Just add flour, wine, salt, and the F#add9 chord

December 21, 2018 1:14 AM

Hello Dan, it's Joe here,
I hope you're keeping well.
It's the 21st of December,
And the ABC are investigating the big issues and asking the toughest question of all at this time of year:
"Who's gonna make the gravy, now?"
posted by MarchHare (14 comments total)

Thank you, you just explained one of the more mysterious tweets today from an Australian friend.

Also, I make excellent gravy.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:11 AM on December 21, 2018

Neat! I was lost at first never having herd this song but now that I have it shall be added to my playlist of "Christmas songs that aren't really Christmas songs".
posted by Captain_Science at 6:57 AM on December 21, 2018

GIVE MY LOVE TO ANGUS

...

I'm literally not going to be home in time to make the gravy this year. Pretty sure it'll taste about the same, though.
posted by zamboni at 7:12 AM on December 21, 2018

In further gravy related investigative reporting, Junkee looks into What crime did Joe commit?
posted by zamboni at 7:15 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

I've never heard this song before. I kind of like it. Is it a big thing in Australia?
posted by Miko at 7:15 AM on December 21, 2018

What crime did Joe commit?

FWIW I’ve always assumed drug possession or burglary.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 12:06 PM on December 21, 2018

Hmm, I figured Joe for some kind of drunken fight with Roger - although that would raise the question of why Roger, himself, was free. Presumably it was all Joe's fault...

Nice post. Having seen Paul Kelly a few times I know the song is a favourite with his fans but didn't realise it was so well-known among Australians generally.
posted by Pink Frost at 12:27 PM on December 21, 2018

Just because they're both from Adelaide (but from very different backgrounds - posh-as-cushions Wattle Park vs hard-as-nails Elizabeth) I'd like to think Joes's crime and motivation are out in Cold Chisel's 'Standing on the Outside' - unemployment's always been really tough in regional South Australia, and in an attempt to help make a better life for his family maybe he tried to hold up a T.A.B. with an unloaded sawn-off rifle.
posted by MarchHare at 12:43 PM on December 21, 2018

"I've never heard this song before. I kind of like it. Is it a big thing in Australia?"

No. It literally wasn't a thing most people had heard of until yesterday, when an ABC puff piece / Christmas-y filler story went viral - either accidentally, or deliberately.

Prior to yesterday, I'd only heard the song because I once owned the album. It's not like it's ever been a classic that gets wheeled out every Christmas.

(A little part of me hopes that, in about 12 months time, the ABC does a story where they go "Hey, remember Paul Kelly's great Australian Christmas classic "How to Make Gravy"? Well, it's only been an 'Aussie Classic' since we made it one last year. Thats how easy it is to dupe people through social media…")
posted by Pinback at 2:41 PM on December 21, 2018

Hmm, I'm pretty sure the song and its festive associations have been known for longer than that, Pinback. Here's some coverage from 2017:

Paul Kelly fans celebrate National Gravy Day with posts on social media

And 2016:

Aussies Are PUMPED That Today Is Paul Kelly’s Gravy Day

And there's probably more from further back that I can't be bothered to find on mobile.

So yeah, while it's definitely not a big thing and is the product of hardcore Kelly tragics, it's not like the ABC has made it A Thing and it's been around longer than just this year. Personally I'm rooting for it to someday supplant Christmas.
posted by Panthalassa at 3:15 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I made a post last year!

Not a "just this year" thing. :)
posted by freethefeet at 3:47 PM on December 21, 2018

I'm still flabbergasted that you'd add ketchup to gravy. I mean, it sounds like he's making a roux, then he drops that in there. I'm a descriptivist about so many things, but gravy is one where I'm a purist.
posted by dw at 4:02 PM on December 21, 2018

No. It literally wasn't a thing most people had heard of until yesterday, when an ABC puff piece / Christmas-y filler story went viral - either accidentally, or deliberately.

Nominated song of the year, ARIAs 1997.

Nominated song of the year, APRA music awards, 1998.

Paul Kelly performed it at the AFL Grand Final in 2012.

And it’s currently got 6.4 million listens on Spotify, which is pretty good for a 20 year old song on a service that’s only been around in Australia for a couple of years.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:52 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

This song is the missing link I didn't know was missing between John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" and Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas from the Family".
posted by rhiannonstone at 5:21 PM on December 22, 2018 [1 favorite]