Annotations written by Loki Carbis, 2009; revised in 2014 & 2025.
The assistance and advice of Casey Bennetto in the creation of these annotations is gratefully acknowledged.
This page is intended for informational purposes only.
Gareth Evans: Now you’ve made it to the top
And the Bodgie is dislodged1The ‘Bodgies’ were an Australian youth subculture in the Fifties and Sixties, very similar to the English ‘Teddy Boy’ subculture. Bob Hawke was widely known as ‘the Silver Bodgie.’ In addition, “dislodged” is a pun on the Prime Ministerial residence in Canberra, The Lodge.
Say a prayer for him and look
At the punches that you took
And the bullets that you dodged
As you walk up to the door
As you slowly turn the key
You will walk out on a limb
Where the bell that tolls for him
Is the one that tolls for thee2A paraphrase of the famous line written in 1624 by John Donne in his Meditation XVII: “Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee“.
My friend, the beginning is the end
From the entrance to the bow
Your time starts now
My friend, the beginning is the end
Even now it lurks beyond that door…
Keating: Gareth, Gareth, tell me more.3Gareth Evans served Keating both as Minister for Foreign Affairs and also as leader of the ALP in the Senate. Famously, on December 6, 1990, Evans became the first Australian senator to say “fuck” on the Senate floor. Although not intended that way originally, the repetition of Gareth mirrors Evans being mocked as ‘Gareth-Gareth Evans’, has also been interpreted as a reference to Boutros-Boutros Ghali and Evans’ own UN ambitions.
Gareth Evans: There’s a spirit in the Lodge
Chills the marrow in your bones
And the ghostly voice you hear
It’ll fill you full of fear
Even more than Alan Jones4Alan Jones was a radio shock jock based in Sydney. He was an outspoken critic of the Keating government, and of every other government to the left of Attila the Hun.
You can hear it every night
Hear it echo down the halls
It’s the company you keep
When Annita’s fast asleep5Annita van Iersel was a former air stewardess and wife of Paul Keating during his time as Prime Minister. She and Keating’s four children lived at The Lodge during these years.
And from deep inside the walls it calls…
Gough Whitlam: My friend, the beginning is the end6Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister from 1972 to 1975. A member of the ALP and something of a mentor to Keating, he holds the distinction of being the only Australian Prime Minister to have been dismissed from office by the Crown, in the 1975 constitutional crisis.
So you think you know the way – well may you say7A paraphrase of Whitlam’s infamous response to the proclomation dismissing him as Prime Minister, which ended with the traditional words, “God Save the Queen”: “Ladies and gentlemen, well may we say “God Save the Queen,” because nothing will save the Governor-General…” Keating had the unenviable job of warming up the crowd for Gough before that speech.
My friend, the beginning is the end
So do not go gentle from that stage: Maintain your rage!8A paraphrase of the title of Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do not go gentle into that good night.” The following words paraphrase another line from the same poem: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” in the form of Whitlam’s famous exhortation to ALP supporters in the 1977 election, following the Dismissal.
Whitlam / Evans: Maintain your rage!
All: Maintain your rage!
Maintain your rage!
Maintain your rage!
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