And the gulls circle near where Fairburn walked
Gulls Circle Near: Flyer for the Time-Out for Tauranga charity music festival, proceeds of which will all be donated to clean up after the stranding of the Rena.
Achingly beautiful. Caitlin Smith’s recording is so striking, it is incomprehensible that Where Fairburn Walked didn’t become a New Zealand standard. Be that as it may, the tribute to poet Rex (A R D) Fairburn was performed brilliantly by the Prohibition Big Bandmarvellously, seamlessly, morphing since into the sublime West City Jazz Orchestra at the 2007 Mahurangi Regatta. The vocalist was local jazz singer Jennifer Eirena with the songwriter, Ross Mullins, on keyboard.
At the Ascension Wine Estate on Saturday, Caitlin Smith headlines a charity music festival, with all proceeds to be donated to clean up waterways and support wildlife recovery, following the stranding of the Rena. Singer songwriters Jason Kerrison and Luke Thompson feature, as do local acts Andy Richards and Blind Willie Motel—the name of which is surely a salute to Bob Dylan’s sublime tribute to, and curious pronunciation of, McTell.
And while it is unlikely Where Fairburn Walked will be performed on Saturday, the lyrics stand on their own:
Where Fairburn Walked
Ross Mullins 1987
Oh ferry me across the shining harbour
Take me back again
Rock me rock me gentle on the water
I will feel no pain
And take me through the corrugated hallway
Out on to the pier
Where the whitebaiters roll a smoke
And the gulls circle near
Fairburn and his Mahurangi Friends: Although set on the Waitematā and in Devonport, Ross Mullins’ A R D Fairburn testament settles perfectly peacefully in the Mahurangi. photographer Clifton Firth
O walk me through those sleepy settlers’ streets
Where Fairburn walked
Past the villas with their filigrees
And chestnut trees and the idle talk
Of the old boilermakers in the public bar
Sipping at their beer
Past the poets at the dartboard
Waiting for their marvellous yearAnd by the graveyard pioneers
There stood a priest
Lay down your pen he said
Abandonment is only the sister of releaseAnd when my journey’s ended, I will ask you to bury me
On the slopes of the gentle grassy mountain
That looks out to the sea
And bury me in a black piano
Beside a macrocarpa tree
And toss my music to the wind
And throw away the keys
And toss my music to the wind
And throw away the keys
In addition to Eirena, Mullins is also recorded as Where Fairburn Walked ’s vocalist, and on keyboard.
Ten years late but I (accidentally) just listened to Where Fairburn Walked, randomly chosen from Macca’s Top 100. Everything you’ve described from achingly beautiful, to the lyrics standing alone, to why it’s not an Aotearoa standard, is absolutely correct.
Take up the fight, it’s never too late and it should be a standard—if you Kiwis don’t claim it we might (it’s worked before :-))
But perhaps not 10 years too late—a call to arms indeed, Mark!
Looking back, I can barely believe Ross Mullins played keyboard for a rendition of Where Fairburn Walked at the 2007 Mahurangi Regatta prize-giving dance, Jennifer Eirena vocalist, dedicated to me on my 60th!
To want heaven after that, would be greedy. And your embrace of Mullins reminds me anew why I love Australians.
PS On the subject of greed, I want a Rowperfect…
What a wonderful 60th present. I have to confess I wasn’t familiar with Fairburn’s work and had initially wondered if the song’s title might be a tribute to the rowing coach Steve Faribairn before I saw the spelling and did some research. Ross did a wonderful job.
So: now I’ll try to deliver you a Rowperfect in person when this rotten virus is under control!