Similar in many ways to the traditional indie pop sound, the Dunedin Sound uses "jingly jangly" guitar playing, minimal bass lines and loose drumming. Keyboards are also often prevalent. Amateur recording techniques also gave this genre a lo-fi sound that endeared its earnest music, but occasionally hard to understand vocal accompaniment, to university students worldwide.
The Dunedin Sound can be traced back to the emergence of punk rock as a musical influence in New Zealand in the late 1970s. Isolated from the country's main punk scene in Auckland (which had been influenced by bands such as England's Buzzcocks), Dunedin's punk groups such as The Enemy (which became Toy Love) and The Same (which later developed into The Chills) developed a sound more heavily influenced by artists like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges. This was complemented by jangly, psychedelic-influenced guitar work reminiscent of 1960s bands such as The Beatles and The Byrds, and the combination of the two developed into the style which became known as the Dunedin Sound.
New Zealand based Flying Nun Records championed the Dunedin Sound, starting with their earliest releases (including The Clean's single Tally ho! and the four-band compilation Dunedin Double EP), and many artists gained a dedicated "college music" following, both at home and overseas. The growth of the Dunedin Sound coincided with the founding of student radio stations at New Zealand's main universities (notably Dunedin's own Radio One), helping to increase the popularity and availability of the music around the country.
The development of parallel musical trends such as the Paisley Underground in California and the resurgence of Jangle pop aided a growth in the popularity of the Dunedin Sound on college radio in the USA and Europe. The heyday of the movement was in the mid-to-late 1980s, although music in the style is still being recorded and released.
California's Pavement is but one overseas band that claims the Dunedin Sound as a major influence, and overseas artists such as Superchunk, Barbara Manning, Elf Power and Cat Power have each covered Dunedin Sound songs on several occasions.
Avant Gardener
Courtney Barnett Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Another day
Oh what a wonder
Oh what a waste
It's a Monday
It's so mundane
What exciting things
Will happen today?
The yard is full of hard rubbish it's a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab
We should amend that
I pull the sheets back
It's 40 degrees
And i feel like I'm dying
Life's getting hard in here
So i do some gardening
Anything to take my mind away from where it's supposed to be
The nice lady next door talks of green beds
And all the nice things that she wants to plant in them
I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps
Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn and radishes
I feel pro-active
I pull out weeds
All of a sudden
I'm having trouble breathing in
I'm having trouble breathing in
I'm having trouble breathing in
I'm having trouble breathing in
My hands are shaky
My knees are weak
I can't seem to stand
On my own two feet
I'm breathing but I'm wheezing
Feel like I'm emphysemin'
My throat feels like a funnel
Filled with weet bix and kerosene and
Oh no, next thing i know
They call up triple O
I'd rather die than owe the hospital
Till I get old
I get adrenalin
Straight to the heart
I feel like Uma Thurman
Post-overdosing kick start
Reminds me of the time
When i was really sick and I
Had too much psuedoefedryn and I
Couldn't sleep at night
Halfway down high street, Andy looks ambivalent
He's probably wondering what I'm doing getting in an ambulance
The paramedic thinks I'm clever 'cause I play guitar
I think she's clever cos she stops people dying
Anaphylactic and super hypocondriactic
Should've stayed in bed today
I much prefer the mundane
I take a hit from
An asthma puffer
I do it wrong
I was never good at smoking bongs
I'm not that good at breathing in
I'm not that good at breathing in
I'm not that good at breathing in
The lyrics in Courtney Barnett's song "Avant Gardener" describe a mundane and uneventful day in the life of the singer, who decides to do some gardening to take her mind off things. While pulling out weeds, she has difficulty breathing and soon realizes she's having an asthma attack. Panic sets in, and she calls triple O for help. She's taken to the hospital, where she receives treatment but vows never to let herself end up in that situation again.
The lyrics explore the contrast between the singer's desire for a more exciting and fulfilling life and the reality of her mundane existence. The garden represents her attempt to take control of her life, but her physical limitations remind her of her vulnerability. The lyrics also touch on themes of anxiety, self-doubt, and the fear of mortality. Despite her difficulties, the singer finds comfort in the mundanity of her life, realizing that it's often the simple things that bring the most joy.
Overall, "Avant Gardener" is a wry and introspective meditation on the ups and downs of everyday life. Through his lyrics, Barnett captures the irony and absurdity of existence, while also finding moments of beauty and grace in the mundanity of it all.
Line by Line Meaning
I sleep in late
I wake up later than usual
Another day
A new day begins
Oh what a wonder
Wondering about the possibilities of the day
Oh what a waste
Thinking it will be a wasted day
It's a Monday
Monday, the first day of the week
It's so mundane
The routine seems boring
What exciting things
Will happen today?
Wondering if anything exciting will happen on this boring day
The yard is full of hard rubbish it's a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab
We should amend that
The yard is full of junk and looks messy. The neighbors might think they are running a meth lab. Something needs to be done to improve the yard’s appearance
I pull the sheets back
It's 40 degrees
And i feel like I'm dying
The heat is unbearable and feels like dying
Life's getting hard in here
So i do some gardening
Anything to take my mind away from where it's supposed to be
Feeling suffocated, so she starts gardening to take her mind off things
The nice lady next door talks of green beds
And all the nice things that she wants to plant in them
I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps
Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn, and radishes
I feel pro-active
I pull out weeds
The neighbor speaks about her garden and how she wants to plant new things. In contrast, the singer wants to cultivate different vegetables in her garden and starts to pull out weeds, feeling productive
All of a sudden
I'm having trouble breathing in
I'm having trouble breathing in
I'm having trouble breathing in
My hands are shaky
My knees are weak
I can't seem to stand
On my own two feet
I'm breathing, but I'm wheezing
Feel like I'm emphysemin'
Suddenly, the singer is having difficulty breathing, and her hands and knees are shaking. She feels like she has emphysema
My throat feels like a funnel
Filled with weet bix and kerosene and
Oh no, next thing I know
They call up triple O
I'd rather die than owe the hospital
Till I get old
The singer describes her throat as a funnel filled with weet bix and kerosene, and then the ambulance is called. She would instead die than have medical debts in her old age
I get adrenalin
Straight to the heart
I feel like Uma Thurman
Post-overdosing kick start
Reminds me of the time
When i was really sick, and I
Had too much psuedoefedryn, and I
Couldn't sleep at night
The adrenaline injection makes her feel like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, and it reminds her of the past when she took too much pseudoephedrine when she was sick and couldn't sleep
Halfway down high street, Andy looks ambivalent
He's probably wondering what I'm doing getting in an ambulance
The paramedic thinks I'm clever 'cause I play guitar
I think she's clever cos she stops people dying
While halfway through the street, Andy looks unsure about her being taken in an ambulance. The Paramedic finds it clever that she plays the guitar, but she finds the Paramedic to be genuinely clever because she saves lives
Anaphylactic and super hypocondriactic
Should've stayed in bed today
I much prefer the mundane
Having an anaphylactic reaction due to being super hypochondriac. She should have stayed in bed but prefers the mundane
I take a hit from
An asthma puffer
I do it wrong
I was never good at smoking bongs
I'm not that good at breathing in
She takes a hit from an asthma inhaler but doesn't know how to use it. She was never good at smoking marijuana, and even breathing comes naturally
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Courtney Barnett
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Opomax
I’d rather die than owe the hospital
Till I get old
I get adrenalin
Straight to the heart
I feel like Uma Thurman
Post-overdosing kick start
Reminds me of the time
When i was really sick and i
Had too much psuedo-ephedrine and i
Couldn’t sleep at night
Halfway down high street, Andy looks ambivalent
He’s probably wondering what i’m doing getting in an ambulance
The paramedic thinks I'm clever cos i play guitar
I think she’s clever cos she stops people dying
Anaphylactic and super hypocondriactic
Should’ve stayed in bed today
I much prefer the mundane.
I take a hit from
An asthma puffer
I do it wrong
I was never good at smoking bongs.
I’m not that good at breathing in.
@mikezarzo7483
Finally, asthma rock. Love it.
@SuperNevile
it's called pseudoephedrinia
@skadibjornsdottir3683
SuperNevile pre sure she said super hypochondriac
@anthonyt3242
Exactly
@avantgardener6521
Yess this song is totally about the day she had an asthma attack, I swear
@harveygirl95
😂😂😂
@21Walls
"The paramedic thinks I'm clever 'cause I play guitar
I think she's clever cause she stops people dying"
This line cracks me up so much.
@Chrisdvc26
+Cleric It's funny but also strangely poignant at the same time
@miavalente7920
+Cleric love that line as well. :)
@anthonybourdainsuperfan1241
+Cleric Oh my god same, probably one of my favourite lyrics of all time