AUGUSTINES words & music by Luke Vassella

Let me tell you a story, let me sing you a song
About making the most of a world gone wrong
About living with the lemons in the lemonade
About keeping it cool when you're drinking the kool-aid

See one day I happened to be walking around
I was lost and lonesome in Lismore town
When by chance I glanced up from my feet
There was a brand new place on Woodlark Street

Augustines was the sign I read
I opened the door and I poked through my head
I saw an empty chair right about my size
In the half lit room I adjusted my eyes

Clare was there, she looked so fine
Surrounded by the beautiful bottles of wine
Oh my friend I tell you I don't suit all the scenes
But I could see myself suiting Augustines

Oowee, will I ever find the sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
If I ever forgot what a good time means, I could try to remember down at Augustines

You could say I was getting a little ground down by life
You could say it's worn a little thin with my beautiful wife
You could say I was just a little wasted on the vine
A fading flash in the pan of space and time

Like an old guitar strung out and stressed
My heart's been broke beating out of my chest
They could close the curtains and turn down the lights
And pour me something strong for a long dark night

Give it to me straight, neat and fine
Ease my heart and relax my mind
Cos if I ever forgot what a lifetime means
I'd have a good think about it down at Augustines

Oowee, will I ever find the sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
Cos right now I couldn't give a bag of beans for all the problems in this world
I'm at Augustines

What's the use in a theme park, or a mickey-mouse church
When you're caught in the cold, when you're left in the lurch
When you're wondering what the hell it all means
When you're staring at the walls at Augustines

Maybe I could play, maybe I could sing
Maybe I could make my guitar ring
In that cosy corner by the piano
In my best dinner jacket darlin', I'd be good to go

There's so many reasons to savour the time
To savour the flavour of a good red wine
And it looks like this joint's got the good grapes
All kinds of colours, and flavours, sizes and shapes

Well it's no secret, Jesus turned the water to wine
He helped the people rejoice, he let em have a good time
The first written revelation of his power
And quite possibly the world's first true happy hour

It was the gift of a father to a son
To share a spirit of joy with everyone
But if these wineskins should ever burst at the seams
I could wait for the new wine here at Augustines

You know, I walked past the place that was Mark's cafe
I remember sipping 'just grounds' back in the day
And talkin with a friend and a neighbour or two
Back when life was long and the sky was blue

I walked on past 'Sombrero's', it only made me sad
Cos they made the best damn margarita I ever had
The tables are still set, but the room makes no sound
The front door's locked, there's noone around

Still I walked on past Dave & Benny's Tatts Hotel
I remember that smooth Irish whiskey well
In the backroom there was always something going on
Now the lights are off, and those days are gone

And over the way I see the old arcade
That's where I drank the coffee sweet Alisha made
That girl had a lovely smile and a friendly call
Maybe I never went there for the coffee at all

Still I kept on walking across Keen St
I see the Gollan Hotel's gotten back on it's feet
There were nights there with the band we just kept breaking strings
Showing off to a room full of pretty young things

But I kept on walking, I just kept on walking

Until I came to Gilhooley's, I got kicked outta there
One time I was playing too much Leonard Cohen everywhere
At the time it was the best thing I thought I could do
You could say I got a little depressed there, for a day or two

Man, I was so lonesome I thought I could die
But hey, that's no way to say goodbye
It ain't easy when the people want circus tricks
It ain't easy when they wouldn't know mud from bricks
Boys, you keep a wheel turning in your music machines
You raise a toast to the memory at Augustines

Oowee, will I ever find the sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
If I ever forgot what a good time means, somebody'd help me remember…

There's too much talking I can hardly think
My mind's still walking, I've forgotten to blink
My friend says why worry, you don't need to fret
Don't be caught in the headlights on a road of regret

Cos there's a whole lotta ways you can fill in the blanks
And how many reasons do you really need to give thanks
My friend you can't change what's beyond your control
And all the money in this world it won't buy your soul

And all the worry in the world, it won't buy you an hour
You'll be as cold in the grave as the ivory tower
In this meaningless life you can't right every wrong
Take a look around, good people perish while the wicked live long

So don't be over-righteous, don't be given to crime
Brother why destroy yourself before your time
Don't you know this burden's been laid on the whole human race
Don't you know all things are beautiful in their time and their place

Don't you know eternity has been set in the human heart
Even dear old Arthur Stace couldn't understand, writing in that chalk from the end to the start
But when insecurity reigns in the anthropocene, I said to my friend
I think I could be locked in tight here at Augustines

Now I'm trying to recall some of the moments I had
Thinking what I learned from my dear old Dad
He always seemed to face the future with hope and good cheer
But I do miss his smile talkin over a beer

I do miss the company that I once knew
But life has moved on, what can I do

Even Moses only looked upon the promised land
And brother Simeon, he only held the saviour for a moment in his hand
You've just got to finish the race you run
Hold fast to the promise and don't come undone

I read something I liked that Rumi had to say
Something about a mystic tavern, a soul cafe

Any moment these wineskins could burst at the seams
What am I doing in the doorway at Augustines

Am I losing my mind looking for a place that I'll never find
Through the twists, the turns, the rifts and ravines, to hell with it all down at Augustines
Oowee, will I ever find the sweet serenity of a satisfied mind
If I ever forgot what a good time means I could try to remember down at Augustines
Maybe I been flying by the seat of my jeans, tied up in knots down at Augustines
And when Jesus comes knocking, he knows where I've been
He knows I'm waiting, trembling here in the doorway, staring at that empty chair…

I think I need a moment to put down the pain and the loss
To hang up the halo, and climb down off the cross