Their 1980 debut album The Boys Light Up had a number of hit singles including the title track; "Indisposed"; and "Beautiful People". The Boys Light Up appeared on the Aussie charts for 104 weeks. In 1981 the band released their second album, Sirocco. This album contained the hits "Lakeside", "Things Don't Seem" and "Errol", a song written about the Australian actor Errol Flynn. It was produced by Peter Dawkins in Sydney.
In 1982 they released the Sons of Beaches album. The album was recorded in Hawaii with producer Mike Chapman. The album featured the hit "Shutdown" and it became their third album in a row to reach the top five in the Australian charts.
Soon afterwards Bill McDonough left the band. The remaining members then recorded the EP Semantics. The EP contained what would become possibly their best-known song, "Reckless".
The first of two deaths in the group came in 1984 when Guy McDonough died in Melbourne of viral pneumonia secondary to endocarditis due to intravenous amphetamine use. "From Simon Binks: Incorrect and libellous. You'd better hope Bill doesn't see this. Guy died after receiving intravenous vitamin supplements from a naturopath friend of ours to overcome a curious fatigue".
The band recorded their final studio album, Between A Rock And A Hard Place, in 1985.
Tensions within the band caused them to disband in 1986. Performing a final concert on 27 January 1986, the concert was recorded and released under the title The Final Wave.
In seven years, Australian Crawl sold over a million records in Australia. After the group disbanded, Reyne went on to pursue a successful solo career. Robinson moved into a career in television (with Network Ten's Page One) and documentaries; in the 1990s he became the manager for the Reyne brothers, James and David. (David had been the drummer in Reyne and Binks' first band, Spiff Roach.) "From Simon Binks: No. David never played in Spiff Rouch. Bill filled those shoes. David was the first drummer in Australian Crawl."
After a three-year battle with lymphoma, Robinson died on 13 October 1996. The band was inducted into the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1996, just before Robinson's death.
In 2002 EMI released a two-CD Greatest Hits package called Australian Crawl: James Reyne, The Definitive Collection, which contained songs from the band and from James Reyne's solo career.
"All the names on the picture in this forum are wrong. You have me labelled as James Reyne. Simon Binks"
"Thank you for your corrections Mr Binks - I thought I was mistaken but realise I was right.
Love Beats Me Up
Australian Crawl Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She's the only one in the world
She's the ruler of the table-top
She's no persnickety, She's real persimmon
She's all I got
She's a pretty serene surrender
Unlike Chrissie she's no pretender
She's my coupe dynaflow
She's all I know
I said love gets really tough
That's when love beats me up
I don't own my own record player
I use hers its just the same
We're getting so much more au fait(er)
she's soya chookin' and I'm just lookin'
At summer again
I said love gets really tough
That's when love beats me up
She wants to move my monty picture
Iv'e got a thing about where it goes
I think she wishes I was richer
Well it ain't too bad, I'm fair to middling
Oh, so-so
I said love gets really tough
That's when love beats me up
The song "Love Beats Me Up" by Australian Crawl is a love song that speaks about the singer's love for a girl who is the only one in the world for him. He describes her as the ruler of the table-top, using a metaphor to describe her supremacy in his life. He portrays her as serene and surrendering, unlike Chrissie who he describes as a pretender. He confesses that he could never walk away from her; she's all he knows and has.
The chorus of the song has the lines, "I said love gets really tough, That's when love beats me up." The musician, in the lyrics, talks about the challenges that come with love, and how it beats him, understood as overpowers him. The line draws on the metaphor that love is a fighter, and when it gets tough or challenging, it overpowers and beats him, making him powerless.
In the second verse, the musician talks about how they share everything with his girl, including the record player, using his girl's instead. He uses the French phrase "au fait" meaning skilled or expert, to depict the progress of the relationship, indicating that they have become experts in being together. He describes his girl as "soya chookin'," which means the girl is cooking soybeans, a typical hippie meal during the 70s and 80s. The last line of the verse highlights the beautiful memories shared during summer, something they both enjoy together.
Line by Line Meaning
Could never walk away from that girl
I can never leave her side
She's the only one in the world
She is my only one, there's no one like her
She's the ruler of the table-top
She is the one in control of our relationship
She's no persnickety, She's real persimmon
She isn't fussy, she's authentic
She's all I got
She is the only thing I have
She's a pretty serene surrender
She is peaceful and accepting
Unlike Chrissie she's no pretender
Unlike others, she isn't fake
She's my coupe dynaflow
She is my perfect match
She's no disguise and it's no surprise
She isn't hiding anything from me
She's all I know
She is the only thing I am familiar with
I said love gets really tough
I have realised that love can be very difficult
That's when love beats me up
That's when love causes me pain
I don't own my own record player
I don't own my own things
I use hers its just the same
I use her things like it's mine
We're getting so much more au fait(er)
We are both getting more used to each other
she's soya chookin' and I'm just lookin'
She's busy and I just watch her
At summer again
It feels like summer again when I'm with her
She wants to move my monty picture
She wants to rearrange my belongings
Iv'e got a thing about where it goes
I have an attachment to where it is placed
I think she wishes I was richer
I believe she wants me to have more money
Well it ain't too bad, I'm fair to middling, Oh, so-so
It's not terrible, I'm doing okay, just average
I said love gets really tough
I have realised that love can be very difficult
That's when love beats me up
That's when love causes me pain
Contributed by Muhammad B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.