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(AMBIENT NATURE SOUNDS, RHYTHMIC TAPPING)
MAN: I'll tell you a little secret
that's only known to about two people.
(LAUGHS) And they're both in this room.
And I swear it's true.
(STRING INSTRUMENTS TUNE)
I must have been singing Mis'ry in me head.
I don't think I was listening to it.
And I'm thinking, "Gee, that's short isn't it?"
I'm thinking, "Yeah, isn't it?"
And I thought,
"Perhaps I should add a couple of verses to it."
And I felt this... on the shoulder.
And I thought,
"What's that?"
Nobody there. You know?
And this voice said, "Write a new song."
And I thought, "Somebody's told me that, and I heard it."
And I believe that. I believe that completely.
And I don't know who it was,
whether it was Banjo Paterson or who it was,
but it was somebody.
That was the first time I've had it
and that's only two years ago, I suppose,
but I've had three or four now.
I've got a little series of songs
that I'm writing, bit by bit,
and they're all done the same way -
nudge, nudge, nudge, nudge.
Now, don't tell anybody your father's nuts but...
MAN 2: I would never say that.
(STRING INSTRUMENT PLAYS HAUNTING MELODY)
My secondary school was over here.
And this was the kind of gauntlet I'd run,
carrying a violin, once a week,
which was, like, you know,
taking your life in your own hands.
Uh, carrying a violin was
tantamount to saying that you were a certain kind of person.
So I'd get chased, and stuff,
and... often get away,
and often get kicked off my bike and stuff like that.
But I would always come back and stop in here,
in this rotunda over here.
There was this beautiful statue - Flight From Pompeii.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
I think that Pompeii's story, it was like the Titanic.
It was those big, impactful, dramatic and terrifying events
that, when I thought about fear
and, you know, destruction,
they were my references.
And the hand, the woman's hand over the baby's face
kind of active, trying to protect,
doing whatever you could, in the situation.
Trying to do your best.
There's something religious about it as well.
The story of the exploding volcano
and the catastrophe that ensued after that,
you know, I was fascinated by the images
of the bodies that were preserved in the ash
and things like that, you know?
And the implements, and...
You know, I'd only ever seen photos of it.
And I think in my head, it was just, you know,
this, sort of... just cataclysmic event.
I loved those books as a kid
and used to keep them in a box under my bed.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
You know, from about 14 through to, you know, 17,
at school, in those last four years,
I would just regularly come in here and sit.
I had a lot of turmoil going on.
I wasn't particularly fond of myself, you know?
I had low self-esteem.
I guess teenage stuff, you know?
(MUSIC ENDS)
(FAINT COUGH)
(ELECTRONIC NOTES BEEP SLOWLY)
OK, let's try that.
MAN: Is one of those the one that fell out of the car?
- Yeah, that's that one. - Right.
- How's it travelling now? - Uhh...
Seems to be alright. (LAUGHS)
It's, um...
...s...
It's not quite like what it was, but who is?
(LAUGHS)
WARREN: Fuck, this is gonna be good.
OK.
(PLAYS SLOW, EERIE NOTES)
WOMAN: So we received a report about a baby siamang gibbon.
The poachers catch them
to fulfil the illegal pet trade,
when they are babies.
And to do so, they would have to kill the mother,
which, usually, they do with guns, with air rifles.
These are really critically endangered animals.
It's horrific. It's so cruel.
It's just unbelievable, you know?
These people are still doing it.
It's so criminal.
It's so sad.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
You'll see, when she comes in.
They are...
You see that she's frightened,
and clearly she still needs her mother.
Um... Yeah.
And the mother is dead, for sure.
(STRINGS JOIN PIANO)
The transport of such a fragile, small baby
is always stressful.
They'll kill the mum. The mum won't let go.
The baby won't let go of the mum,
and, often, the mum will fall dead.
And that's the most horrific part,
where the baby is trying to hold on to a dead mum.
And then they'll rip the baby off the mum.
Normally, this baby would still be with her mother
for at least another four years,
and learning the skills of the forest,
and having her warmth,
and the needs that every baby or infant has.
And now she's been alone,
she's been caged, she's frightened,
so she's going to need a lot of attention.
(CAR INDICATOR TICKS)
WARREN: Where are we heading?
This was like the kind of hostile territory for me.
Oh, hang on, I'll put my GPS on, and we'll see
where the fuck we're going. (LAUGHS)
It's a worry when your iPhone can't recognise your own face.
Um...
I went through customs the other day,
and it took my photo,
and it just said, "Please remove your veil."
(BOTH LAUGH)
Weirdly, I have this feeling of,
no matter what I've done in my life -
you know, I've played in bands, and toured the world,
and played, you know, lots of amazing places,
and festivals, and all that -
when I come back here,
I just feel like that small kid again.
I guess it taps into all these things
that have defined me,
and I didn't even realise.
(LOUD KNOCKING)
- Hey, Dad! - G'day. How are you?
How are you?
You alright?
Should we go in?
We're just gonna... Oh, thanks.
Come in.
- G'day, Mum. - Hello! How are you?
I'm alright. I'm good. How are you?
- We're doing a... - You've grown!
Yeah. I have grown. (LAUGHS)
- No, you look good. - Thank you.
- MAN: Hi. - How are you?
- Good, thanks. - WARREN: Germain and Justin.
This is my mum. Diane.
- DIANE: How are you? - GERMAIN: I'm good, thank you.
How are you? Lovely to meet you.
Good to see you. Happy New Year.
- Happy New Year to you, too. - You know we love you.
JUSTIN: Thank you.
WARREN: I actually bought this to give you both.
This is one of the copies of the gum.
And I was gonna send it to you, but COVID happened,
and it got, you know,
all got confusing and stuff.
Go on, you're only saying that.
(LAUGHS)
We're going around,
we're putting a piece of gum at the park,
you know, the animal park in Sumatra.
Yeah, so we're sort of going around and filming
a bit of the story about it, you know?
This is the sculpture, Dad.
I tell you what, if that was fair dinkum,
that was a big mouthful of gum, wasn't it?
WARREN: (LAUGHS) Yeah. It's actually that big.
That's the real size.
- Oh, is it? - Yeah.
That's how big it is.
DIANE: They're OK.
But that's the... that's, um...
That's been blown up, like, off a 3D photo.
DIANE: He's grown up a bit.
He'll keep talking till the cows come home.
MAN: That's what Warren's wearing,
he's wearing a microphone.
WARREN: I've got a little one here.
DAD: I bought my first guitar when I was 15.
I got it from Russell's Music Shop
in Russell Street, Melbourne.
They were made of 3-ply
and had covered wagons stencilled on them.
I think they were about £12, new.
That's a nice cup of tea, Warren.
Thanks.
I... Thank you.
- Green tea. - Green tea. (LAUGHS)
Thank you, yeah.
Well, I put a lot of love in it, but...
- Yeah, you can taste it. - But I just...
- That's love, is it? - I just... (LAUGHS)
- That's what it tastes like. - Mmm.
- Finally! (LAUGHS) - Finally.
Do you remember that?
Do you remember that,
when we saw the clowns in the back garden?
I don't remember it fully or clearly.
- WARREN: Yeah. - DAD: I'm not saying that it didn't happen.
WARREN: No. Exactly. (LAUGHS)
I wouldn't accuse anybody of, you know,
vivid, amazing, unbelievable visions.
No.
But then it could have been so.
- Yeah. - I mean, God bless.
I hope it was true.
'Cause you've got to have vivid imagination.
My bed used to be here. (LAUGHS)
My brother was laughing here,
and this window was just illuminating with light.
And I guess that's the clothesline
my dad was talking about.
Yeah, it was all here. There used to be more trees.
And he was laughing, and he woke me up,
and he's like, "Come and have a look."
And he sort of pulled the corner aside,
and outside was just this caravan car
with a whole bunch of clowns
making hamburgers and climbing the trees
and throwing them at each other.
And we just sat and laughed and that.
And it was really amazing.
The sky was totally white,
and all lit up.
I think we woke our father
'cause we were laughing so much.
And I said, "Look, there's clowns in the back garden."
And I remember he said,
"They'll be gone in the morning,
"and if they aren't, your mother will scare them away
"when she hangs the washing out in the morning."
When I asked my brother, 45 years later,
does he remember them,
and he totally remembers them.
So, for me, it was and will always be real.
I find, the older I get,
the more imagination I've got, anyway.
Not much in them, but there's still imagination.
WARREN: But you're still writing songs, right?
- Oh, yeah. - Yeah.
I'm writing more songs than I've ever written.
I can sit down, I can write a song.
I'm not saying they're good songs,
but it's the thrill of chasing words.
Mm-hm.
When I was very young, my father would sit around
playing country and western songs he'd written
on his guitar.
And...
I remember, you know,
he had a box of songs that he'd written.
They were up in the cupboard in the hallway.
And inside were photos of him
and his autograph that he'd practiced for when he made it.
That's where his songs used to be. Here's his records.
There was a record in there that he'd made.
And, in my head, like, my dad must have been
sort of some superstar or something, you know?
But I didn't understand that
he'd sort of put his dreams in a box
and stuck them in a cupboard
and put them away and had a family.
I didn't understand that.
Look. Johnny Ellis.
Reg Lindsay.
I always thought my other two brothers
were way more creative than I was.
My parents bought me a violin.
My brother had a clarinet, and he went to the guitar,
and there was always a guitar lying around the house.
And I just thought that
every household did this sort of thing, you know?
Amazing, isn't it? They still let me play the bloody thing.
- Yeah. - DIANE: Eh?
They still let me play it.
I realise now what a gift it was, actually,
to avail us to that, you know?
Because it was definitely beyond their means as well.
- You right? - Yeah, it's alright.
- It's OK, Mum. - Got the right tune?
(BOTH LAUGH)
I never found the right tune.
Oh, it's lovely. Thanks.
You just give me the nod.
Are you going to play it then, or...?
Well...
That's when you're going to do it, when I do that?
Well, you... No. I reckon, if you play a verse,
and then, you know...
At the end of that verse, you'll...?
Yeah, and you just give me the signal.
Yeah, so it'll be...
Since he started social arranging.
- OK. - That'll please you.
(PLAYS COUNTRY-STYLE MUSIC) ♪ Watching possums devour the flowers
(VIOLIN JOINS)
♪ Well, today I got a letter from the great Outback
♪ She calls herself the Queen of the OodnadattaTrack
(INDISTINCT)
♪ Hiking through the jungle with the bloody blue heeler
♪ He's watching for crocodiles and dingoes
♪ And every place she goes, he goes, oh
♪ Thought I'd write a book 'bout the life I've had
♪ The bloody blue heeler ate my bloody iPad
♪ I did a precautionary audio
♪ But what did I say?
♪ Keep away from dogs and women and you'll be OK
♪ Mis'ry is my middle name
♪ And I got it from feelin' this pain... ♪
WARREN: You know, one day, I remember asking him
how do you write a song,
'cause he just seemed to sit around and play stuff
all the time.
He's like, it's really easy, you know?
And he just pulled out a poetry book, opened it up,
started playing and singing the poem
to the chords he was playing.
And I didn't realise at the time,
but he showed me the creative act
in a really simple and human way
that I think really impacted on me.
He demystified the whole thing, just like that.
And the fact also that he was always doing it
seemed like a really natural thing.
And he loved music. He loves music.
♪ Yeah, Mis'ry is my middle name
♪ And that is my one claim to fame
(SONG ENDS)
- Makes him shiver. - Yeah. (LAUGHS)
Fantastic, Dad.
You gave me a lot of solos then.
- You spoiled me then. - Yeah.
(BOTH LAUGH)
He used to cut our hair, as kids,
and if he put on music from the Greek islands,
you knew you were in trouble
because he used to cut in time with the music.
So if you put Zorba The Greek on,
you're kind of in trouble as it gets faster and faster.
And he'd be just, like, snipping away
and stuff like that.
That is the first gig that I ever did,
at the Ballarat Old-Time Dance Hall
with my dad playing guitar.
It was a trial by fire.
Now, the guy who sold me my first violin, Eric Wilson,
he tuned my violin up,
and I couldn't even play in tune then.
My dad sort of started playing,
and we were playing, um...
Orange Blossom Special, I think,
and Sally Goodin, this tune that
Hank Williams used to road-test his fiddle players with.
If they could play that tune, they were in the band.
And I started playing,
and the violin was so out of tune, and I just stopped.
And Dad looked at me, and I said,
''It's out of tune.''
And this was the first performance
I'd ever done in my life.
And he just looked at me and went, ''Play on.''
(LAUGHTER)
Words to live by.
(ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL BY HANK WILLIAMS PLAYS)
(ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL CONTINUES)
I came here in 2005 for the first time
in Lampung area.
And we were always bringing animals
that were confiscated here to Jakarta,
which is just wrong, you know?
But there was no centre here,
there was nowhere to bring them to.
And it was always my dream to start something here.
And in 2018, finally, slowly,
we got some money together,
and we managed to buy 7,000 square metres.
And then, for a long time, nothing happened.
Many people promise,
and many people say they want to help,
but, in the end, they don't do shit, you know?
They don't... Yeah, they just want to have the good feeling.
But then Warren stepped in, you know?
And then just...
Yeah, the impossible became possible.
Within about 30 seconds of meeting her,
I was just struck by how real she was.
And I said, "Well, what do you need?"
And she said, "Look, we have all these animals
"that can't be released.
"I need a place where these animals
"that are so badly abused
"can die with dignity.
"We need a forever home for these animals."
And then I learnt more about Femke -
she'd been living there in
one of the most kind of brutal places for animal trafficking
for 15 years,
and the work that she was doing.
So I called Femke and said,
"Look, you know, I promise I'll do this."
And all she said was, "Thank you,"
and this big tear ran down her face.
After I explained everything,
and after that first talk, there was this really...
It was as if it was sort of logical
to just move forward really quickly
because his response was so...
Um...
Yeah, so special, you know?
Like, so appreciating of
everything that we're doing here,
and I had a really good feeling, really amazing.
WARREN: I could see very quickly - like, instantly -
that these people were so honest
and were so hardworking
and just so devoted to what they were doing,
and it absolutely blew me away.
And that they just get on with it.
I mean, I really can't wait to meet them.
MAN: Have you been in a cage with primates before?
No, I haven't, no.
No, I haven't.
(LAUGHS)
You'll hold my hand? (LAUGHS)
(PLAYS SOMBRE MUSIC)
(INAUDIBLE)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
FEMKE: Rina was the first candidate.
When we started Ellis Park,
she was confiscated from a wildlife trader.
He had leaf monkeys that he was selling online.
Iben can tell you all the details,
because he was actually there.
He found Rina tied up behind the house, on a chain,
and she was biting her own arms.
It was like a horror movie.
You know, you could see her tendons,
you could see all her flesh,
and she was literally ripping it out herself.
Then apparently the trader was treating her,
because she was wounded with gasoline.
So, that made it worse, of course.
She was in a lot of pain, so she kept ripping her arm.
And, yeah, anyway,
she was in a horrible, horrible condition.
FEMKE: She had so much spirit in her.
She was such a strong and charismatic
and powerful girl.
You could see she really wanted to... to live.
Her story tells the story of all those other primates
that are still undergoing the same suffering.
By rescuing her,
and by at least being able to finally give her a decent life,
we're making a change.
And I feel like every little change is a big step forward
to a better society where we treat animals better.
(SOMBRE MUSIC ENDS)
WARREN: It's a bit about the book and the gum.
I'm going to take it over to Sumatra
and put it in the park somewhere,
as a sort of good luck totem for the park,
why I'm giving them this thing.
So we're tra... You know...
We're...
tracking through my...
(BOTH LAUGH)
"Ah," he said, "I still don't get it."
(BOTH LAUGH)
(VIOLIN PLAYS)
It was definitely the other cinema that's closed down
that... it's one of the strongest memories I have,
as a kid.
Film was an amazing escape for me.
And music was like that, and reading as well.
Pink Floyd Live In Pompeii.
My dad took us, and it was great.
Like, the bit... You know that film, Live In Pompeii?
You know when the dog starts singing,
in the microphone?
My dad just looked at me and went...
(LAUGHTER)
I think as I got into my teenage years,
the world came to me in a really different way there,
through magazines or the television
or through a record shop.
The Oregon Import was, like,
just records you would never see anywhere.
And they had a display in the window
that was the freakiest thing I'd ever seen.
It was like a mannequin with a fish head on it and a hat.
And then I later realised it was a trout mask replica
that he'd made out of a mannequin and put in the window.
And if you went in there,
everybody thought that you were on drugs.
But that was the shop that I discovered punk, rock and jazz.
That was like a key to a more interesting world out of here.
My experiences with big cities were very small.
I'd been to Melbourne to see AC/DC
the Myer Music Bowl.
There was a point where it was like, "You'd better get a job now."
And I went through and did a teaching degree.
I taught for 18 months, left...
'cause I was an alcoholic and taking smack and all that.
And I wasn't really in showroom condition.
And kids need to... deserve better than that.
I mean, I never, you know, fuck...
You know, it sounds reckless,
but, like, hey, I wasn't the only one.
And...
Probably the only one on smack.
But I wasn't the only one drinking.
I guess I realised that,
sitting in the staff room one day,
that I couldn't be 60,
sitting there just thinking, like,
what happened to my life?
Could be one of these people,
they're just, like, looking at the clock, waiting.
So I moved to Melbourne and started playing in bands.
A mate of mine bought a bar in Richmond.
I saw him in the street.
He's like, "Warren, are you still doing that music stuff
"that you were doing?"
And I'm like, "Yeah, kind of."
And I told Jim and he was like,
"Look, Mick has got some tunes lying around
"that never found a home with Venom P. Stinger.
"You know, like, let's get him together."
So we sat in my kitchen,
worked out six songs or something.
We had to play for three hours, so we made them really long.
And then we went down and played
the first Dirty Three gig.
And when we did the first show, you know, we loved it.
We didn't really set out to do something,
but it happened, like, straightaway.
And it was purely about the way that we played together.
It was all about the moment.
It was all about the risk
to kind of take that leap of faith.
But to go in there with a couple of really little ideas
and then build something, emotionally,
and it was dynamic that could fall apart at any minute,
I mean, it was really thrilling.
You know, like those shows
are just, like, the most important things in my life.
I remember about one or two gigs in,
you know, I couldn't believe it.
And I said to Mick, "Wow! When do you think we'll stop?"
And he just goes,
"When...
"When what we're making sounds like shit."
(LAUGHTER)
I remember just, like,
waking up a lot of the time just thinking,
"What the fuck am I doing with my life?"
And when I started playing music -
and particularly with Dirty Three -
I didn't ask that anymore.
And it's linked to those two guys,
Jim White and Mick Turner.
And, you know, I'm so grateful for that.
(PLUCKED STRING MUSIC PLAYS)
Well, you know where to have your premieres for things now.
You going to play a bit for us, Justin?
- No, I'm not. - Justin!
I will eventually.
You're making a film...
Not at the Regent, after that.
- That's cruel, Warren. - ...about it.
No, no, no, it's not. Look, we're making...
I will get behind the c... I will direct you.
OK, we can swap roles.
You can play, I'll direct you. You know, I'll throw myself into the kind of wilds with it.
But anytime you want to pick it up, go for it.
- OK, mate. - I got a spare too.
- Yeah, so we could do a duet. - We can.
(PLUCKS MELODY)
JOHN: Well, I'll tell you, just as a matter of interest,
I teared up a bit.
I thought that is the most lovely thing.
And I'll tell you where it is, if I can find it.
Um...
"My dad had a box of his own secrets
"in a high cupboard in the hallway.
"A box of lyrics he had written
"with songs he'd made on the guitar.
"One was titled Mis'ry Is My Middle Name.
"There were also multiples of a photo of him with his guitar,
"which he planned to autograph for fans
"when he finally made a career.
"He recorded the singles before he started a family,
"a self-financed 45 rpm recording of Mis'ry,
"and a 78 rpm of It's No Wonder,
"backed by a live version of The River Looks Lonely Tonight
"at the Queen Elizabeth Geriatric Centre.
"Then one day,
"I guess he packed his songs in that box."
Isn't that... That's...
To me, that's full of everything.
He lived for every little bloody song
that he wrote
and he just...
he grew up and it was all gone.
I don't know how that affects you, but I felt really...
I thought that is one of the most feeling-filled little bits
that I've ever read.
Some of that's fairly close to the truth.
And you don't really know what other people are thinking
and what they're doing.
But it's a pretty good impression
of what his father was thinking.
I have to get back to Melbourne tonight.
- I start rehearsing tomorrow. - Oh, do you?
And then we start touring.
But I'll come back up probably next week
or something like that.
JOHN: Oh, I don't know if you heard -
did you hear what I was saying before?
- Yeah. - Oh, you did. I meant that.
That was just a lovely...
had lovely feeling,
that people get.
All of a sudden,
the flashing light and it says, cut.
And what you were doing is finished.
WARREN: Yeah.
Well, we've all got our boxes, haven't we?
JOHN: Well, yeah, you should have.
WARREN: Yeah, we all have a little box.
JOHN: Even if it's a mysterious thing that's hidden away
behind an imaginary clown's camp
- or something like that. - Exactly.
We've all got our clowns.
You've got to have something. Why not?
Fuckin' why not? Exactly.
Where are you going?
I'm going to see they don't pinch anything.
(LAUGHTER)
Oh, you can laugh.
DIANE: You right? WARREN: See you soon.
(AMAZING GRACE ON VIOLIN PLAYS)
- So, it's exactly the same? - Exactly the same, yeah.
Exactly the same.
I haven't been in here for... 40 years, I guess.
Maybe, yeah, 40.
(CONTINUES AMAZING GRACE)
There's also, like, a complex dynamic going on at home.
And my mother was hard on us, as kids.
And there was a lot of stuff with that
that I'd never come to terms with.
The other side of it was
I know my mother instilled in me a belief in God.
And she knew that I wanted to
believe in something as well, you know?
So I can see now that she tried to love us
in the way that was possible for her.
JUSTIN: So she was quite hard on you?
Yeah, I never understood why,
and never could work out why it happened.
I just figured, you know,
it was our fault or something, you know?
And then when I became older and had kids,
I realised that I was looking at the age that I was
when that was going on.
It sort of released me of that, you know?
I realised that I wasn't responsible.
I see my mum recently now,
how she is now, you know, with...
She has some form of dementia going on.
And I was suddenly able to see a lot of compassion for her
and feel a lot of compassion, which I found really moving.
Which, you know,
is something that, for a lot of my life, I guess,
I just kind of ran away from.
It always ends up in a cupboard.
Every time I follow it through.
And I do therapy where...
I remember one, and she'd go, "Where are you?"
And "I'm in a cupboard. I'm in the wedding dress.
"I'm hiding in a suitcase."
"What do you need to do?"
"Keep quiet."
"What will you say to that little boy?
"What would you say to him? Talk to him."
You know, I would get to this point with it,
and I'd be like, "It's going to be OK."
Yesterday I saw, you know,
like, one of the bravest guys I know...
...when I went and visited my dad.
And I sat with him and talked,
and held his hand all day, in the car, and...
...went and ate fish and chips
and had a nap together in a hotel room.
And...
I just saw, you know,
this courageous, brave old man
who I love a lot.
My mum had some undiagnosed, I don't know -
I don't think we'll ever fucking know what it was.
Undiagnosed mental problem or something.
I don't really... I don't even...
Reluctant to say that because I don't really know.
And that, you know, like, that...
uh, her...
kind of wilder side, um, you know,
had continued through the whole marriage.
And for my dad to finally talk,
after 67 years of talking to no-one,
I realised I was looking at, you know,
an 89-year-old guy
who was, you know, suffering from trauma.
It meant the world to me
to finally have closure and understanding
on things that I've struggled with for years.
Um...
You know, trauma...
...childhood trauma that continues through your life
and that you don't know what it is.
Oh, fuck!
(SIGHS)
Thank God that my father had the courage
to have this conversation with me now.
I really thank God for that.
(SOLEMN, DRAMATIC PIANO MUSIC)
Funnier than a bum full of Smarties, eh?
(LAUGHS)
This road hasn't changed.
It's still the fucking worst road in Melbourne.
JUSTIN: I was actually concerned about
getting you there on time, going this way.
This was always a terrible road when you had to go and score
because you'd be stuck in traffic, 40 degrees,
and just fucking dripping in sweat
and throwing up in the car, and...
Every time I drive down here, I get the heebie-jeebies.
Thank God I'm not... (LAUGHS)
...not back in the '90s.
This place was the first time I ever played with the Bad Seeds.
Dirty Three opened for them,
in '93 or something, I think.
But it's a great old theatre, this.
I mean, Luna Park opposite - it's fantastic.
(PLAYS INTO MY ARMS)
(INDISTINCT)
I first played with Nick in 1994,
On that stage, I had no idea that it would lead to
such an important creative relationship,
but also a friendship that continues until this day.
♪ I don't...
(INDISTINCT)
(PLAYS LOW NOTES)
(INDISTINCT)
Nick allowed me to evolve as a musician,
allowed me to take risksand just took me for who I was,
and an important person to seek counsel when I've needed it.
(MUSIC ENDS)
WARREN: Nick had invited Nina Simone
to perform at his Meltdown Festival in London,
and it was that gig that was very real proof
of the transcendental power of performance,
where I stole a chewing gum.
Walking into that room,
my sense of anticipation was so incredibly high,
because, you know, it was a concert
I just never thought I would ever see in my life.
And she sort of stood in the wings,
having a cigarette and stuff,
and you could see that actually,
when she made a move forward 'cause Nick announced her,
that she had physical trouble actually moving, you know?
And she sort of slowly made her way to the stage
and just raised this defiant fist in the air
and just let out a "Yeah!"
NINA SIMONE: ♪ ...chains holding me
♪ I wish I could say
♪ All the things that I should say
♪ Say 'em loud...
She got through to the end of the first song,
and everybody was just going crazy, you know?
And she gave another fist in the air like that,
and then sat down,
and this unbelievable transformation took place.
She'd get up, she was dancing,
and sort of blowing kisses to people,
and this... transformation was just extraordinary.
And then she left. And, um...
I ran up on stage and took her chewing gum,
because I'd seen that she'd sort of stuck it on the piano.
And then kept it for... 20 years
as a... like a sort of personal totem.
It became aligned with...
I guess, shifts in my life, you know?
I sobered up, I got married,
I built a studio - I had the gum in there.
I built a shrine to it.
But it was just a personal thing,
until I released it 20 years later,
and put it in Nick Cave's exhibition,
Stranger Than Kindness.
What people care about is actually invisible,
you know?
It's whatever is around it,
and it represents our imagination,
what we are capable of doing.
I text a photo to Ann,
who, you know, made this - Ann Demeulemeester.
And she texts back like it's like a hair of Christ.
As well as the fact that it is Nina Simone's chewing gum.
♪ ...I could fly
♪ Oh, I'd soar to the sun
♪ And look down at the sea...
I've been taking the gum along to concerts.
Took it along to Hanging Rock,
put it on the stage, uh...
'cause I kind of feel...
You know, it's been passed around
at all the book launches and things like that,
kind of figure that we'll be taking everybody with us
that's touched it.
I don't take it on every concert,
because I know I'll lose it.
But I love this idea of somehow taking the energy,
you know, with us when we go and give this to Femke.
You know, it'll have been touched,
and in thousands of people's hands,
and thousands of people's presence.
It feels a big part of it, I mean...
JUSTIN: I keep on forgetting that we're going to the park.
We're going to the park?
Yeah, I know. We're going to...
This is going to be a two-parter, isn't it?
(JUSTIN LAUGHS)
I mean, today's a bit like,
today's a bit like, you know,
the final act in Goodfellas, for me.
It's like, you know, choppers, and making the pasta,
and trying to deliver the cocaine and that.
I have a lot of days like that, you know?
I mean, there's no cocaine or choppers,
but just like where everything is just, you know,
hovering overhead, and everything's colliding.
Um, but...
thankfully, there's a concert to do.
Um...
'Cause that's always been my way of, um,
dealing with stuff.
(SINGS ALTERNATING RISING AND FALLING NOTES)
(ELECTRIC BEAT MARKS TEMPO)
(PLAYS DISCORDANT SYNTH CHORD)
Whoa!
(VIOLIN STARTS)
(PLAYS SYNTHESISER, MIS-HITS OCCASIONALLY)
OK, cool.
(PLAYS LOW, SUSTAINED CHORD)
Playing music was always an act of meditation for me.
The world stops, and you're just in this place.
I could never roll that into real life.
(LOW MUSIC CONTINUES)
What you chose to do, make me play in these places,
which I didn't realise,
was kind of like an exorcism of sorts for me.
The fernery, the sculpture, The Flight From Pompeii,
and the church, and the countryside,
riding a bike and things like that -
they were all places of trying to find peace.
You know, sitting under a tree,
smoking a cigarette, eating fish and chips.
It's just like, so amazing.
I'd never thought about that until we went there.
Trying to find places of peace,
and trying to create a place that you feel safe in.
(VIOLIN MELODY PLAYS OVER SYNTH MUSIC)
(CHEERING)
(SINGS ALTERNATING HIGHER AND LOWER NOTES)
(ON-STAGE BAND, CROWD INAUDIBLE)
(INAUDIBLE)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SINGS ALTERNATING HIGHER AND LOWER NOTES)
(MUSIC FADES)
I have thought, well...
I guess I have...
I've got the, uh...
I have to decide... when...
This doesn't feel the moment, actually,
for this, to me.
Maybe that's something we can work out
when we get in there and can give...
hand this over, 'cause that's why we're here,
in a way, for me.
I've been keeping this for the occasion.
A... unopened fruit shirt, uh...
that I got during the lockdowns.
When the park happened, I thought if I ever go,
this will be the occasion to undo the package.
I didn't get flowers.
That'll be all right.
JUSTIN: Maybe we'll stop on the way.
- Might be nice, do you think? - Yeah.
We were too busy trying to work out the gate yesterday
to think about anything like that.
JUSTIN: I feel really ner... I feel like I'm going to a wedding.
Yeah, it has a bit of that,
or, like, knowing there's a birthday party arranged
or something
and you kind of, like, you don't want to go.
But... You know?
And when you get there, it's going to be OK,
but the buildup to it's excruciating.
But, you know, we just do this kind of,
you know...
- It's like, we'll just do it. - Mm.
- In or out? - Hm, try it in.
In? (LAUGHS)
I mean, they've probably got
really nice flowers there anyway.
JUSTIN: Yeah, but it's a lovely gesture.
Yeah.
You got the ring?
JUSTIN: I was about to fucking say that.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Let's do it.
I mean, I responded to those pictures of the animals,
more than anything.
It was something that I felt compelled to do,
on a really emotional level.
As soon as I saw Femke,
and as soon as I saw what she was doing,
I never had doubts about it,
because doubts sort of poison ideas.
Here was a team of people
who were just doing what they believed in.
And I told my family,
you know, my kids were just like,
"Oh, I think that's the best thing you've ever done."
We don't deserve animals.
I met two people who lived with her,
when I was doing a book signing in the Hague.
And they're like, "Oh, I'm really glad that you met Femke
"and you started the park up."
And I said, "I've never met her," you know?
"What's she like?"
They said,
"Well, we all lived in a squat together in Amsterdam,
"and she was just always bringing home
"stray dogs and cats, taking care of them,
"when she was studying to be a nurse.
"We always knew she would do something like this,"
which was great to hear.
It seems like she found her purpose.
Oh, fucking hell...
Which is such a gift to be given.
(LAUGHS)
Rio!
- Hey! - G'day, you gorgeous thing!
Oh, my God. (LAUGHS)
Welcome to your Indonesian home!
This is a lot.
Hey, Rio.
How are you, mate? Good?
Excellent.
- How are you? - Darno.
- Nice to meet you. - Darno. Nice to meet you, too.
WARREN: Wow. How amazing.
- Iben. - Iben. Nice to meet you, too.
- Mila. - Mila?
Nice to meet you.
Janipa! Yes.
You do amazing stuff.
- Mula. - Hello!
Hey.
FEMKE: These are all the amazing people
taking care of all the amazing animals.
- Piera. - Amazing people.
And there is a volcano called Krakatoa. It's quite famous.
Oh, it's Krakatoa? Yeah.
So you can see it in the back.
That's the one over in...?
Yeah. And it's been active lately.
This one here, down to there, like that?
Just right before that motorcross track.
Yeah, right. So, where you can see,
there's other land there...
Oh, that's brilliant.
It's quite a lot.
- It's awesome. - Yeah.
It's enough to do some stuff with, isn't it?
You want to bring Rina a little present?
- Yeah, alright, great. - Not everything, though.
We love her, but...
- How many? - Maybe that's enough.
- Alright. - Yeah.
- (CLANG!) - Out.
FEMKE: Hi! She's saying hi.
- Hey, Rina. - It's OK.
It's OK?
There you go, gorgeous.
FEMKE: It's incredible how agile she is.
- Yeah. - She can open everything.
Does she remember everything?
FEMKE: I think she put it in her past,
because she's not aggressive to people.
WARREN: Right. FEMKE: And we give her a lot of extra attention
because she needs that, and she deserves it,
like, after living so many years in isolation
and in so much pain.
If she could go back to the wild,
we would have a different relationship.
- Yeah. - But she can't, ever.
It's not just healing physically,
like, treating the wounds.
It's a mental process as well.
You really have to help them, step by step,
to gaining back their confidence,
to feel worthwhile living.
- Can I touch her? - Yeah.
And when they finally do, it's beautiful.
You can see the spark back, you know, in their eyes.
You can see that they,
yeah, feel confident with themselves again.
And they start to explore the surroundings.
What you see in the beginning
is a depressed, lifeless individual.
I have a...
...a piece of chewing gum to give you.
But we have to work out where to put it.
- (LAUGHS) Awesome. OK. - (LAUGHS) Awesome!
If I'm sitting there, like, feeling sorry for myself
because I can't put a bit of music to a film,
and I think about you,
and I'm like, "Alright, pull your socks up,"
you know, "Get on with it."
- (FEMKE LAUGHS) Yeah? - (LAUGHS)
That's awesome.
I think about you and I'm like,
"Alright, Femke's out there, kind of, you know,
"battling the traders and stuff like that -
"I can write a bit of music. Fuck's sake," you know?
Get it in perspective.
(GENTLE SYNTH MUSIC)
Oh, yeah.
Can you engineer this for me, Justin?
JUSTIN: Yeah.
I think I'll play that thing on this and then just play along.
Great, alright.
We'll just record that.
You can be the engineer, you chuck it on.
- Alright, you ready? - Yeah.
(SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS)
(ECHOES MELODY)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
FEMKE: It's big money, and it involves big wildlife traders
that can also be potentially dangerous.
In some cases, like criminal networks
that operate internationally.
So, we're now at the main seaport.
And this is the main exit from Sumatra to Java.
And this is, like, a huge smuggling route for animals.
And this is actually the reason why the centre exists.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
FEMKE: We go here as often as we can.
At least, we have three raids a week.
The times vary.
And for the doggies, it's a game.
You can compare it to the narcotics trade.
- Like drugs. - Yeah, like drugs.
Only it's always been neglected, you know?
Like, the trade in ivory and animals
and parts of animals -
it's always been sort of a side issue.
While, actually, the trade is as big as narcotics,
people make as much money,
and they're destroying the whole ecosystem
and the future of our planet.
The smugglers find very creative ways
to trade the animals and to hide them.
So that's why the canine unit is amazing,
because you cannot fool a dog.
You can fool people,
but the dogs, you can never fool them.
If there's animals there,
they will detect it and they will find them.
Most of the animals would come from far, you know?
Like, northern Sumatra.
- It's, like, 30 hours. - 30 hours? Wow.
So, often, when we do confiscate,
they come in a really bad condition.
Yeah. Like the big bust you did...
Yeah, when we had the big bust.
...they were in poor condition.
Yeah.
He was stopped here. And he just kept driving.
And then they stopped him again.
And then they found 1,300 animals in the truck.
And then, to our big shock,
we discovered all these African species,
including the meerkats.
And then there were also species from South America
like marmosets,
grey parrots from Africa,
and there were wild Alexandrine parakeets
from Thailand,
all stacked together.
It was a really shocking discovery.
And it also showed to us
how big and widespread this cruel wildlife trade is.
(LAUGHTER ON VIDEO)
FEMKE: It's not so much the small poachers in the field.
It's really the people that are ordering these animals
and it's the people that are keeping these animals as pets
that are the ones that are responsible
for most of the suffering.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER, ANIMAL NOISES)
FEMKE: Last year, we found two baby orangutans.
They should still be in the arms of their mothers,
and they were stacked under bananas and clothing and...
you know, stuff.
And there were these two baby orangutans,
so fragile and so innocent, you know? So...
It's really shocking.
It hurts.
It makes us really... It makes us angry.
The shit that people put these animals through.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
WARREN: Oh...
What's the biggest animal you've operated on?
- WOMAN: The biggest animal? - The biggest animal, yeah.
- Here? - Elephant?
- Mmm... Yeah, I think so. - What did you do?
I think, until now, it's a bear.
- A bear? - Yeah.
Rescuer of Erin.
WARREN: Ah, you're the rescuer?
- Beautiful. - Legend.
So it's tied to a tree.
And probably Erin was running around playing,
as young elephants do.
And then her trunk got entangled in this.
And then the more she pulls, the...
- WARREN: It goes tight, then? - Tighter.
It goes tight. Oh, OK.
FEMKE: When they found her, her trunk was already cut
and the snare was gone.
The problem why this is happening is the ivory trade.
Yeah, I'd love to feed one. What do I do?
One by one. One by one.
Just... Yes.
(BOTH LAUGH)
No way!
- From the left side. - Slowly, slowly.
(LAUGHTER)
Wow!
No way!
(LAUGHTER)
MAN: Go slow.
(WARREN LAUGHS)
Unbelievable, man.
Wow.
Thank you so much.
Really, thank you for everything that you're doing.
This is our god creature.
Yeah?
We need to keep,
because we declare that
a human is the cleverest creature in the world,
so we must take care.
Yeah, we owe it to them.
Yeah, we have to take care of them.
- Yes. - Because they can't survive.
Yeah. That's our responsibility as well.
Yeah, it's our responsibility.
So all of our friends here
are not only doing our job as usual,
but we work from deep from our heart.
- From here? - Yes.
Yeah, I feel that.
It's really strange because I've played music all my life,
and I really love animals,
but everybody I meet here
engages, with their heart.
It's so moving.
Yes.
And I see, the way I feel about playing music,
I see this with everybody I've encountered working here.
And it just blows my mind.
It blows my fucking little mind.
It's unbelievable.
To see the passion in you people.
Yeah. Fuck.
And you as well, you play your music
and you're connected to this conservation
that usually not many people try to look at.
That's very good.
(ENGINE APPROACHES)
Once, I tried to catch an eagle
and he got me through my hand,
and the nail came out at the other side.
- The claw? - Yeah! The claw.
It went straight through, and I couldn't move
because if you then start to move or resist,
he would hold on more tight.
Yeah, Rio is an example of it.
Once, a rescued eagle got him, accidentally, on the head.
How old was Rio?
He was six.
Does he remember that?
- He does. - Yeah, he would, yeah.
And he proudly talks about it.
Yeah. As he should.
It's, you know, it's part of the process.
It's how we learn.
- What's that, an eagle? - An eagle?
That's a changeable hawk-eagle, just like this one.
I put that through stem of a champagne glass,
- playing violin. - That's wild, too.
- Yeah, playing violin. - That's pretty wild, too.
Yeah, well... It's not like an eagle.
Has anyone been really hurt here doing this?
Um...
- Everybody. - Everyone?
(LAUGHTER)
I guess it's like skateboarding, isn't it?
You get on the board, you're going to break something.
Yeah, if you work with wildlife,
there's a lot of risks.
WARREN: It really dawned on me
that in the Sumatra Wildlife Centre,
there's this incredible sort of positive thing going on,
because it's really just an intermediary stage
for these animals. The goal of the place is to liberate them,
it to give them their freedom back.
(CHIRPS)
And then I looked at the cages differently here,
because the animals are moving through them.
They're just passing through
to get back to being released,
back to where they should be.
And I realised that
that's the kind of nerve centre of the whole place.
That's the heart of the operation.
The park is not a zoo.
It's a last resort.
It's actually trying to make good
a fucked situation.
They wish they could release Rina.
They wish they could release the bears,
but they can't.
The sad truth is that those animals can't go back
because they've just been abused too much.
FEMKE: As I've rescued many monkeys throughout the years,
different species,
I've never experienced such traumatised individuals
as the dancing monkeys.
Dealing with them was really like
a whole new level of cruelty.
The first dancing monkey I've ever seen was Johnny.
I was in Jakarta. Jakarta is very busy.
I was on my motorbike and I was at a traffic light,
and I heard this sort of a ting-tong!
Sort of music, like, they use a small drum.
And I looked, and there was a monkey there,
a macaque, long-tailed macaque.
And... he was dressed up.
And an adult long-tailed macaque
should be up in the trees.
It was just so horrific
to see him there on the side of the street,
in between motorbikes.
He was begging for money.
And I couldn't believe my eyes.
In the moment, what I wanted to do is just rescue him.
But you're not going to pay. I'm not going to pay.
I'm never, ever going to pay these people.
There's no... There's no point.
Monkeys are captured from the wild as babies
and then they are forced to entertain the public.
They are starved. They are beaten.
They are hanged. They are... tied up.
And they are made to stand the whole day
because they are teaching the monkeys
to walk like a human being.
So, in that moment,
when I saw him at the traffic light,
I made the promise to him,
I'm going to come back one day and I'm going to rescue you.
I have no idea how, but I'm gonna...
I was determined to stop the dancing monkeys.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
WARREN: Why do you think people are so cruel to animals?
Ignorance.
I don't know. Do you think people actually get a kick out of it?
I think so.
There's also people that get a kick out of it.
There's no compassion, no...
Yeah.
No...
Yeah, no compassion.
I've never been able to understand
how someone could be cruel to an animal.
- A defenceless animal. - Yeah, defenceless.
That comes into the earth, and all it's got is its life.
FEMKE: And that's why I think it's so important
that we keep fighting,
because, yeah, if we don't do what's right,
who's going to do it?
(INDISTINCT DISTANT SINGING AND BELLS)
Hey! How are you?
That was amazing.
You could play for hours.
I was waiting for him to say stop.
Oh, he will never say stop.
(SINGING CONTINUES)
(INSECTS CHIRRUP, BIRDS CALL)
WARREN: See the volcano?
JUSTIN: Yeah.
- So beautiful. - Yeah.
Just hearing everything coming to life, eh?
WARREN: Unbelievable.
- (ANIMAL CALLS LOUDLY) - Wow, listen to that.
Apparently she hadn't sung for years.
She's locked up for...
23 years or something.
And she hadn't sung.
And they got her in here,
and after a week or so, she started up again.
(CONTINUES CALLING)
So, I just had learned that...
Um... that, uh...
the sort of idea is I release one of the birds.
Yeah, one of the eagles.
And I feel really awkward about it.
Oh!
I kind of feel like I've just turned up to cut a ribbon.
No, don't feel like that.
It's a big moment for everybody,
and we're honoured if you release one of the birds
together with Rio.
He's excited to do it together with you.
And there's four birds that are going to go free today.
OK, alright.
- Well... I feel better. - Yeah.
And you're just as part of the family as everybody else.
No, I totally feel that, but I just feel awkward.
I feel like I just don't want to be that guy.
But you're here now and you're part of it.
JUSTIN: Was there one particular person that was looking after...?
- After the eagles? - This guy?
Well, Herman. Noval is observing them every day,
you know, just to get data.
He's releasing the eagles, he's releasing the eagles.
They're all releasing them together.
You guys are doing all the kind of...
You do all the heavy lifting and stuff, you know?
And it's just... I'm just so grateful to be involved,
in the way that I can.
So I just feel, you know, like...
Like I said, you're as part of the team
as everybody else here.
- You should feel like that. - Yeah, OK, thanks.
- Thanks. Um... - Yeah.
Alright.
(VOCALISES HIGH NOTES)
This has really gone somewhere nice now, this piece.
It's really... from that little thing in the jungle,
to that.
It's cool.
(INDISTINCT)
- FEMKE: See you. - WARREN: See you, Captain.
FEMKE: Bye.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FEMKE: Darno built this bridge.
WARREN: That doesn't surprise me.
FEMKE: Yeah, it's incredible.
WARREN: Does Darno build everything?
FEMKE: He builds everything.
WARREN: Where did you meet?
FEMKE: At the rescue centre in Jakarta,
next to the airport.
He was working there, welding all the cages.
And then we received a baby orangutan
and he was holding it -
this big guy, holding this baby orangutan.
It was just so...
Anyway, yeah. So, ever since, we're together.
WARREN: How long is that?
FEMKE: We met in 2003.
WARREN: Yeah. 20 years.
- FEMKE: Yeah, 20 years.
How do you smuggle an eagle?
FEMKE: Oh, we had eagles coming in inside watermelons
that were trapped at the airport.
No!
Yeah.
We had eagles in pipes, PVC pipes.
Are they drugged, or are they...?
FEMKE: No, because it's dark and they can't move,
they just stay calm and still.
Many will arrive dead, for sure.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
But even if they smuggle out 10, and one survives,
for them, that's enough money
because there's these amazing, idiotic, selfish people around
that pay the money.
If they would stop, these animals are safe.
And if you see them flying, that's what it's all about.
They're so beautiful up in the sky.
So, Warren, sometimes we would make a pre-release cage.
These birds, we're just gonna open the wooden box
and give him the chance to fly it when it wants.
I'd love to. What a privilege.
- Yeah, let's do it. - OK.
Do it together.
(PLAYS PIANO MELODY OVER SYNTH MUSIC WITH RESONATING, SLOW BEAT)
(CHEERING)
FEMKE: This one is a very special one.
- WARREN: Amazing. - It's a migratory bird.
So they only travel through this area.
So we had to wait one year
before we could release this bird.
(MUSIC SWELLS)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(MUSIC QUIETENS)
(PLAYS VIOLIN WITHOUT BACKING)
I think the other one was better.
(KEYBOARD PLAYS)
OK.
Let's not use the Hammond.
It sounds a bit like a Ferris...
It sounds a bit like a carnival.
MAN: A what?
But the piano's good.
(SYNTH MELODY PLAYS)
(INDISTINCT)
(SYNTH MELODY PLAYS)
Perfect!
Fuck! What a genius, dude!
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(DESCENDING, LOW GLISSANDO)
Yeah, there we go.
You're serious, eh?
- Huh? - For that as the end.
Yeah.
You can go home and show your brother a trick or two.
I will.
WARREN: I had a talk this morning to Femke,
and I wanted her to know that, um...
...the best thing for them
is that they're left alone
to do what they do so amazingly.
Her, and the people who work here.
Ultimately, it's about...
It's just about them and the animals.
(DISTANT SINGING)
WARREN: We're sitting here this morning
and we clinked coconuts
because we want to get to more land.
And, to celebrate,
Darno climbed a fucking coconut tree,
pulled them down, hacked the top off,
and we clinked coconuts
to, hopefully, expanding the place here a bit more
and providing the kind of protection.
But that feels like the future, there.
And here I see faith and I see hope
and I see compassion.
I see love. I see care. I see respect.
I see all these values
that it's taken me a long time, as a person,
to try and come to terms with,
or implement in my life.
And I think that's the thing
that's really hit me about being here,
really profoundly,
that, here, I see it in action.
And I see that it works.
I'll share it with you.
- Yeah. - Yeah, you have the first one.
No, no, no. Please, please.
- You take the first one. - RIO: I'll take the meat!
Yeah, take the meat.
I've dedicated what I can to this.
I think I always had, but now I really have.
Because...
I mean, you know, it's because of who you people are.
And you're proof that people can be awesome,
and that people care.
(I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD FEEL TO BE FREE BY NINA SIMONE PLAYS)
(LAUGHS) Stop.
Cheers.
(INDISTINCT)
- Cheers, Femke. - Cheers, Warren. (LAUGHS)
- I love you very much. - Love you too.
Alright.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
- I'll see you real soon. - Yeah.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your support.
Thank you. Thank you, brother.
Oh, fuck!
Oh, stop, please. Stop. Hang on.
Fuck. I forgot to give her the fucking gum.
Rio.
Give this to your mum.
Alright? Take that.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
For me?
- No. - Yeah.
And that one?
That's the box for it.
Eh?
That's incredible.
Treasure. Treasure box.
This is incredible.
♪ Though I'm way overdue
♪ I'd be starting anew
♪ Well, I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
♪ How sweet it would be if I found I could fly
♪ Oh, I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea
♪ Then I'd sing 'cause I'd know, yeah
♪ Then I'd sing 'cause I'd know
♪ I'd know how it feels
to be free, yeah, yeah
♪ Oh, I'd know how it feels
♪ Yes, I'd know, I'd know how it feels
♪ How it feels to be free, Lord, Lord, Lord, yeah... ♪
Yeah, when I moved in,
I had that photo of a dead horse,
and Dad in a bed.
(LAUGHS)
They're in a Fresh Seal Clips,
still with the avocado sticker on them,
and wrapped in Glad Wrap.
JUSTIN: That's perfect.
And it had this really sobering note from the crematorium -
"This is the last mortal remains
"of the late John Hunt Ellis.
"They were placed into container,
"and we verified that,
"at the time it left this establishment,
"the container only held the cremated human remains
"of the late John Hunt Ellis."
The day that he died, a chaplain came around
and asked if I wanted to do the last rites.
His priest from his church came in,
and that was an extraordinary experience,
and my brother turned up, my older brother.
The priest came and started doing the holy water,
and, you know, the oil -
anointing his head and stuff like this.
As our Lord has taught us, we are confident to say
our Father...
And we said the Lord's Prayer.
And I started... I could hear my voice.
I could hear Steven's voice.
And I could hear my dad's voice,
because my dad always read that to us,
said it to us every night, as kids.
I reached over and grabbed his hand,
like that,
so we made this circle with Dad.
And this energy just went out of control.
It was just like this... (IMITATES ELECTRICITY BUZZING)
And my brother just looked at me and goes,
"Did you fucking feel that?"
And I said, "I did feel that."
He looked at the guy and he goes,
"Vicar, how'd you do that?"
The priest just goes, "I didn't do that."
And then he looked at me, and he goes,
"You know who did that?"
And I was like...
He goes, "The old man did that."
He goes, "The old man took us where he's going."
He said, "Boys, it's going to be alright.
This is what it's like.
Took us to the edge,
And then said, "Go back."
So, you know, I believe my father's,
you know, final gift to us
was to bring God into that... hospital room,
this little...
Room in Ballarat.
And then Steven goes to me,
"You know what that was like?"
He said,
"That's like when we saw those clowns
"when we were kids."
(KIDS CHATTER INDISTINCTLY)
(INDISTINCT SINGING)
(KIDS CONTINUE CHATTING IN OWN LANGUAGE)
WARREN: Oh, actually, I'll just say one more little thing.
I talk too much, but... I'll just...
- One little bit at the start. - MAN: OK, Warren.
- WARREN: OK? MAN 2: Watch what you say.
WARREN: Tell me when you're rolling. Are we on?
Uh, hey, ladies and gentlemen,
this is Warren Ellis here,
listening to the radio show.
And, um, this is a song my dad used to sing to me
when I was a kid.
This is called Mis'ry Is My Middle Name,
written by screamin' Johnny Ellis.
And this is the reason I am what I am today.
(COUNTRY GUITAR PLAYS)
JOHN: ♪ Well, you're looking at a man that's mighty sad
♪ 'Cause misery and tears is all I've ever had
♪ I've found it's true what someone once said
♪ A man that loves a woman is better off dead
♪ Mis'ry is my middle name
♪ And I've earned it for knowing such pain
- WARREN: ♪ Well, I used to love a woman down in the town - JOHN: ♪ Did you?
♪ In my little buggy with her, touring round
♪ Right through the summer, she loved me good
♪ She left me in the winter with a leaking hood
BOTH: ♪ Mis'ry is my middle name
♪ And I've earnt it for knowing such pain
JOHN: Play it, you little bugger!
(VIOLIN SOLO)
WARREN: I'm dancing!
(VIOLIN CONTINUES)
Yeah, Dad, tell me!
JOHN: ♪ Well, lovin' a woman sure ain't no joke
WARREN: ♪ That's no joke
JOHN: ♪ You never have no fun and you wind up broke
- ♪ Lovin' that girl, well, I must have been mad - ♪ I must have!
JOHN: ♪ A dog's the only friend a man ever had
BOTH: ♪ Mis'ry is my middle name
JOHN: ♪ And I've earnt it for knowing such pain
WARREN: ♪ Well, I'm gonna find a dog that's feelin' blue
♪ He'll bite everybody and he'll bite me too
♪ Covered with mange and loads of fleas
♪ He'll have about as many friends as me
BOTH: ♪ Mis'ry is my middle name
♪ And I've earnt it for knowing such pain
WARREN: Yeah, give me some pain.
♪ Oh!
(GUITAR SOLO)
♪ Hey-oh!
♪ Oh!
BOTH: ♪ Well, you're looking at a man
♪ That's mighty sad
♪ 'Cause misery and tears are all I've ever had
♪ I've found it's true what someone once said
♪ A man that loves a woman is better off dead
♪ Mis'ry's my middle name
♪ And I've earnt it for knowing such pain. ♪
(MUSIC ENDS, APPLAUSE)
WARREN: That's a hit.
How'd it sound in there, Andy?