The title track of Grant Luhrs 14th album takes its inspiration from a very pleasant pastime that many Riverinians happily succumb to – Riverina Daydreaming.
Riverina Daydreaming Is a blissful, euphoric state that overcomes the vulnerable in the Autumn and Spring and only in the Riverina. It renders its victims helpless and useless, but very happy and content.
The Medical Profession say they don’t know what causes it and are thankful that it has no cure, the Police are sure it is illegal but don’t want to stop it and Church Leaders suspect that it is a threat to organised religion and world peace.
Many people visit to the Riverina just for the Riverina Daydreaming season – the best spots are to be found on the banks of the Murrumbidgee. Grant’s song captures perfectly this wonderful phenomenon.
The Barbed Wire Pub is not only the local watering hole in Spalding in South Australia, but also Australia’s only Barbed Wire Museum. This song came second in the Great Australian Pub Song Competition.
There are two fishing songs on the album – Tickling Trout was written by Pat Alexander who wrote Love to Have a Beer with Duncan for Slim Dusty. Trout tickling is the art of rubbing the underbelly of a trout with your fingers. The trout apparently goes into a trance and you can then just throw it onto the bank!
Rod Cockburn does a fishing show on ABC Riverina with Grant every Saturday morning and I Just Love Fishing was inspired by Rod. It is about a bloke who has been fishing for 50 years, hasn’t caught a thing in that time but still loves fishing.
Ghosts of Bombers Passed is a sequel to Full Moon Tonight – a song that Peter Knight and Grant wrote about Peter’s Father’s war time experiences as a bomber navigator in the Second World War. They teamed up again to write this song after Peter made a trip to England and visited the base where his father served.
William Topaz is a beautiful, gentle song written by Grant’s good friend Warwick Jones. It is a love song with a difference about a very special rabbit!
Riverina Daydreaming features two trucking songs. Always on the Road is about Truckies and Musicians – both do long miles on the nation’s highways but for different reasons. Waiting Here for You is about a Truckie friend of Grant’s who lost his darling wife much too soon.
You Gotta Laugh is the title track of an album the Grant recorded in 1997. This is a reworked extended version of the song…almost a dance mix! Sometimes in life you just gotta shake your head and have a good laugh!
Another tale of unrequited love is Jamaican Farewell. Grant remembers hearing this song when he was four years old. He promised himself then that one day he would sing and record it.
Finally, The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel’s classic is given a country flavor…
$25 including postage