Added: 4 years ago
From: blueheadflame
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  • I always thought of it as crushingly dark .. a reference to the broad road that leads to destruction

  • Beautiful classic , It exudes Australian optimism ..

  • @AntipodeanAl it was definitely an awesome era though

  • @AntipodeanAl come on now us australians still have a lot to be excited about. go tothe tote or the like and you will see that we still rock out! but i a agree with most of what you said there damn it!

  • @AntipodeanAl

    Ah Yeah but we never got exposed to this music..how could anyone not agree that its brutally real ..I expect the views on oz music to grow with time,,as all truly great music does...check my favs for transpersonals...great music is great music

  • Nick Cave? they are amazing new convert here!

  • I never heard this before,makes mansuns wide open spaces sound suspicous.well not really..I hear many bands that came after..its like a massive deception..this is quality

  • when ozzies could actually make great music!!

  • Truly epitomises Australian music and as TheKingofhove below declares, far too many people haven't heard this haunting song from the Lucky Country!

  • I like

  • i remember this song and im 15 when i lived with my parents </3

  • you do know that there are some poor sods out there that don't know this song

  • dated production, bad haircuts, cliche video ........ absolutely bloody glorious ..... blows me away a distillation of the human condition. I am in love forever

  • 8 dislikes ... who the **** are these people ?

  • great aussie band rip vocalist

  • I'm driving an Audi A5 coupe these days..road is still wide open...

  • A hauntingly but classic tune from the land of Oz!

  • loved seeing these guys live in Perth in the 80s. Was just on FB and an add came up saying Triffids, The Church and Ed Kuepper will be playing Red Hill Auditorium in Dec, cant wait! And no Youtube, im not advertising, just a happy old fan spreading the word to other fans! Thank You!

  • @flynnyboy100

    WHAT!  I just spent the last two days on youtube listening to the church and ed kuepper, and now looked up this song by the triffids.

    What a coincidence, are you for real?!

    What are the chances?

    Thanks for posting you comment though, it really blew me a away and I'm glad I heard about it.

    I don't really read/hear any advertising, so we're left out of the loop.

  • @fo3 Search Red Hill Auditorium, coming events. I only found out coz it came up on my FB page.

  • @flynnyboy100

    Thanks for the info.

  • ..and now you can go anyplace that you want to go.

    So evocative of the spirit and place of another time.

    Love the shot of Lucrafts of Gingin - an actual station I passed a few times.

  • Just returned from a great trip on The Ghan right up through the Alice, Katherine, onto Darwin, and then flown back down, across the centre of this great continent and nation of ours... and with a few variations, this wonderful Australian classic captures the feeling of this magnificently!

  • @AntipodeanAl There was plenty of shit during the 80's especially in the charts.Plenty of pop shit during the time of the Beatles.The problem with music now is not with the likes of Justin Bieber - how many 13yr old girls in the 80's liked quality music? Its the total lack of diversity of music. Shitty pop music is always going to be popular but at least there were quality musicians also enjoying success at the same time.Could you imagine a song like Under the Milky Way becoming a hit today?

  • This song is as much about Australia as Icehouse's Great Southern land is , yet few Australians know it or reconise it sad very bloody sad, love this song and Bury Me deep In Love.

  • @AntipodeanAl I completely agree. Mid to late eighties was a magical time. And I do not think it is just nostalgia that (obviously) makes so many people looking back. By any measure, the quantity of good music produced back then is astounding. A friend recently told me that there was a time that it felt like Brian Eno was producing a masterpiece every... week. Compared to nowdays, how many times within a year is there a "masterpiece"out there? Yes, I do know the Go Betweens.

  • @AntipodeanAl don't despair mate, check out the new panics album ;)

  • Peace, David.

  • i love this me flat budy= introduced the triffids after a john peel session went overboard after

  • yes it's amazing the talent that has come out of the west coast. I haven't lived in oz for over 15 yrs . I am living NYC and love it and have done many road trips across the states and it so reminds me of home.

    things don't stand still and when I do return to Perth to meet up with my bro we drive down to Yalingup and other beautiful places only to find the morons with money have destroyed the scenery wtf stop fucking building shit and enjoy it for what it is.

    I remember crabbing in Mandurah

  • Still gives me goose bumps...it ever will !!!

  • I remember going to see David McComb do a solo gig in a pub in Richmond, Melbourne in 1998. There were about 25 people in the audience, which made me very sad. How could this be possible? I'll never forget the night though - probably one of the best few things I have ever done in my life. He passed away a short while later. Born Sandy Devotional is still the album that moves me the most.

  • I remember bringing the Triffids and the Go Betweens to Oxford. So long ago now, but we did do music then.

  • still one of the best conserts I ever saw was back at some hall ay Melb uni, fuck, maybe 87..they had a wee screen playing images, and to say the least, the audience was receptive

  • Just a top song! Glad i saw them live way back then!Perth had so many great bands in the 70s/80s. Pity we cant go back.

  • Yes "How do you think it feels ? Sleeping by yourself, when the one you love, the one you love, is with someone else ?" Exactly :) Does Alison know ?

  • Hankies at the ready. A perfect and timeless song. Love susiepussycat's post. RIP DM.

  • love the HQ ute at 3.16, go ya aussie beauty....

  • I heard the cover of this song on triple J, I wanted to find the original and can I say I LOVE this. So great. And knowing they're West Aussies is awesome :)

  • The guitarist, Robert McComb, is my geography teacher at Melbourne High!!

  • @ThePimz123 wtf r u serious??

  • @ThePimz123 I did my teaching internship there and met my future wife there (intern, not a student, LOL). I was a Satellite grad in '81. That's too wild about Mr. McComb! Small world.

  • @ThePimz123 Too bad he's long dead!

  • No questions asked just complete agreement. Will keep coming back to this song forever I hope and every time I love it just as much!

  • Fuck Elvis, Fuck The Beatles...this is one of the greatest songs of all time. Nobody should question this!!!!

  • here in greece they have a lot of funs....they are great...amazing group

  • Comment removed

  • Fantastic..Love it..

  • After years I found my old 80s MCs in my cellar. And finally hold this "Triffids" tape in my hands. Hearing it again after almost 15 years I realized - nothing has changed, still love this music, this voice. So I ordered some Discs, because my tape player is 80s, too. Its such a shame, this great songwriter died!!

    Hope you are in rock´n´roll heaven! Thanks for this music" Greetings from good old Germany""

  • Thank god i managed to hear this again before i died, this band were simply unbelievable and i only found out about them just before they broke up. Listening to this takes me back to a special? time in my life, one that i will never be able to go back to and for that i would like to say thanks.Goddamn i still have shivers running through me.Is this music still available to buy? I only had one copy but it got stolen years ago[back in those days actually] :(

  • @hardrider

    Yes, still available, try it on Amazon, like I did last week!" Greetings

  • Love the Triffids, love their original version, but also love the Weddings, Parties, Anything version. For a great songwriter in his own right, Mick and WPA doing this proves what a solid song it was.

  • I'm British. I love this song. I love The Go-Betweens. I like being British... there is just a huge gap in my life that will only be filled when I finally visit Australia.

  • Oh wow, still does it for me, even after 30 years that song still haunts you. Something about the songs from the eighties, so simple but there's something very deep in there. love it

  • And now you can go anyplace that you want to go- owoo!

  • Simply the best :-)

  • oh my. thank you for sharing (wipes tear from his eye).

  • Just grand! We all desire our wide open road in life. Get on yours and discover! You can sit down and watch TV when you're 80!! LOVE THE TRIFFIDS!!!!

  • Australian Masterpiece!!!

  • He is my Heathcliff i am dead after this

  • Iloe this song it makes me cry i dont know why Buried me deep in love

  • he is Heathcfill think about it

  • Thankyou for sharing this most beautiful song!!!!

  • My mom said he should be Heathcliff and I kind of agree with her

  • I come from a time

    when music was made

    by people playing elegant instruments and expressing their human strengths and weaknesses . in a golden age .

  • @peterm3964 i live in an age where music is shit & kids and their stupid songs are more known than the legends who build music to what we knew it to be

    i hate this shitty age of beats and bitches with their meaningless songs and overrated crap

    give me the 80's any day!!

  • @peterm3964

    i come from a time where every kind of music is one click away. in a digital age. 

  • ...coz Gen Y are fucked in the head.

  • One of the best songs ever, and i caught them playing it in 87 in Malmö Sweden

  • Very Aussie, with the HQ cruising down a dirt road or as the lyric goes "driving through the fat lands huntin' down you and him' i'm so glad i grew up through the 60s/70s/80s music has never been better, i saw the golden age and death of real music

  • I went to Vietnam recently with half of these people

  • What about the Screaming Tribesman?

  • along with i'm stranded fkn great underaprieciated aussie songs

  • Best album ever by an Australian band? I think so. Or maybe Back in Black.

  • can't better some things..

  • I still feel shivers x 

  • This band like so many others from this period in Australian music, sadly missed. Its hard to find and hear good music and musicianship these days that had their own unique sound that is REAL.Long live these rock n roll soldiers.

  • @zofor Just glue your radio to JJJ, There's heaps of awesome Aussie talent out there. I still know what you mean :)

  • @kester41. hey bud,cheers.Yes,you know what i mean.

  • Great song. Almost country. Like 70s. But modern rock of the 80s as well

  • I have a daughter that i'd love to think one day can understand and appreciate this. Australian Idol, most FM radio, all try very hard to stop that and tune her into worthless pop and "R&B" (they dont even know the hell what real R&B really is). This song grounds me in a way that is hard to describe. To use a word that is really overused todat, "awesome"

  • @brisneylander Hit the nail on the head!

  • Even if the did not make it in the States and UK does it really matter?

    Their music was life-altering for many, many people here in Greece and I imagine elsewhere. The audience at their concerts in Athens treated them like Gods.

    Dave and the rest, even if they never became popular knew very well the kind of respect their fans had for them. And ultimately, I think that is enough.

  • @MrVasdar Spot on my man.

  • @MrVasdar They made a small impression here in the states, trust me. This song in particular made the mix tapes passed around during the mid-80's (thank you Nonie, wherever you are!). And their reissues by Domino Records a few years ago were avidly snapped up, esp. the album this song was on ("Born Sandy Devotional"). 

  • reposted to radio vaduz on fb community sourced music..

  • Triffids, that is, their music, has touched some place very deep inside of me. It is basically something unspeakable, but has to do with reminding me of a beauty that is not from this world. Beauty inseparable from sadness, and that you can't fake. One of my all time dearest bands.

    And this particular song? It's like Ana Karenina put into a 4-minute love song masterpiece.

  • Fantastic song.

  • RIP Dave. GBNF.

  • @49barfly yep

  • Generally unknown in the Uk, but, the folk that i knew - very special indeed. Admired sounds.

  • @transonicbuoy1 I remember this band well. It was only at the end of their being together as a band but I think I still have my (bought) tape of The Black Swan somewhere. I may have to dig it out.

  • Yr was summer '86. As an Australian livin in Scotland, I walk in2 a record shop to "browse the latest releases".

    Hearin this song over the shop sound system, I knew instantly, 1) Brilliant Song 2) This band r feckin Australian.

    Turned to the assistant, points me at the "current album playin" prop & there the picture of Mandurah - OMG. In an instance a tenner crossed her palm.

    Over 30yrs later, one of the best tenners I ever spent. A Wonderful Wonderful Album, A Great Band. And they from PERTH!!!

  • @susiepussycat I love the way you tell that. If you mentioned it was a Holden we would've made you Governor General last week.

  • @susiepussycat In 1986 I was a 16 year old scot who had just moved to Australia. These guys were one of my favourite bands and seeing them live helped me settle here. Saw them about half a dozen times

  • Whats this about...future possibilities? an ex girlfriend and her legs wide open?

  • I love this sooooo much ...

  • This song probably bests captures the sparse and almost ethereal quality of rural Australia, more so than any other Australian song

  • stop lamenting , enjoy it now . Introduce someone to this music everyday to someone new.

  • @moonvalleymartin Yes, indeed, fantastic, thank u to D for introducing, legend in his own right !  ;-)

  • The Triffids, The Scientists, The Go Betweens, et al were all to taletented - non mainstream to fit into the niche of countdown. No money to be made by that moron meldrum, hence being ignored. After all the bogan bands of his choice got the run of radio stations, and lined his wallet with cash!

  • the bassist is my geography teacher! :D hahahah so awesome, best teacher ever! :D

  • @MigelMeUp Yeah ! How fantastic, make sure you tell him this is the absolute BEST, Yes, shake his hand & say, Thank you. Cheers :-)

  • It is ironic that the talent and lyrics of The Triffids received more aclaim outside of their home country. The only exception being independent radio + the ABC, and independent record companies. Shame on you moron meldrum and your cronies. You may have been a pioneer in dumbing down and receiving money from record companies for promoting their mediocrity, and cultural prostitution. As Lenin says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

  • Born Sandy Devotional.... remember hearing this on John Peel Show the first time and being blown away...... still hits the spot

  • An amazing concert at the Barbican last week. So personal.

  • So utterly fantastic.

    Saw them, with David in Belgium, in the 80s.

    G R E A T.

  • I never heard of this lot before, but I saw them at the Barbican last night and can't believe waht I've been missing out on! Lovely stuff!

  • Just beautiful and will always evoke strong feelings.

  • A masterpiece. One of the best songs ever. Incredibly evocative and stands the test of time!!!

  • Wow timeless and ignored ..RIP x

  • The keyboard player is my uncle lol

  • weddings parties anything did a good cover of this,was on their last album

  • This is a fantastic tune, shame they never really made it big here in the UK, Their song Bury Me Deep in Love has just been referenced in the UK band James new song Crazy....

  • Why someone would even bother to leave a negative comment on such a beautiful song that brings pleasure to so many people really puzzles me...as if there's not already enough hate and misery in this world...jealousy maybe?...just human nature i guess.

  • @mepegasus agree dude, maybe in my case i get angry with comercial shity music but i dont go to that kind of vids or Siquier comment but the thing is education and respect are not availeble for all of us. now we have some new tools to share culture with the world, let see how that works! and remember that in different scales we all are stupid sometimes.

  • @mepegasus Yes totally agree. Quite clearly a case of jealousy. He might be a "professional musician" of 20 years but I can only imagine he's never written anything as good as this. totally agree about born in the usa though :)

  • This brings back some amazing memories WA music is the best!

  • For sure, U know nothing about music.....!!

  • only been a professional musician for the last 20 or so years. And yourself?

  • You' ve been a pro for 20 years?

    To me U look like a teen......

  • @baantalingngam What's up pro musician?

    Have u write recently any new song that's not "boring" like this one?....!!!

    Well, I'm sure for the answer...so don't bother....

    U R clearly an immigrant in AU and for your own reasons U don't like them.

    But stop be so ignorant and learn something from one of the best bands ever exist.

  • This should be the Australian National anthem.

  • @christiangre and not freakin Waltzing Matilda

  • To bad the TRIFFIDS never took off here in the US.

    My mother was an Aussie and ! found out about them with their records from a family friend.

    Wide and Seabirds are the best.

    Amazing talent.

  • i ride a 1967 triumph 650 trophy and suffer from depression this song runs through my head when im riding out west and keeps me that little bit more sane I LOVE IT !!!!

  • The music dies out when we stop playing it and our kids look at us funny when we do ....if it wern't for my vinyl collection my kids would never know what a record is.....

  • Yeah, it's amazing how unknown these chaps are.

    I only found out about them because the guitarist was my geography teacher :P

  • A timeless materpiece.

    Warning: Don't listen to this song when homesick for Australia.

  • If people ask what single song sums up Australia, I get them to listen to this.

  • Staggering talent..and together with Grant Mclennan another huge loss to the Australian music scene..the likes of The Triffids,The Go Betweens never really took off here in Australia,and yet Australian Idol contestants continue to flourish...will someone please help me to figure this out.

  • its the same here in britain mate.genius is all to rarely acknowledged.

  • Comment removed

  • WELL SAID GREAT COMMENT, MEPEGASUS.

  • @mepegasus it's as annoying as it is unfathomable, how the crap from these reality talent contests overshadow real talent in the public eye. We happy few, will of course always know where the good stuff is, and I agree with Jighonky's comment too.

    The Triffids were criminally overlooked by far too many.

  • @mepegasus The 80s were so great for Australian music - raw, no hair gel, no slick clothing, just good music. I'm with you on this one.

  • @mepegasus Well said It was such a sad lose for all of us, This song was quite big when it was first released and like so much Australian talent it just faded into the background.

  • @mepegasus, you are right as alas the moron labels and radio stations controlled the talent flow. In the 1980s when these bands were stars they LOVED Kristie Allen and other idiots like bogan bands.

  • @mepegasus

    I keep trying to figure it out too. For some reason (sub) mediocre crap is far more appealing than real talent it seems. Perhaps its like one of my best friends who doesnt like a lot of the music I like because its too "different". If it doesnt sond like the same old dross on the radio its too challenging and unsettling. Maybe Im weird, unsettling settles me.

  • @mepegasus Different era,back in the 70/80s only the talented got through and because there was so much talent around there wasn't enough room for them all and many a great band like the triffids and go betweens just never got picked up like they should've,they would've killed it in the late 90s or so.Now most music is shit,made on machines with gimmicks or whatever,it's sad crap now,but who cares we got tons of old stuff to listen too

  • @mepegasus Idiots talk about the 80s disparagingly, yammering about comb-back hairdos etc, evidence that they never ventured beneath the surface, Such kind of non-critical mentality keeps the 'idols' in business. Aus made a great contribution to intelligent counter-pop music. Triffids, Go Betweens but also Hunter and Collectors. Purchased in the 80s I still have 2 vinyl indie compilations, 'Countdownunder' and 'Beyond The Southern Cross', featuring bands likely long gone. Peace from Ireland

  • @mepegasus Ill adapt a famous old quote.."Never underestimate the greater publics lack of taste"

  • @mepegasus I think it's called mainstream exposure.

  • @mepegasus ye i us ta hit the wide open road in my HQ PV with a few YL's in da bak experiencen the aussie coast line

  • 1st time listener 29 yo loved it

  • before discount airlines... road trips... long long road trips.... isolation....

  • Hey people ,help me please to download the triffids for free... Thank you ,very much!

  • lost gem!!!

  • All rise for the national anthem !!!!!!

  • wow never really listened to the words of this song very powerfull lyrics/song indeed can remember it being thrashed on the radio way back when was it the 80`s ?

  • my god, all these years on, this track still sends shivers down my spine....still haunts me....

    ......it's a wide open road.......

  • @cousiwa09 me too...

  • @malibumut cheers mate!

  • This song is my NYE song every year and will be every year. Just love the inspiration it exudes.

  • Saw them in Perth at the Melbourne hotel. They also did a few 'Garden Parties' gigs with the The Marrigold, Stems & Creepers.... At the Shents......

  • Makes me crave for the one I love.

  • The most fucking evocative song ever written.

  • Agree with mdixonsteele about the drums---it is very powerful.

  • A very good song from a very underated band, lead by a very underated frontman. Captures the vastness and sometimes emptiness of Australia beautifully. Too young to see them live--but saw the remaining members and other Aussie greats earlier on in the year at Becks Music Box Perth--Awesome night and a fitting tribute to Ben McComb.

  • Great song. Love the way they use the drums on this. There's nothing quite like it.

  • This is my favourite oz song of all time. Midnight Oil, Powderfinger, Regurgitator, You Am I etc etc have never done anything as sublime as this.

  • This song makes me move to Oz. :-)

  • for my big love Elly in Belgium (Balen).

  • Awesome 1985 song from Perth, Australia.

  • Great song,I saw the Triffids on their last tour they were great.

  • Rob McComb was one of my year 9 teachers

  • Underated Australian band. Half of Australia wouldn't know who these guys were