Flow Like Wine

by Steph Miller

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Greg Miller
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about

It had only been a few years since I made the push from my home town Goulburn, up the deadly Hume to Sydney, landing in the inner west. We had the classic share house with uni students, musicians, film students etc. My brother Peter had the means to set up a reel to reel 4 track recording studio in one of the rooms. Flow Like Wine was recorded along with many other more ‘folky’ tracks in this studio in 1984. It was a very steep learning curve for me. I spent hundreds of hours learning the gear, programming the 808 drum machine (now a collector’s item), writing and arranging and perfecting the art of ‘bouncing down’ - anyone familiar with a 4 track would know this technique for extracting the maximum amount of overdubs you could achieve without it all sounding too hissy and unclear.

The song was inspired by busking partner Mark and I playing on the streets of the Rocks, the Quay and King’s Cross in Sydney. The experiences we had, the seedy night life of the early 80s, unrequited love, the neon half light, drinking, dreaming... It was a complete departure from my normal writing style. I was thinking outside the square and an almost soft jazz arrangement came into frame. It seemed to suit the content.

The song was crying out for an improvised jazz trumpet weaving it’s way through. I contacted the Conservatorium of Music and a lovely fellow by the name of Fred turned up on the doorstep and completely nailed the part. The memory of recording it still makes me smile.

We had three house cats. One of them was a sneezing Siamese by the name of Zebedee. He makes an appearance on backing vocals.
I can still picture myself running after him trying to get his unique voice down while running out of microphone cord!

Magic times.

Words and music, Steph Miller, 1984

lyrics

Tonight I am partner to this crime
Shadows and strangers and a ring around a cigarette light
Voice from a window, the words dance with the night
They sing 'La la la' and flow like wine

My head is swimming, swimming, swimming
With the neon, with the carnival in the summertime
Dancing like a demon with a handful of simple truths
That roll like dice and flow like wine

I will wait where the spirits fly
Underneath this lamplight where the drunkards lie
A thought as brief as history, touch your heart and then it dies
Fades away and flows like wine

I heard your singing from the top floor
Blues so blue
Your lips are too red and this bottle is mine
Let's waltz a while, slow like wine

Tonight I am partner to this crime
Shadows and strangers and a ring around a cigarette light
Voice from a window, the words dance with the night
They sing 'La la la'
They sing 'La la la'
They sing 'La la la'
They sing 'La la la' and flow like wine

credits


Steph Miller - vocals, guitar, bass, organ, drum programming, effects, samples
Fred Donalato - trumpet
Zebedee - backing vocals


Recorded and mixed on 4-track at Harrington Street, Marrickville, by Steph, 1984
Produced by Steph Miller

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Steph Miller and the Winter Station image

Steph Miller and the Winter Station Sydney, Australia

Known nationally and internationally for his work in Roaring Jack and Eva Trout, Steph Miller has been performing his own songs, solo and in bands, for many years. The Winter Station brings together a fluid studio collaboration of top players from Sydney and regional New South Wales. ... more

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