The band formed in Adelaide in 1973 as a heavy metal band called Orange around keyboard player Don Walker and original bassist Les Kascmarek and while hard rock remained at the core of their sound Cold Chisel displayed a remarkable versatility. When Kascmarek left in 1975, Walker became the major creative force of the band. Built around Walker's superb songwriting, the group also featured the dazzling guitar and vocal talents of Ian Moss and the enormously powerful lead vocals of Scottish immigrant Jimmy Barnes.
While typically classified as a hard-driving rock and roll band, the Chisel repertoire included such Australian anthems as the landmark Vietnam War song "Khe Sanh", "Bow River", "Flame Trees" and "Saturday Night", but also included thoughtful ballads like "Choir Girl" (written about the subject of abortion), pop-flavoured love songs like "My Baby" and caustic political statements like "Star Hotel", an attack on the late-70s government of Malcolm Fraser and inspired by a riot at a Newcastle pub. The music was not political in context, however Walker's songs were observations of everyday life within the Australian society and culture. One song from this period, "Misfits", which featured on the b-side to "My Baby", was written in the same vein as Chuck Berry, and was about homeless kids in the suburbs surrounding Sydney.
Cold Chisel weren't just a band, they were a lifestyle for many of their followers, who were known as some of the roughest in the land. This gave Chisel their hard living approach to their music and made them a tough live band as well. More than 30 years after they originally played together, they attract generation after generation of new listeners. This is also evidence of Chisel's dominance of the pub rock era. They are the only Australian band to have sold more records after breakup than before and are among other bands that have become transgenerational. "Khe Sanh" consistently ranks highly in lists of Australia's most popular songs and their music remains a staple of rock station playlists. The Ian Moss song "Never Before" (from the East LP) was chosen by FM rock station 2JJJ (Triple Jay) as the first record played on-air when the station made its transition from AM to FM in 1980.
By 1983 the band had reached the zenith of their career in Australia and with overseas markets reluctant to accept them, Cold Chisel began to disintegrate. Their abortive US sojourn was commemorated in Barnes' excoriating rocker "You Got Nothing I Want" from the Circus Animals album, an emotional volume created from the frustration of the band’s experiences overseas.
Increasing internal tensions and the pressures of touring took their toll and Steve Prestwich -- who was often in conflict with Barnes -- left the band, to be replaced by veteran Australian drummer Ray Arnott (ex Spectrum). Shortly afterward, in 1984, Cold Chisel announced their split and a series of farewell concerts, for which Prestwich re-joined. That tour became a legend in itself and was not without incident when Barnes lost his voice before the Sydney shows, which then had to be rescheduled. The band's final performance was filmed for the documentary concert film The Last Stand, which remains to this day the best-selling concert film of any single Australian act.
In mid 2011 the group announced a series of upcoming concerts.
On The Road
Cold Chisel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Long ago in college days
You could measure my hand
By the style of my play
Hitchhiking home when the dollars ran low
I had little to do and nothing to say
Then the road was grafted like a mistletoe
I just had to go
Then everyday and every time I stayed
My feet were burnin'
You just got to know
It's a never ending show
Packup my toothbrush, I just got to go
As we slaved out west
On the cotton chipping
For the money we got
I knew we were slipping
But later speeding down the Puttee Road
Our heads were high
And our hearts were skipping
And we drove all day down Wallacia way
For three long days of music and friends
And we all got stoned on jungle juice and ladies
When the last note died
We hit the road again
And oh
Well I guess its never quite the same again
Somebody moves his money in
Saturday night and Tony and me
Packed an airline bag and headed down to the sea
The Duke was howlin' down in Sydney town
And when the Duke's around
There's just one place to be
And the rain came down
In Pitt Street in the morning
The air was alive with little wings
We slept in the car till the dawning
And we broke our fast like vagabond kings
And oh
Well I guess its never quite the same again
Somebody moves his money in
Well time goes on
And you ain't any younger
Your belly gets fat
But you still got the hunger
Your friend's get married
Your hair gets thin
You want to leave it all behind
And scream I'm on the road again
I'm on the road again
I'm on the road again
I'm on the road again
I'm on the road again....
The song "On the Road" by Cold Chisel is an ode to the joys and struggles of life on the open road. The lyrics describe the singer's experiences hitchhiking, working on a cotton farm, and traveling to music festivals with friends. The road becomes a part of the singer's identity, grafted "like a mistletoe to my skin and my bones." The freedom of the road is tempered by the knowledge that nothing stays the same, and eventually, friends get married and hair gets thin. Despite this, the singer knows that the road is where they need to be: "You want to leave it all behind/And scream I'm on the road again."
The song captures the spirit of adventure and restlessness that comes with life on the move. The road represents both freedom and uncertainty, and the singer embraces both. The imagery in the lyrics is vivid and evocative, from the "little wings" that fill the air on a rainy morning to the "jungle juice and ladies" at the music festival. The chorus, with its repetition of "I'm on the road again," is a rallying cry for anyone who feels the call of the open road.
Line by Line Meaning
Long ago in college days
Back in my college days, a long time ago
You could measure my hand
My abilities could be judged by my style of play
By the style of my play
By how I played
Hitchhiking home when the dollars ran low
I was hitchhiking because I had no money left
I had little to do and nothing to say
I was bored and didn't have anything to say
Then the road was grafted like a mistletoe
The road became a part of me like a mistletoe plant attaches itself to a tree
To my skin and my bones
It became a fundamental part of who I was
I just had to go
I had to hit the road
Then everyday and every time I stayed
Every day that I stayed in one place
My feet were burnin'
I had a restless urge to keep moving
You just got to know
You have to understand this feeling
It's a never ending show
It's an ongoing experience that never stops
Packup my toothbrush, I just got to go
I'm packing up my essentials because I'm ready to go
As we slaved out west
As we worked hard in the West
On the cotton chipping
Picking cotton
For the money we got
To earn some cash
I knew we were slipping
I knew we weren't making much progress
But later speeding down the Puttee Road
Later, when we were driving fast down Puttee Road
Our heads were high
We felt good about ourselves
And our hearts were skipping
We were excited and feeling alive
And we drove all day down Wallacia way
We drove all day in the direction of Wallacia
For three long days of music and friends
For three days of listening to music with friends
And we all got stoned on jungle juice and ladies
We all got high on a homemade alcoholic drink and the company of women
When the last note died
When the music stopped
We hit the road again
We started driving again
Saturday night and Tony and me
On a Saturday night, Tony and I
Packed an airline bag and headed down to the sea
We packed a bag and went to the ocean
The Duke was howlin' down in Sydney town
A popular music venue, The Duke, was having a good night in Sydney
And when the Duke's around
When The Duke is open
There's just one place to be
It's the best and only place to be
And the rain came down
It started raining
In Pitt Street in the morning
In the morning on Pitt Street
The air was alive with little wings
The air was full of small creatures
We slept in the car till the dawning
We slept in the car until dawn
And we broke our fast like vagabond kings
And we ate breakfast like carefree royalty
Well time goes on
Time passes
And you ain't any younger
And you're not getting any younger
Your belly gets fat
You put on weight
But you still got the hunger
But you still have the drive to hit the road
Your friend's get married
Your friends start getting married
Your hair gets thin
You start balding
You want to leave it all behind
You want to start fresh somewhere else
And scream I'm on the road again
And shout that you're going back on the road
I'm on the road again
I'm going back out on the highway
I'm on the road again
I'm traveling again
I'm on the road again
I'm starting another adventure
I'm on the road again
I'm off on a new journey
Contributed by Mackenzie C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@geoffreybreasley9896
Fucking beautiful, best band in the world, 100% Geoffrey xx
@hislatestflame7861
Fucken awesome...vintage chisel!!!
@andykay23
Thank you sir.
@adriang6259
Gee whiz. They're a well of gold
@billybobb7252
Hey we be gashing out on them Riffs thanks blonks .>>>.