Paul Kelly’s tribute to Taylor Swift: ‘She’s the girl next door, with a pistol in her purse’
After seeing Taylor Swift’s Melbourne show, one of the nation’s most celebrated singer-songwriters reveals why this is an unmissable event.
Among the 96,000 people who gathered at the MCG last Friday for the first Australian concert of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was one of the nation’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, who wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
Paul Kelly knows better than most how to write lyrics and melodies that connect with the hearts and heads of the masses. He, too, was highly impressed by the spectacle of Swift on stage.
“I thought it was an amazing show, in lots of ways: she was great, the band was great, and it was an event as much as it was a concert,” he told The Australian.
“Even though it was a big stadium show, its essence was simple,” he said. “For a three-and-a-half-hour concert, it never really sagged, and that’s a testament to the range, the colours and the variety of the songs – and obviously, her deep connection with the audience. She works really hard, and she totally delivers.”
From one great songwriter to another, Kelly admired the bowerbird way in which Swift has evolved from her country music roots to borrow from aspects of pop, hip-hop and R&B, while presenting material from nine of her 10 albums.
‘It’s probably a strange parallel to make, but there was something about those shows that took it beyond a concert’
“Why is she so popular?” he asked. “She’s like the girl next door, with a pistol in her purse. She’s got steel, she’s got edge; she’s kicking against the pricks in quite a few of her songs, and all the young women in the audience loved it, and were singing along to every word.”
“But she kicks against herself, too; there’s push-back in her songs,” he said. “It’s not ‘me against the world’, because she’s critical of herself in her songs, as well – and we can all relate to that.”
Swift’s run of four Sydney shows begins on Friday at Accor Stadium, and at 69, Kelly is living proof that Swift’s demographic is not merely girls and young women, but humankind.
Her mastery of crafting clever, hook-filled songs is by now inarguable, and smashes any notion of gender or age barriers.
Kelly’s entry point into her discography came in 2020 with her folkie left-turn Folklore and its 2021 follow-up Evermore, both of which eschewed pop sonics for earthier textures.
When radio station Triple M asked if he wanted to cover one of her songs ahead of The Eras Tour’s arrival, he went digging deeper into her catalogue.
First he toyed with a version of The Last Great American Dynasty – a track from Folklore – before settling on a stripped-back, acoustic version of her single Anti-Hero from 2022’s Midnights.
“I liked it as a song, I liked the cross-rhythms and the imagery it had, and thought it was something I could make my own,” he said of his cover, which has attracted 73,000 YouTube views.
When reached by phone on Tuesday, Kelly had briefly ducked out of a recording studio inside Hobart’s famous museum, having performed at Mona Foma festival with his band at the weekend.
At Frying Pan Studios, Kelly and co were trying out some new songs ahead of an album planned for release later this year. As well, they’ll perform next week at Perth Festival (February 27) and Kalgoorlie (February 29).
While watching Swift’s Melbourne debut, his mind flashed back on Leonard Cohen’s run of Australian shows in 2009, wherein Kelly played a supporting role.
“It’s probably a strange parallel to make, but there was something about those shows that took it beyond a concert,” he said. “The love coming at Leonard from the audience was palpable, and the way he absorbed that deep connection, then turned it around and served the crowd? She had the same thing.”
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