Freak Of Nature > about the Black Saturday bushfires

St Andrews Hotel in Victoria is one of those dream gigs - friendly and supportive staff, quality PA and experienced engineer supplied by the venue, great room acoustics, great audience, great food and abundant beer, not to mention that the northern outskirts of Melbourne are quite beautiful, reminding me of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales where I often visited my grandmother as a child.

On one of the long road-trips from Sydney to St Andrews, I made a joke of pronouncing the town names phonetically like a dumb tourist and worked it into on-stage patter that night. Whittlesea became "W-hit-le-see-ya", St Andrews was "Stan Drews" (referring to Stan, the manager of the hotel), and "Kinj-lark-ee" for Kinglake.

Then in early February 2009, I noticed that Peter Wade from Kinglake had ordered a DVD from Matt Finish's website. Pete is also a drummer in a band that plays Matt Finish songs and we often meet when I'm touring in Victoria.

So when I heard about the Black Saturday bushfires, I wrote to him:

"Hi Pete, Just got home and read about the fire. My heart went out to you in Kinglake - hope you're OK. John."

Pete replied:

"Hi John, You can't believe what it means to me that you remembered us. We unfortunately lost our house & possessions (including my drum kit & and my prized drum stick of yours which you broke at St Andrews and you signed for me). I was lucky though, I ordered the Matt Finish DVD the other week, and it hasn't arrived yet, so it's safe. See you at St Andrews in a few months. Regards Peter."

I told Pete’s story a few months later while introducing a song on stage at Williamstown RSL in Melbourne. A voice from the back yelled out "he's here", pointing to Pete, and everyone cheered wildly. The club gave him back his entry fee with some jugs of beer and I signed a pair of sticks for him.

One year later, on 13th February 2010, Pete wrote:

"G’day John, To mark the anniversary of those tragic fires in Kinglake last Sunday, we planted a bush on our property. We used the money which was refunded to us at your gig at the Williamstown RSL last year, after you mentioned our tale. I put the $15 in my draw with the intention to buy a plant with it, and to start the re-generation around our place. See attached photos (I hope they don’t fill your inbox).

Our house is now at lock-up stage and we hope to move in early April.

Can’t wait to see you guys back in Melb. I’ve heard some of the new songs on your website and they sound great.

Remind Glenn that I’m still awaiting a copy of the video that I took for you guys at the gig at Pure Pop Records in Melb last year. Hopefully it turned out OK. Hope to catch up with you soon. Rock-on, Pete."

Pete’s story inspired me to write the song Freak Of Nature about being caught in the Black Saturday bushfires. I read a lot about the fires in newspapers and kept seeing the same phrase: "and then the wind changed", which seemed to explain so much. That line became the pivot point of the song, a reason to change dynamics from a seductive verse into the raging chorus: "then it's out of control".

Freak Of Nature

Who knows what luck will bring
Ride in on the wind
Glowing
Blowing you a kiss
On some sunny day
Spark ignites into a flame
And then the winds change

Then it’s out of control
Fire is raging
In her soul
Another freak of nature
Now we’re running for the lake
We’re cut off from the road
Running for our lives
Running out of water

Never forget we’ll always remember
Nobody knows how it started

Who knows what luck will bring
When you come waltzing in
Knowing
You’re blowing me a kiss
Some sweet sunny day
Spark ignites into a flame
And then the winds change

Then it’s out of control
Our love is blind
To the cause
Another freak of nature

Words and music / John Prior © 2009