I Remember Kirribilli

Keating: Canberra’s never lonelier or colder
Than when you feel the heartbreak of defeat¹Keating challenged Hawke for the leadership on June 3, 1991 – he lost, with 44 votes to Hawke’s 66.
You’ll never find a sympathetic shoulder
On any bureaucratic street
So when I must forgive or be forgiven
When all my best-laid plans have gone astray
I head down to the shores of Burley Griffin²Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in Canberra created by and named for Walter Burley Griffin, the designer of Canberra.
And try to wash the pain away

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly
Walter dug it oh so deep
And I remember Kirribilli³Kirribilli House is an official residence of the Prime Minister in Sydney, located harbourside in the suburb of the same name, near the northern landing of the Harbour Bridge.
The promise that he did not keep

He looked me in the eye across the table
He looked at me and swore he’d step aside⁴Hawke and Keating made a private agreement in 1988 that Hawke would yield the leadership of the ALP (and thus, the Prime Ministership) to Keating after the 1990 election, but then reneged on the deal.
I gave him my support and kept him stable
He looked me in the eye and lied
I dreamed that I was Placido Domingo⁵At the Christmas 1991 Press Dinner, Keating described himself as the Placido Domingo of Australian politics: “sometimes great, and sometimes not great, but always good.”
Ready for the spotlight and applause
But maybe I’ll end up like Ernie Dingo
And vanish in ‘The Great Outdoors’.⁶Ernie Dingo is a sometimes controversial celebrity of Aboriginal descent, best know for having hosted travel and lifestyle show “The Great Outdoors” since 1993.

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly,
And I swear I see a lady with a blade⁷The Lady of the Lake famously gave King Arthur the sword Excalibur, signifying by divine right that he should be king. However, it should be recalled that strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, supreme executive power deriving instead from a mandate from the masses.
And I remember Kirribilli
The promise that a friend once made

I want to rule, I want to lead, I know just what the people need
I thought I had it guaranteed, but then
He threw me down in the stenches of the dank back benches,⁸After Keating’s failed first challenge for the leadership, Hawke removed his portfolio as Treasurer, and Keating spent the next several months as a backbencher.
And I never want to go back there again! Again!

Time again for daring and defiance
Time to charge the throne and take the crown
And I won’t need no iron-clad alliance
To go for gold and bring Old Silver down…⁹‘Old Silver’ was Keating’s private nickname for Hawke.

“I’m gonna bring him down”

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly
It purifies my soul anew
“yes it does people!”
And I, I remember Kirribilli
And I know now what I have to do,
I know now what I have to do.
Dooooo…