The ROOT! Compendium - Lyrics

All lyrics © ROOT!

Shazza and Michelle

Bendigo, woah, Bendigo^[1]
Bendigo, woah, Bendigo
Bendigo, woah, Bendigo
Bendigo, Bendigo, woah

Down in Bendigo there were these two girls, Shazza and Michelle
They won a talent contest, they could sing that well
And when their friends heard about the Idol^[2] on the radio
They said, "You'll never know unless you go."

'Cause they could sing just about as good as anybody
And isn't TV fame just waiting there for everybody?
When the choice is either nursing^[3] or start rehersing
I don't think you're going to need too much coercing

You gotta bow down and worship the Idol^[4]

Shazza and Michelle they got to be strong, yeah
Lead into temptation down in Babylon^[5], yeah
SMS your vote, judges decision is final^[6]
Will they one day be worshipped as an Idol?

They got the bus outta Kangaroo Flat^[7], at one
The butterflies hopping^[8] as they entered Babylon
Joined the football match crowd at the audition
So little talent, so much ambition

They were told originality is vital
as long as you follow all the rules
You'll be entitled to total freedom
To sign away your copyright, I'll show you how you could be the Idol

Well, they met a cool fella called Nebuchadnezzar^[9]
And he said "Let me help you get your career together
I can introduce you to a TV producer."
But when they met her, she looked more like Medusa^[10]

They showed Shazza and Michelle a whole new world
An eye-opener for humble country girls
Nights with club hopping, pill popping, name dropping
Days of shift working, kitchen mopping
But then things kinda got weird with Nebuchadnezzar
When he couldn't play the girls off, he tried to play with them together

He's good lookin' and he's free, he's got a wife
He's got alot of money, he's got no life
He's a real go-getter, he's insecure
He says he'll love you forever, next week, not sure.

His wife doesn't understand him, neither will you
It's hard being male these days - boo hoo
You bring out his softer side
He'll spike your G'n'T^[11] - he'll never lay a hand on you
Yeah and I am Tommy Lee^[12]

Bendigo, Bendigo

Well the children of Bendigo would not bow down
You couldn't fool the children with no golden Idol
That attitude soon proved career suicidal

The rent notice came - time to get out of Babylon
They got the bus back to Bendigo - a job in the old folks home
Singing all those great old songs at the afternoon sing-a-long
And the old folks worshipped them - like an Idol

Shazza and Michelle they got to be strong, yeah
Lead into temptation down in Babylon, yeah
SMS your vote, judges decision is final
Will they one day be worshipped as an Idol?

Nebuchadnezzar thinks they're trapped forever
In a straight jacket life with a cell door future
I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror

Information

1) The first "official" song to be released by ROOT!, it was taken down off their myspace page when I Wish I Was Tex Perkins was released. The song re-appeared two days later (on July 13, 2007) as a different version. The differences were thus:

1.1) The original was 4:39 and the second version was 4:42. The extra three seconds were silence after the fade out.
1.2) The second version had an over all lower volume level.
1.3) In the original, the bass comes in after the second "Bendigo" in the first "Bendigo, woah, Bendigo," the rest of the instruments came in at the same time as they do in the second version.
1.4) In the original, after the line "he tried to play with them together," there was a bass drum kick and one piano note. In the second version, it was complete silence.
1.5) The second version has drums during the bridge section. The original didn't.
1.6) The second version has a lot more energy in the "good looking and free" part which continues after that section.
1.7) In the original, "the children of Bendigo" section contained bass and piano. The second version contains drums and bass.
1.8) In the original, there were no drums up to "the rent notice came," so they were introduced with a short drum roll (probably using brushes). The roll is omitted on the second version as the section proceeding "the rent notice came" has drums.
1.9) "Will they one day be worshipped" nearer to the end has cymbal crashes in the second version which werent there in the original.
1.10) "Nebuchadnezzar thinks they're trapped forever" had instrumentation similar to the rest of the song, the second version has the faster part from the "good looking and free" section.
1.11) At the "do do do" outro, all the instruments except the guitar stopped in the original, then guitar and bass ended the song as the "do do do"'s slowed. The second version continues all instruments up to the end, where they all slow along with the "do do do"'s.

2) The lyrics booklet for the album "Root Supposed He Was Out Of The Question" has the title as "Shazza and Michelle From Bendigo"

3) The story of Shazza and Michelle from Bendigo is based on and closely parallels the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. To understand the Babylonian references running through the lyrics, it helps to know the story, in essence: The king of Babylon, named Nebuchadnezzar built a false idol (instead of God) which he commanded everyone bow down and worship when music was played. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused and were cast into fire. Fortunately their belief in God saved them. Duly impressed that they would die rather than worship a false idol, Nebuchadnezzar awarded them nice cushy jobs.

4) Thanks to Michelle, Shane, Simon

Notes

1) Bendigo is a town in Victoria
2) The "Idol" mentioned in the song refers to the national competitions of Idols. Specifically, in this case, Australian Idol. The idea is someone who is a really good singer, but as yet undiscovered, is given a crack at big time success thanks to television.
3) From Michelle (not the one from the song): the nursing reference in "Shazza and Michelle" would be to do with the fact that in small towns there's no hope for young girls except to get out or to become mothers at an early age, so nursing as in nursing a baby on the breast. From Shane: Also, nursing is one of the courses offered at La Trobe university in Bendigo. It is one of 'the' courses for girls to do in Bendigo if they don't really know what to do after VCE.
4) An "Idol" is actually a God or deity, or a personification of such God, which is worshipped.
5) See the "Information" section above for an explanation of the Babylon references.
6) SMS is the primary voting system on the Idol shows. Though the judges opinions seem to have more sway than the mass of public opinion.
7) Kangaroo Flat is an outer suburb of Bendigo, not unlike some of the urban fringes of large cities. It is home to the city's largest shopping centre and often attracts customers from low socio-economic backgrounds.
8) Nervousness is often referred to as "having butterflies in [your] stomach".
9) An anonymous contributer sent this in, as to the definition and relevance of Nebuchadrezzar: "Nebuchadrezzar was the name of a ruler of Babylon. In the second year of his reign (evidently counting from his conquest of the Jews), Nebuchadrezzar dreams of a huge image made of various materials. (gold, silver, bronze, iron, etc). During another incident, Nebuchadrezzar erects a large idol for worship during a public ceremony on the plain of Dura. When three Jews, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, refuse to take part, he has them cast into a fiery furnace. Seems to be a reference that real talent cant win the aussie idol, and if you refuse to comply to their rules you'll be thrown out of the competition.
10) Medusa is a character in Greek Mythology. She had snakes for hair and could turn people to stone if they looked into her eyes. The specific reference is in relation to her unkempt hair, however.
11) G'n'T is Gin and Tonic. The G'n'T was changed to a drug in the live version at The Esplanade Hotel, August 3, 2007.
12) Tommy Lee pled no contest "on charges that he beat his wife, former "Baywatch" actress Pamela Anderson, while she held the couple's infant son" on April 7, 1998. The reference as used in this section of the song further highlights the producer's two-faced nature.