Cold Chisel’s “Flame Trees” Lyrics Meaning
For starters, Cold Chisel’s “Flame Trees” really doesn’t have anything to do with trees. Some analysts have more or less interpreted it as being an ode to the city of Grafton, where Don Walker, the writer of the lyrics, grew up. But whereas his personal memories obviously play a role, such doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case. Rather, this piece reads a lot like a standard tale of romantic nostalgia that an American country musician would more likely come up with.
Narrative of “Flame Trees”
The narrative is premised on the vocalist visiting his hometown and while there for the most part shooting the sh*t with his old homeys. But it can be ascertained that the main thing on his mind throughout is his ex-girlfriend.
And that fact that he’s mentally focused on her is sort of an open secret. Or let’s say that if a person spends a considerable amount of time at a certain location and was in love therein, then of course the other people in the locality are also going to remember you more along the lines of having been part of a couple, along with your ex.
But the implication, all things considered, is that said relationship didn’t end ideally, which is why none of the homeys “never say her name” out loud when speaking with the vocalist
Said vocalist is a big boy though. That is to say that if he did engage in any type of vigorous lamenting over losing his ex, those tears have already been cried out, and he is not compelled to do so again. So even though he can’t help but think about her more so than usual while visiting the ‘hood, in the here and now he’s more committed to enjoying the time with his old friends than getting caught up in past heartbreak.
Why the Union Ended
And as far as the verses go, the narrative ultimately ends with the vocalist observing a young couple in the same pub he’s chillin’ at with his homeys. This final verse is actually a very telling part of the song, as it implies what caused the singer and his ex to breakup in the first place. And that would be, most simply put, lack of economic opportunity in the ‘hood. Or stated otherwise, it is inferred the vocalist left his hometown in search of opportunities.
And apparently things haven’t really changed throughout the years, as he’s wondering if this young couple will survive said reality themselves. But of course, youth romance is not defined by concerns for tomorrow. So in the bridge he also remembers how in the prime of their relationship, he and his ex truly didn’t give AF.
The Flame Trees
And ultimately, the “flame trees” which highlight the title and beginning of the chorus are symbolic of how things never change in the ‘hood. Generally speaking, the place appears the same as when the vocalist bounced some unspecified time, presumably years, ago.
But this lack of transformation, with everything being in place if you will, also makes it more difficult for him to stop thinking about his ex while visiting.
So it can be said that this song is actually based on the notion of true love never dying. And the human mind being what it is, that theory would be especially factual if a participant finds himself in the area where he and his ex spent the most time together.
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a band from Australia which traces its origins back to the early 1970s. This act has proven enduringly popular in their homeland and to a lesser extent nearby New Zealand. However, by the looks of things, they haven’t achieved much notoriety outside of Oceania.
The band is still active to this day, though they went on hiatus a few times throughout the years. And in fact two of the group’s co-founders, guitarist Ian Moss and keyboardist Don Walker, are still down for the cause. So is vocalist Jimmy Barnes, who joined them shortly after formation and bassist Phil Small, who got down in 1975.
And the group is currently rounded out by their most recent addition, drummer Charley Drayton, who got down in 2011.
When did Cold Chisel release “Flame Trees”?
This track is from their fourth studio album, a project entitled Twentieth Century. And at that particular time Barnes, Moss, Walker and Small were joined by Steve Prestwich (1954-2011) on drums. Steve was another co-founder of the group.
More Facts about “Flamed Trees”
It was Steve Prestwich and Don Walker who wrote this song, with the former being the one who originally conceptualized it instrumentally.
In fact Steve had developed a liking to the instrumental itself and therefore wasn’t thrilled when Don decided to add lyrics to them. But they did proceed to drop “Flame Trees”, which proved to be one of the band’s signature hits, with another Aussie musician, Mark Opitz, producing the track.
“Flame Trees” came out as part of the aforementioned album during April of 1984. Later that year, it was also issued as Twentieth Century‘s fourth and final single. And the song broke the top 30 of the Kent Music Report, i.e. the Australian singles chart of that day.
It has been put forth that the inspiration behind this song’s title came from two sources. One is a species of plant native to Australia which are popularly known as Illawarra Flame Trees. And the other was a 1981 television show entitled The Flame Trees of Thika, which starred English actress Hayley Mills, who, according to Don Walker, one of his bandmates fancied very much.
The music video of this track was put together by Australian director Kimble Rendall at a time when there was considerable beefing going on amongst the members of Cold Chisel. As such Jimmy Barnes, who actually serves as lead vocalist of “Flame Trees”, did not film his segments live, as he was “never even told” that they were shooting a video.
The label behind “Flame Trees” is the Warner Music Group.
In Grafton there are Jakarand trees lining the streets. It’s so beautiful when they are in flower. Apparently Jackaranda was to hard to rythme with so they replaced it with the name Flame trees….the Jackaranda trees are the only beautiful thing in Grafton so it’s appropriate that they were, in a sense, written about….
One of my all time favorites and loved reading the thoughts for the words in the sone got it mostly right Lingering Love ha havent we all suffered that
Just wondering about “Nothing stopped us on the field in our day” any ideas i have some??
“On the field” could be a reference to football, or indeed as a metaphor for the dating “playing field”.
It was off the fifth studio album.
This song absolutely has to do with trees, among other things. The title of the song refers to the beautiful Illawarra Flame trees that commonly line the roads along east coast australian towns, in this instance, Grafton. The songwriter, Don Walker grew up in Grafton. It talks about his time growing up there, his friends and revisiting the town and looking to see of an old “flame” from his youth is still there.
The flame trees have beautiful bright red flowers that are paticularly vibrant when the deciduous tree sheds its’ foliage, against the late afternoon sun, they can appear to be “on fire”. So much so that “the flame trees can blind the weary driver”.
All makes sense so long as you replace the Jackarandas with Flame trees and assume that it’s the idea of coming back to a town years later and though Grafton was Don’s home town the song is about any town with trees!