

because we were in
the studio one day.

- I just had this
feeling, I want to go.

- I said, "You coming back?"

And, he said, "No."

- And, off I went.

- And, he left and he went
home and he never came back.

And then, Greg left.

The band was done.

- You'd never pick these five
people to put together, right,

but it came together,
it had a chemistry.

There was a magic.

- Bands are funny things

and there's a way
people fit together

and add certain things.

- This band was a
great dream of mine

and it had let me down.

I felt resented.

I felt betrayed.

- It's a marriage and
it's a weird marriage

and the only people you have

to kind of go after
is each other.

- With, for that particular
bunch of people involved,

it was too much psychological,
emotional fragility.

It was something great and huge,

which was essentially just
kept small by small-mindedness.

And, I'm certainly not
guiltless, but, at the time,

it's like, "Okay, well this is
the information that I have.

"This is the decision
I'm gonna make

"and when you think
back on it, you think,

"that was the dumbest fucking
thing," you know, but.

(screaming)

- We have quite a bit
more coming with Colin Hay

and he's gonna tell us why,
besides musical differences,

these guys left the band, right?

- No.

- After a few years of recovery
from the band's breakup,

Colin James Hay is now on his
own, nurturing a solo career.

- When you have a brand
name like Men At Work,

just be aware of what may happen

if you aren't Men
At Work anymore.

(moody guitar music)

- As there were lots of things

that conspired to make
the band successful,

there were lots of
things that conspired

for my commercial
failure after that.

- I mean, that's a
really unique situation.

You win a Grammy, you've got
tens of thousands of people out

going, "Oh, yes, we love
you," the band break up

and you go out and
you have expectations.

- You think it's gonna work.

You think that people
are gonna play it

and then, nobody plays it.

- So, you're the same person,
you're the same performer,

you have the same
talent, but nobody cares.

(moody guitar music)

- Yeah, it's
frustrating, frustrating,

frustrating because you,
I felt like I was making,

I kept on making wrong moves.

I kept on doing the, you
know, fucking up, in a way.

- I think he was
struggling, then.

- Colin, at first,
was a little angry.

There was a sense
of, this isn't fair.

- It doesn't matter,
your time is,

it's like your time's gone by

and you're on the
dark side of the moon.

My life was chaotic.

I was, I was reeling with,
you know, alcoholic behavior.

- There were years where
being around him was

like walking on eggshells
and it wasn't fun.

- Colin had been inconsolable
for quite a while.

Nothing seemed to work
anymore and I just said,

"I can't do this anymore,
just can't do this anymore."

- [Colin] My wife had left me

and I was drinking a lot,

did lots of drugs.

- And, it was an unhappy
period, very unhappy period.

- I told my father
I was an alcoholic

and he didn't take it well.

He couldn't really deal with it.

He didn't really want to know
about it, really, you know?

Whereas it used to be
very real and very dark

and very painful and, you know,

wondering how I'd gotten
to where I was, you know.

It's a scary, it's a
scary, when you're getting,

when you end up, you
know, getting blackouts

and then you're waking up not
remembering how you got home,

it's time to stop.

- He suffered terribly.

He fell off a couple of times,

when he was firs
starting to give it up.

- It's like, every
day, I would get up

and I would pick up this
fucking sword, you know,

and go to battle every
day and slay the dragon

and, sometimes, you would win.

But, it was such an
effort and so stressful

and it just takes
so much out of you.

But, it's all about
surrendering, I
mean, it really is

all about just not
picking up the sword.

So, everything was pointing
to Los Angeles for me.

I did it by going
to AA meetings.

It took me five years
to finally stop.

I mean, it was
all a progression.

You know, it's never just,

okay, boom, one thing
and then off you go.

It's always just, you
struggle and you fall

and you pick yourself
up and you start again

and I moved in here.

I bought this house in 1991.

It's been fantastic to me,
this house, 'cause it felt

like a very safe,
kind place, you know,

and so I started doing
yoga and, you know,

and just writing songs.

- I mean, it's a
lovely place for him.

It's a peaceful place for him.

It's healthy place for him.

I had nothing to look back to.

I wasn't walking in my
old footsteps, you know?

I wasn't walking past
the Esplanade Hotel.

I wasn't walking past all these
places that had my history.

I was walking towards something

and I wasn't sure what that
was, but it was exciting.

(upbeat rock guitar music)

* I hear the
calling of the music

From '91 on, being in Los
Angeles was really, for me,

synonymous with really
playing at Largo.

- I met Colin when I just
first moved out here.

Somebody brought
me to see him play

and I didn't, I didn't
know who Colin Hay was.

You know, I knew who
Men At Work were,

but I started this
venue, Largo on Fairfax,

around the end of '91.

- And, that was right
when I was dropped

and it was right when
I'd given up the drink.

- He was the first
person that I was like,

God, I wonder,
would he play here?

And he said, "Sure," you
know, and then it became,

like, right off the
bat, a monthly show.

* I can't get to sleep

* I think about the implication

- [Mark] The shows were always
sold out on Friday nights

and it would be
Mitch Hedberg opening

and then Elliott Smith
would get up and do a song

and all these great,
great talents.

And the, Colin would
get up and do Overkill

and everyone would be like,
"I'm not going up after that.

"There's no fucking way I'm
going after that," you know.

- And, he hit those
notes at the end.

* I can't get to sleep

* I think about the implication

* Of diving in too deep

- And, I was just
floored and I was like,

okay, I can't take this.

Like, this is, this is
best thing I have seen.

- Largo exists on
Flanagan's taste.

If someone's playing
there, you know it's good.

You know it's real.

- Any time there's
anything in Los Angeles

that resembles a
family or a community,

people gravitate towards
it because it is the thing

that everyone is missing.

And, Largo definitely
became that place

and it was definitely
Flanagan's personality,

and his Pit Bull-like attitude

about protecting the artists,
the comedians, the musicians

that worked there
from the industry.

- You know, there was no
agent would come near me.

You know, I'd call them

and they go, "Oh, have
you got a record deal?"

No, no, oh, you know, so,

so I just would sit at home
and I'd kind of write songs

and I would go at play at Largo.

- Him playing at Largo, that
challenge that was involved,

is the very thing that
sharpened his tools,

in as far as being
a communicator and
being a performer,

to a whole new level.

* Night after night my
heartbeat shows the fear

* Ghosts appear and fade away

* Ghosts appear and fade away

* Ghosts appear and fade away

(strummed guitar music)

There was no other
major record label

interested in signing me,
from what I could tell.

I just decided that the
best thing for me to do

would be to do an
acoustic album.

- I had a record label
at the time and went,

"Look, I'd love to put it out."

We didn't record him.

He recorded himself,

but we were the conduit
to putting it out

and it was beautiful.

* Into the cornfields

* Into the cornfields

- It wasn't particularly
that I wanted

to become an independent artist,
it was just circumstance.

Circumstance usually
dictate most things.

(gentle guitar music)

I didn't really know what
to do with myself, so,

I thought, well, I better
go out on the road,

to distract myself,
if nothing else.

So, off I went, on my merry way,

playing for the likes
of your good selves

around this fair land.

(audience cheering)

But, I was using
you, shamelessly,

while I plotted and
schemed, tried to figure out

how to get back to the
lofty peaks of superstardom,

where I so clearly belong.

(audience laughing)

Ha, that was in 1991.

(audience chuckling)

I have a long-term plan.

(audience laughing)

- The road is, it
just gets brutal

because it just wears
you down, it wears you.

You lose sense of time and place

and so, there's a dizzying
sense of, like, chaos.

I'm sure if you're older and
wiser and keep it together

and are sober, it's
a little better,

if you're drinking tea
instead of whiskey,

but it's still not a
normal way to live a life.

(door slamming)

- The first tour that I did,

we played this little theater.

It was just a bunch of drunken
fraternity friends who came.

They didn't, they
weren't into the idea

that Colin was doing
any kind of show

and the first thing I thought,
when I got in here is,

why are we playing this
shithole to 60 people

and why isn't this more
successful than it is?

- We went to see
him at the Fringe

and there was five people
in the audience, right.

There were, you know, and
that was a regular thing.

But, he went from being
this massive rock star

to real, you know,
and in show business,

that's a hard thing to
take, that really is.

Even, that's my biggest
fear, is playing to nobody.

- There was one gig that nobody
came, you know, in Broom,

just, not one person came.

It was just me and the
tour manager, David,

and the publican, the
guy who ran the place,

the guy who owned it.

And, I walk in and (laughs)
I swear, nobody there.

And, he just looks
at me and he goes,

"Well, I don't know
what happened, Col,
must be a bit cold."

That was his, that
was his reason.

I mean, it was Broom;

it never gets fucking
cold, you know?

And, that was, and now, I'm
going on stage, you know,

I'm gonna play still,
'cause, I don't know,

maybe that's what
Protestantism is, I don't know.

I remember David come
out to me saying,

"You don't have to go on, mate.

"There's nobody here."

I went, "Oh, really?"

He goes, "Yeah."

"Oh, fuck, let's go, let's
just go then," you know?

A terrible night,
though, really.

- Yeah, it's brutal.

It's depressing.

- I couldn't figure out
whether I was tricking myself,

whether it was habit
that I was out there for,

it probably was a bit of
habit, whether I liked it,

what I was trying to
do with these people

who were kind of like, you
know, "Play Down Under!"

- I don't envy him, I don't.

That is a hard slog,

especially when you've
been doing it for so long.

- Yeah, that's a good question.

(gentle guitar music)

It's like a big room for me,

a bit fancy,

because I've played in some
shitholes, let me tell you.

(audience laughing)

* If you hear a voice

* Call our your name

* Saying you can stop
yourself from falling

- You see people like
Colin are inspirational,

always to me, still,

because the only sort of
way to be invulnerable

is almost to be
completely vulnerable.

You can be clever and
everything like that,

but the more vulnerable you are

to those humiliations
that come to you,

the more, and if
you've got the balls,

the more you'll be
what you really are

when you're in front
of an audience.

- People that are committed
to telling their stories

and having their expression,

irrespective of the number
of people in front of them

is a very powerful thing.

You have to follow that path.

You have to follow your vision.

You can't shortcut
your vision, you know,

if you're searching
for truth through art.

* There's no time
left for faking

* Now I no longer
need to understand

* What it is to truly be a man

* Only when I gave
up on my master plan

* Did I then hear
freedom calling

Ladies and gentlemen, please
welcome the one, the only,

Queen of Salsoul, my
wife, Cecilia Noel.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

(gentle guitar music)

- I was living in Manhattan.

The first time that
I saw him at the,

those famous studios
on 8th Avenue,

I recognized him from the back.

He was pouring coffee and
I came into the lounge

and there he was.

Of course, we met and
talked for a few minutes.

And then, years later, I
was playing at this benefit

in Topanga Canyon and
he was there, on stage,

playing before me and one of
my girls, she would say to me,

"Oy, oy, oy, your
boyfriend is there.

"He's here, he's here,
he's here, he's come."

I said, "But no--"

"You're gonna marry him one day.

"You're gonna see, you're
gonna marry him one day."

And, and, then
you think that is?

(laughing)

- I think what?

- [Cecilia] You're not
very good (drowned out).

- What, what (laughs,
what are you saying to me?

- They're a yin yang and
just such a fabulous balance

and she's just so explosive
and wild and intense

and he has that wonderful
dry, wry quality.

(Cecilia drowned out)
(Colin laughing)

- You're, you're
disturbing my wah, my wah.

(laughing)

- Shah.
- Si, baby,

I can't think straight, anyway.

- I wanted a real man.

I wanted someone
powerful, like him,

and spiritually, you know?

Like, he seemed to be very
solid, solid, mm, like a bull,

you know, like that
Scottish thing of that,

I'm here, I'm gonna protect you.

- Hmm.
- You all right?

- [Cecilia] What do
you want to talk about?

(laughing)

- Any, everything, everything
and nothing at the same time.

Oh, you, woo.

* My, my, my, it's
a beautiful world

* I like swimming in the sea

- She's brought
an element to him

that, I think, has given
him some stability.

- You really take your
pencil and you draw,

you draw your life.

How do you want it to be?

And, you know, you make the
strokes the way you want them,

you know, to flow.

I think that we have painted
a beautiful life together.

It's really lovely.

Okay.
- Goodbye.

Gracias.
- I'm gonna try to be quiet,

but, you know,
- No, please.

- I'm gonna have to move
some heavy equipment.

- [Interviewer] I understand.

(laughing)

- [Colin] She's Cecilia Noel.

There's nobody else
like Cecilia Noel.

* Are you looking at me

- Me, me.

* Are you looking at me

- I said, are you
looking at me, pal?

(audience applauding
and cheering)

Cecilia Noel, ladies
and gentlemen.

(orchestra playing "Down
Under" by Men At Work)

George Burns, George
Burns always used to say,

"Make sure you," I
actually don't know

what George Burns
exactly used to say,

but I think he used to say,

"Make sure you always
take your wallet

"or your money
onstage with you."

- [Emcee] Ladies and
gentlemen, please welcome

a man who needs no introduction.

- [Colin] Whew.

- I actually got to meet and
know Colin through my wife Deb,

they were really good friends,

and I remember her taking
me to a cafe in Melbourne

and Colin used to do
a live show there.

And, at the table I was
at was a big executive

from Mushroom Records
and he had with him

some young group
that he had hired

and I said, "Oh, that's cool,
you're bringing 'em here

"to see Colin," and it
was a dinner sort of show

and they said, "Oh, we
always bring our new acts

"to see Colin Hay because of
anyone we have ever signed,

"of anyone out there, he,

"no one knows how to
to hold an audience,

"knows how to deliver in a
live setting like Colin Hay.

"It's like getting a master
class in how to perform."

* By your leave

* I think that
I'll be going, now

* I think I stayed a little long

- I heard him sing,
just acoustically,

and it was at one of
these events that I,

it just stopped me in my tracks
and I, for the first time,

I think, really heard his voice

and just what a uniquely
gorgeous voice he has.

* Pressing faces
on the windowpane

* That's a long, long time ago

* We go to a restaurant

* You say it's love you want

- The singing is
a huge part of it,

but it's just a part of it.

- 'Cause all the songs,

they all hang out in
the dressing room,

new songs are always sitting
and looking expectantly,

"I wonder if I'll
get played tonight."

Down Under's always kind
of standing in the corner,

filing its fucking
nails, you know,

(audience laughing)

just going, "Oh, yes, well,
he'll probably play me last,

"of course, because I
am the most famous."

(audience laughing)

And, sometimes I play
it a bit earlier,

you know, it's, "Oh,
he wants me now, oh."

(audience laughing)

I never realized till now
that my song is a gay man.

(audience laughing)

- His storytelling
is second to none.

I, I just piss myself laughing
from beginning to end.

I never wanted it to stop.

- When he talks about his
father, it's hysterically funny,

but it's so honest.

- My Dad, he used to
sing my songs to me,

as well, when I was, when he
would drive me to the airport

to come back to America,

he would croon my songs,

(laughs) like Sinatra, you know.

He would be driving
along and he would just,

he would just turn
'round, he'd go,

* I can't get to, sleep

(audience laughing)

And, he would sing the wrong
words just to annoy me.

* I think about
the complications

That's one of yours, you know.

- He has a good time with
the stories he's telling

and he's happy to take
the piss out of himself

as much as he takes the piss
out of you, so, you know,

you're all kind of having
a good laugh together.

- I went back to Scotland
and I played my hometown.

Now, my hometown, I've not,
I've never played there before.

I'm about three or
four songs into it

and it's going quite well,

and I hear the door open,

just on the stage,

just, just here, you know,

and I turned around

and there's these two
women standing there

with their arms
crossed and I said,

"Oh, will you go, I'm onstage."

And they said,

"Aye, there's a car blocking
the neighbor's driveway.

"It needs shifting,
can you announce it?"

(audience laughing)

Oh, I love this.

I love this, this
is fucking magic.

I said, "Oh, well, I'm
trying to do a show here."

"I can see that, but it's
blocking the driveway

"and needs shifting."

(audience chuckling)

If whoever's blocking the
fucking neighbor's drive,

move your car.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

And, somebody's yelled
out, "Welcome home, Colin."

- It's not, let's
rock this arena.

It's, here's a funny story
that'll make you laugh.

Okay, enjoy your beer.

Now I'm gonna sing a song that's
gonna fucking make you cry

and think about the
lost loves of your life.

And then, I'll tell another
funny story, don't worry.

- Tells a lot of
stories, these days.

Sometimes I want
him to sing more.

It was sharp, sing another song.

- Two.
* I can't get to sleep

* I think about the implications

- [Zach] What?

I followed a girl out to LA,
which is always a good idea,

and not much remains
of this relationship

other than the fact that
she brought me to Largo.

- Whenever he'd play Largo,

I would bring another
friend to to the show.

- I don't know what
Cary's version of this is,

but I don't remember if
it was the girl or Cary,

does Cary say he
told me about him?

- Dude, one of those people
that I actively was like,

"You gotta come and see
this show," was Zach Braff.

- Yeah, of course he does,
fucking Cary Brothers.

- I had seen

Colin perform at
Largo a long time ago,

before we started Scrubs
and I thought, I went,

that's the guy from Men At
Work and he's so amazing

and I said to Bill,
"We've got to go to Largo.

"This guy is so funny,"
and Bill's like,

"I'm not," you know, "I'm
not going, I'm not going."

- I used to say that by
the time, it's a mistake,

by the time you're in
your 30's, you're cooked.

You know what I
mean, it was you know

what you like musically.

My wife searches for new music,

Zach searches for new music
and these things converged.

- I met that boy Zach Braff
at a party, one night,

and I remember him at
the party, saying to me,

"I've got this gig in
this television show."

I said, "Good man."

He said, "I'm going
to be the star."

I said, "More power to you."

He said, "I'll take
your CDs in there

"and see if I can get
them played on the show."

I said, "You do
that very thing."

(audience laughing)

- Bill comes up to me when we
were doing Scrubs and says,

"You know what Zach says
we should really do?"

I said, "What?"

He said, "Zach says we
should really go to Largo

"and hear this guy Colin Hay."

I was like, "Really?

"Did Zach braff say that
we should go to Largo

"and see Colin Hay perform?"

And, Bill's like, "Yeah,
he's really funny."

I was like, "Really, is he?"

- When I first saw
him as a solo act,

I've never seen someone
that was such an open book.

That's what struck me as
much as the music, you know,

especially in a town that 90%
of the people you walk into

spend most of their
conversation telling you

the fake giant things that
they're currently doing.

"I'm developing this film,

"I've got this show
in development,

"this album's being
recorded," you know,

and to hear someone up
there, onstage, saying,

you know, "I was
here and now I'm here

"and I might actually
be happier, here."

- And, he brought the guy
that created Scrubs down,

a guy called Bill Lawrence,
to see me play, one night,

and he said to me
after the show,

"These are really
good, these songs.

"Why do I never hear
these songs on the radio?"

I said, "That's a fucking
good question, right there."

(audience laughing)

(audience applauding
and cheering)

- I immediately knew

that were Colin Hay
more easily packageable

as a young singer songwriter
that those would be

some of the biggest
songs out there.

They were so good and
they stick with you.

* Another day

(strummed guitar music)

- Just keep it down, shh.

* I can't get to sleep

* I think about the implications

- I think one of the
things that's cool

about the position that
Bill is in, all the time,

and I'm in occasionally, is
being able to break bands.

But, Bill was able to
do it on Scrubs weekly

and you could say, you could
be in that rare position

of, like, "How does no one
know about this artist?

"This artist should
be a household name,"

and it's such a cool and you
could literally make someone

a household name overnight.

- The opportunity to not only
put his music on the show,

but, ultimately, even
to put him on the show,

that I could be even a
small part of people saying,

"I found Colin Hay's solo
stuff because of you,"

it's one of the most fun
things I've done, career-wise.

(strummed guitar music)

* Come back another day

(guitar strings twanging)
(wood cracking)

(metal rail clanging)

- That'll do it.

- I have other songs.

- Oh, you do.

- It changed everything, really.

It changed everything.

I developed a huge younger
following because of that.

I remember being in a coffee
shop in Springfield, Illinois.

There was a guy behind the
counter serving coffee,

he was about 40 years old

and there was a guy
who was about 20

and the younger guy
looked at me and he goes,

"I love your music, man."

I said, "Well,
thanks, very much."

He goes, "Overkill
is my favorite song."

I said, "Thank you," and
the older guy looks at him,

he looks at me and he goes,
"You know who that is?"

And, he goes, "Yeah,
he's in Scrubs."

And, the older guy looks at me
and he goes, "What's Scrubs?

"He was in Men At Work."

And, the young guy goes,
"What's Men At Work?"

(laughing)

And then, one day when
I was shooting one

of those episodes of Scrubs,
I'm sitting on the park bench

with Zach Braff and he said
to me, "I'm writing a movie."

I said, "Fuck,
you're a busy boy."

(audience chuckling)

He said, I want to use one of
your songs on the soundtrack.

I said, "Well, you go
right ahead, you do that."

- So, I think with that song,

I knew I wanted to use something
of Colin's in the movie

and I think with that moment,

with Natalie in the
pet in the pet cemetery

and the big crane move,
it was just, it just,

when you see it, you
see it and it was just

kind of one of those
things where we put it in

and it was just like,

"Oh, well, there's nothing
that's gonna beat that."

* But if I live till I was

* A hundred and two

* I just don't think I'll ever

* Get over you

Soundtracks, as a rule,
generally don't do that well,

but this one went
Platinum, you know,

that's like a fucking
million people went out

and bought the CD.

The song was originally
on an album of mine

called Transcendental
Highway in 1997

which did not go Platinum.

(audience chuckling)

I think it reached
mahogany status.

(audience laughing)

It's a fine wood,
but not platinum.

- None of this happens if Colin
isn't writing heartbreaking

and beautiful material
that is cross-generational.

* But I don't want you thinking

* That I don't get asked

* To dinner

* 'Cause I'm here to say

* That I sometimes do

- Often, if you're
dealing with an artist

that's been on a major label

and they've had a
certain level of success,

then, they don't have
the right work ethic

for what they do, at this point,

to make it fit the
independent label structure

and just the methods

that go along with selling
records in that space.

- I still feel like I'm
starting again in many ways,

although, I'm 60, you know,
and the last decade was,

it was all hand-to-hand combat.

- And, Colin was
right there, you know.

He was doing everything
that an artist needs to do,

taking it out to
the road, you know,

getting in front of the fans.

- Every time he'd out one
out, there'd be some really,

really, really great stuff
on there, just, like, wow.

(gentle guitar music)

- None of us can be 25 forever
and if you don't change

and if you don't evolve,
you're doing something wrong

and you're kidding yourself.

And, Colin is a real artist.

He doesn't do that.

(strummed guitar music)

("Kookaburra Sits in the Old
Gum Tree" by Marion Sinclair)

* Kookaburra sits
in the old gum tree

* Merry, merry king
of the bush is he

* Laugh, Kookaburra

* Laugh, Kookaburra

* Gay your life must be

(radio static crackling)

- [Announcer] The
times, weather and--

* Always

(flute music warbling)

(radio static crackling)

("Kookaburra Sits in the Old
Gum Tree" and "Down Under")

* Kookaburra Sits
in the Old Gum Tree

* Kookaburra Sits
in the Old Gum Tree

* Kookaburra Sits
in the Old Gum Tree

(pulsing electronic music)

(audience applauding
and cheering)

- Good day, my
name's Adam Hills.

Welcome to a special
Children's Music Edition

of Spicks and Specks.

- Well, there's a TV show
called Spicks and Specks,

a music trivia gameshow.

- Name the Australian
nursery rhyme

this riff has been based on

as well as the name
of the man playing it.

(flute music from "Down Under")

(electronic beeping)

- It's Men At Work.
- Men At Work,

Down Under
- Yeah.

- It's Greg Ham is the flautist.

- Greg Ham of Men At Work, yes.

- And, Down Under is the, no?

- [Adam] No!

- There's a nursery rhyme.
- We don't know that one.

(panelists talking
over each other)

- [Adam] That riff
had been based

on a nursery rhyme.
- Are you kidding?

- All right, I'll give
you one more listen to it,

(flute music from "Down Under")

this bit especially.

* Da da da da da da da da da

(groaning)
(buzzer ringing)

- Oh!
* Merry, merry king

* of the bush is he
* Merry king of the--

* Laugh, Kookaburra
- Yeah.

* Laugh, kookaburra
- Oh my gosh, really?

- Kookaburra Sitting
in the Old Gum Tree?

- That's exactly the one!
(audience applauding)

I don't know who
their researcher was,

but that was the question

and that was sort of
the way it was put.

- And, I believed that somebody
had contacted the owner

of Kookaburra the
next say and said,

"Were you, did you hear
this, were you aware of it?"

And, "What?"

No idea.

- One thing leads to another
and pretty soon we've got,

we've got a legal case

and so, that's sort of
how it all kicked off.

(synthesizer music droning)

- It's one of the most
iconic Australian pop songs

of all time, but now a
legal spat has broken out

over whether the Men At Work
song Down Under is actually

a rip-off of a children's song.

- [Reporter] Now, the
iconic Australian song

and number one hit could
cost the band millions.

- This is the really
interesting part about this case

and about, you know, the
law and its application,

in particular, to a sort
of a creative process.

- It was where the law

and the arts just
don't get each other.

- In the song, there's at
least half of Kookaburra

distributed throughout the
various parts of the song

and repeated various times.

- Clearly, to me, that little
piece of music was always

in the arrangement of the song

and their claim, their ambit
claim, against the songwriters

was just bad form.

- Colin and Ron were
playing Down Under.

They'd written that song
before Men At Work existed.

That flute part was
sort of added on later.

- Well, they were
originally after 60%

of the copyright of Down Under
which was a ludicrous thing

as far as I was concerned.

- It was devastating.

It was devastating

because it's a baby
you are talking about.

Our songs are our babies
and that was his baby.

- I mean, I feel dumb
because the whole,

the litigation took
place, you know.

I think, well, how'd
it get to that point?

Because, surely we could
have figured it out

without going to court,
but then, I think about it,

I thought, well, if somebody
wants 60% of your song

and there's two
bars of their song,

they just didn't make any sense.

So, you have to defend it.

- For someone to
come along and say,

"Hang on, you stole
something within that song

"and that song's not all yours,"

that affected him
very personally.

- You know, I remember
talking to my father about it

and I was trying
to calm him down

because he knew the truth of it.

You know, he knew that
when I wrote the song

that there was nothing
appropriated from anybody

because I played the song,

played all the songs I
would write for them.

I'd go down and see them
and play them songs.

So, he was just, he
was just incensed,

you know, like, smoke would
come out of his ears, you know?

- Colin and I got to
Sydney and went to court

with the whole
(sighs) circus around

and then Colin, that
day, he took his guitar

and he sang for the judge.

Man, the judge's face,

I wish that people would
have seen the judge's face.

He was (gasps).

He, it was like his hero
was in front of him.

You know, he was so
respectful of Colin.

He understood and he gave
them the smallest amount

because it was wrong.

It was so, I, (gasps).

(synthesizer music droning)

- You know, after five years
of litigation, and, ah,

you know, it cost something
like $4 1/2 million

and, in terms of what they got
awarded, in dollar figures,

you know, it's like
a hundred grand,

so it was like $4
1/2 million dollars,

chasing a hundred grand.

So, they didn't really win,
they just lost less than us.

- The only people who won,

out of that whole
deal, were the lawyers.

The lawyers did great.

The publishing
company made shit!

(synthesizer music droning)

- It affected the
people in the band.

It affected Colin's family.

- It devastated Colin's
daddy, I have to say.

He wouldn't complain,
you know, as much,

but I knew that in his head,
it was really going on.

- And, he was getting older
and he was getting stressed

and, you know, I
can't make any claim

that this was the
reason that he died,

but I do know, I do
feel instinctively

that it really contributed to
knocking him off his perch.

(tranquil guitar music)

I never got to say goodbye
to my old man before he died

because he was in Melbourne
and I was playing,

in Glasgow, strangely
enough, on the River Clyde

about 20 streets away
from where he was born.

It was like some bleak poem.

- [Announcer] We can't have
this conversation, Colin Hay,

without talking
about the court case

and you've, several
times, spoken to us

about the impact it had on you

and now we're wondering about
the impact it had on Greg.

- And then, Gregory, who
felt incredibly guilty

about having played the
line, unconsciously or not,

he goes downhill

and can't seem to,

conquer whatever
demons were going on,

and he goes, he dies.

(synthesizer music droning)

- It, I definitely think
it haunted him that

that lawsuit even happened.

That's my own gut
feeling about it.

Greg Ham was a beautiful person

and deserved to be
around to this very day.

(synthesizer music droning)

- You know, it's blood.

It's people you love who
are, who you're losing

over this litigation based
on greed and opportunism,

as far as I'm concerned.

- [Announcer] Colin, your text
to me earlier this morning

was that you were
due to perform.

How can you go onstage

with all of this swirling
through your head?

How are you coping with that?

- [Colin] It's difficult,
it's difficult.

I'm in Baltimore, but there's,
you know, I don't know.

(static crackling)

- [Announcer] You okay?

- [Colin] Yeah, I'm just,

Greg, he'll, he'll
play with me tonight.

I remember playing Down
Under in Brazil last year

and it was incredible,
25,000 people,

I was playing there with a band

and the crowd was singing along

and I came back in to
sing the third verse

and they all just kind of
realized I was gonna sing again

and they just went, oh,

and they have me all their
energy and it was like, oh,

just like I was floating
on top of the world.

And then, just at that moment,

I thought of that
fucking court case.

(audience laughing)

And, I just thought of that
moment there in Parintins

with 25,000 people,
singing along.

I'm playing with a
band and these dancers,

dancing on the stage,
I just thought,

"They can't touch this."

(gentle guitar
playing "Down Under")

- Everybody loves that song,
there's no doubt about it.

- It's an iconic song in
Australian culture, goes deep.

But, I think since
that court case,

that's added another
dimension to it

of kind of the underdog being
done over by big business.

* I said to the man, are
you trying to tempt me

* Because I come
from a land of plenty

* And he said, oh

* Do you come from
a land Down Under

* Oh yeah, yeah

* Women glow and men plunder

* Can't you hear the thunder

* You better run,
you better take cover

* 'Cause we are living
in a land Down Under

* Oh yeah, where women glow

* Men, they plunder

* Can't you hear, can't
you hear the thunder

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* You better run

* Better run

* Better run

* Better run

* You better run

* Living in a land Down Under

* Where women glow
and men plunder

* Can't you hear the thunder

* You better run,
you better take cover

(distant guitar music)

* The time was sung badly

* And that caused delight

- As I remember, playing
Rutgers College, in the basement

and then playing in front of
17,000 people in New Jersey

and then, waking
up the next morning

and having just as many
wants and needs as I did

when I was playing
in the basement.

From that day, I learned

that there is no final, like,
boom-you've-done-it success.

With Colin, it might have
taken him 16 years to get

to playing however many people
he plays in front of now,

but, he still won't stop

because there is no finish line.

- So, I had to ask
myself a question,

(gentle guitar music)

that if I never, ever get back

to those lofty peaks ever again,

is playing on a Friday night

at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston,

(audience applauding
and cheering)

is that gonna be good enough?

And, you realize,

it's really not.
(audience laughing)

* 'Cause any minute now

* My ship is coming in

* I keep checking the horizon

- He does it because
he's a craftsman

and it's like, somebody
who's good at their job

and they know it, well,

what do you do when
you're good at it?

You go out and do it.

You don't stay home, you can't.

- I talk about retirement
and he just looks at me

and he says, "I don't even
understand what that means."

- If he just hung out
and played in the garden

and went on walks and
hikes and read books, and,

he would slowly go crazy,

'cause he would not
have that feeling

of the purpose of being alive.

- Creativity is my salvation
and going out on the road

and those two hours and
what you get from that is,

you know, you get high.

* And you say, be still my love

* Open up your heart

* Let the light shine in

* Don't you understand

* I already have a plan

* I'm waiting for my
real life to begin

- You do it to get to that
because that's the addiction.

You want that.

You want it again, because
it's clean, it's pure.

It only involves
these people and you,

so you can't, you
can't fake that.

You know, it doesn't happen
from a, it's got nothing to do

with a radio station
or a record company.

It has to do with,

with connecting with
people, you know.

That's what I'm
trying to tell you.

* Whoa oh oh oh

* Whoa oh oh oh

- I hope that's what it is,

'cause otherwise, I've
been wasting my time.

(laughing)

* Whoa oh oh oh

* Whoa oh oh oh

(gentle guitar music)

* But on a clear day

* I can see, see for long way

* On a clear day

* I can see

* See for a long way

(audience applauding
and cheering)

- [Colin] Thank you, very much.

- [Interviewer] What do you
think about, when you're, ah--

- Och (laughs).

I think the key is not to think.

I think thinking is a
highly overrated activity.

(door handle clicking)

(strummed guitar music)

- [Andrew K.] The
more Colin is himself,

the more engrossing it is.

That generosity is overwhelming.

* I woke up this morning

* The same old
questions in my head

- He's instantly inspiring.

- I think he feels a need
to connect with people

and he's really good at it.

- What do you think about
before a show, Brad?

* Leave the light on

* Should you decide to visit me

- And, he is probably the
best living troubadour today.

- He's just so fucking good.

* I've been an angry
and a jealous man

* And I have no right to be

* Perhaps it's just
my wicked, wicked ways

* Catching up to me

* Still, I've done my time

* And I've paid the price

* And after all, what's
just a little pain

* If I learn from my mistakes

* Then my loss becomes my gain

* Still I leave
- I think it's that door.

- Uh huh.
* The light on

- God damn it.

Wait, it's around
here, don't panic.

Don't panic.
* And should you decide

I'm not panicking.
* To visit me

- That's good, don't panic.

Ah, let's just go
back to the elevator.

- Go back to the elevator,
the lights are on.

- This didn't happen.

- Oh, yes, it did.

* The beginning yet to come

* I'm gonna throw
the doors wide open

* I'm gonna let my spirit run

* I'll leave the light on

* Should you decide

* Should you ever decide

* You may someday feel
inclined to visit me

(audience applauding
and cheering)

(strummed guitar music)

People ask me all
the time, they say,

"Why do you keep going on tour

"as much as you do?"

I suppose the simplest
answer is that

it makes me feel useful.

(woman shrieking)

Everybody has to
find their place

in this expanding universe.

This is my place.

(audience applauding
and cheering)

* 'Cause I do like a simple song

* Everyone can sing along

* It doesn't matter
where you're from

* Most people like a simple song

* Sure is good to fall in love

* Feels like a
gift from up above

* I never seemed
to get enough, yeah

* Sure is cool to fall in love

* Things don't
always stay the same

* She says she wants to
give you back your name

* Never clear just
who's to blame

* And it always
gets so complicated

* One day, you
wake up on your own

* If I had kids,
they'd all be grown

* Of all the people I have known

* True friends,
there's not too many

* But I'm not trying
to bring you down

* And I still get to
play from town to town

* Still is magic all around

* But when I hit the
ground, I'm running

* But I don't want to die alone

* Where I cannot reach the phone

* In my multistory home

* No, I don't want to die alone

* And it's not
preying on my mind

* But I do think about
from time to time

* And it's not
likely to happen soon

* But you may not
even see it coming

* So, help me sing
this simple song

* Everyone, sing along

* It doesn't matter
where you're from

* 'Cause one day we're
here and then we're gone