Words & Music
April 2013
Heavy Heart
You Am I
To the ancient Egyptians a heavy heart was one burdened by sin. Believing that entry to the afterlife was judged by the weighing of the newly dead heart against the ‘feather of truth’, they concluded that only those who did good deeds would be light-hearted enough to pass through successfully. Like many of us, Tim Rogers may well have failed that test. Yet, with the tender, break-up ballad Heavy Heart, he and his band You Am I have helped lighten our hearts by using melody and humour to express an emotional truth in song.
Released in 1998, Heavy Heart was the third single from You Am I’s #4 Record. The album was the group’s third consecutive #1. As the band’s singer, guitar slinger and principal songwriter, Rogers had established himself as a gifted writer and dynamic (sometimes erratic) performer. Inspired by the British beat groups of the 60s, he remained a true believer, who seemed as dedicated to the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle as he was the music.
Rogers has said that he began writing Heavy Heart for country music legend Charlie Rich, with a plan to pitch it to him through a mutual friend. Unfortunately, he says, Rich died before it was completed, leaving him no alternative but to sing it himself. It’s a curious account, given the tune sounds closer to The Kinks than it does a Nashville country ballad. You can only wonder what Rich might have made of its references to football and an ‘all day morning hair-do’.
Been watching so much TV
I’m thinner than I should be
I’m like a waterlogged ball
That no-one wants to kick around anymore
It may be a ‘beers and tears’ style break-up song but Rogers’ knack for wordplay and witty self-deprecation lifts it above mere cliché and self pity. He might ‘talk a lot about football’ and ‘girls he kissed in grade four’ but beneath the banter lies some real heartache.
I miss you like sleep
And there’s nothing romantic about the hours I keep
The morning when it starts
I don’t look so sharp, now I got a heavy heart
Rogers might play the dissolute dandy but stripped of his style and swagger his pain is laid bare.
It’s just a low rent paying, palpitating pulp under my shirt
But there’s a weight that’s sitting
Oh God it hurts, oh God it hurts
Musically, Heavy Heart is an economical song that uses much the same chord progression for both its verses and chorus. The shorter duration of the chords in the chorus increases the pace of the progression and the accompanying sense of urgency. The melodies in turn reflect the lyrics: the exquisite verse melody tugging at the heartstrings, while the chorus is simpler and more direct. Instrumentation is restricted to an acoustic guitar, percussion and some understated strings, leaving Rogers’ voice front and centre. His delivery is high and delicate, like it could crack at any moment.
“What I got from listening to Ray (Davies of The Kinks) was that I could sing in my own vernacular, and not try and be someone else,” Rogers has said. “At times Ray could sing with delicacy, yet the man had a power behind it.”
When it has come to judging his own work, Rogers has been characteristically self-critical. “Heavy Heart’s a little overcooked,” he has said. “It was my attempt to write a traditional song but it was clunky. I still put the waterlogged ball line in, which means it will never be covered.” In fact the song has been covered – many times, and the waterlogged ball remains one of the most effective and memorable images in the song.
Fifteen years on and Rogers’ compulsive creativity shows no sign of abating, with recent forays into acting and musicals as well as You Am I, solo and collaborative projects. Heavy Heart remains a ‘feather of truth’ that lightens the heart by sharing the load. Beloved by fans, its place in the great Australian songbook seems assured. Despite what those ancient Egyptians believed, for Tim Rogers and You Am I, a Heavy Heart may bring immortality yet.
Phil Kakulas is a songwriter and teacher who plays double bass in The Blackeyed Susans.
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