Australian Crawl’s James Reyne returns to Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre to celebrate 41 years since Boys Light Up album

Former Australian Crawl frontman and solo artist James Reyne is coming back to Toowoomba next month, to celebrate more than four decades since the release of Boys Light Up.

Ex-Australian Crawl frontman and solo artist James Reyne.

In the four decades since he penned one of the finest Australian songs of the 1980s, James Reyne said he has heard almost every opinion on Boys Light Up’s actual meaning.

Rather than being infuriating, he welcomes the countless interpretations of his music.

“I think a lot of people thought it was about smoking weed or dope and it never was,” he said.

“It got banned at the time, because that was people’s interpretation.

“Whatever anyone’s interpretation is, there are lots of songs where people said they loved it because they thought it meant XYZ, and that wasn’t why I wrote it.

“Sometimes people’s interpretations are actually better than mine — music has that organic effect on people.”

The legendary frontman of Australian Crawl, who has crafted a considerable career in his own right, returns to Toowoomba next month to celebrate the belated 40th anniversary of the band’s debut album, also called Boys Light Up.

The song itself, which features a number of risque lyrics inferring fellatio and masturbation, is an instant classic and revered by some as a cynical commentary on Australian domestic culture in the 1980s.

But Reyne said the pub classic has a far simpler origin, both thematically and musically.

“Back then I could only play a couple of things on piano on each hand, and that’s why it’s got that jangly feeling,” he said.

“It was just a really lucky session, it maybe took an afternoon to write.

“The chorus has got nothing to do with the verses.

“When I was 16, we always used to have a cigarette because we thought it was cool to walk into class smelling of cigarette smoke, and it was a phrase that we used.

“(The verses were about after) I had left home, and I heard little rumours of titbits, vague stories of episodes and scandals that had happened.”

Reyne and his band will play a huge chunk of Boys Light Up, along with other hits by Australian Crawl and himself.

The 63-year-old understands what the majority of people want to hear when they come to see him.

“Having done this for a long time, you know to give the audience what they want,” he said.

“You just get to understand what people are responding to.

“There are always some people who keep up with the more recent stuff, but I understand the majority bought a ticket to hear the stuff they love.”

James Reyne will play the Empire Theatre on Saturday April 10.

For tickets, head to the website.