Gus and Frank first collaborated in 1997. Gus was a brooding writer playing… Read Full Bio ↴Gus and Frank first collaborated in 1997. Gus was a brooding writer playing background keyboards in an inner city Melbourne pizzeria. Frank waited on tables and serenaded unsuspecting customers...“Whoooooo ooooordered the laaaaasagneeee???!!!”
It was Frank unmistakable talent for captivating an audience that first caught Gus’ eye. A late night jam session lead to their first joint composition, ‘Confessions of a Rooftop Killer’, and the song-writing partnership was born.
Their passion for song writing became all consuming over the next few years and they practically lived in their makeshift home studio (named ‘The Zudio’) recording and re-recording their songs. The duo would occasionally go to various open mic nights and play under the simple name of Gus & Frank. Over the next year they entertained punters from the Village Bell in St. Kilda to the Barley Corn in Collingwood. It was at one of these open mic nights that the duo caught the attention of Dick Vines, a man with a very real talent for being able to “sell ice to the Eskimos”. He urged the guys to “ditch the drum machine and get a ‘real’ band together,” and soon became the band’s manager.
Since then the 5-piece band (still named Gus and Frank) have invaded the music scene with an extraordinary mix of pulsing bass riffs, catchy melodies and mischievous vocals. Frank takes his audience on a mesmerising journey of “twisted tales of love gone wrong, psychotic serial killers and deviate fairytale characters.”
Gus and Frank’s cult following, which has been growing since their days at open mic nights, propelled their first single ‘So Entertaining’ to the top of request shows and music charts across the country including Triple J and Nova 100. The unusual support of an unsigned band brought a sell out tour and live performances on Channel Ten’s ‘The Panel’ and Channel V, among others. The band’s next three singles also achieved radio success and their album ‘Confessions of a Rooftop Killer’ became one of the highest selling independent releases of 2003. This success propelled ‘So Entertaining’ into Triple J’s Hottest 100.
In 2004 Gus and Frank released their second album ‘I’d Rather Be a Bass Player’. This album has the same fun attitude that fans have come to expect, but it also has a progression is sound that took the band to the next level The first single from the album, ‘Wonderful Life’ hit radio stations in march, leading to another successful national tour.

Confessions of a Rooftop Killer
Gus And Frank Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Ahhhhhhh Oh Ahhhhhhh)

Come around children
I want to tell you a little story
Come around
Sit down
Shut the fuck up

The old man began with his hand on his working class heart
I swear on my grave that my days have been damned from the start
Shall I tell you my tale of woe
Let me sing before my days go
It's a story of love and the darkness that drove it apart

My love song begins with the sins I'm compelled to confess
Maintaining deceit is a feit that I need to undress
It's not gold or silver I stole
Nor slanderous lies that I told
These hands of mine held the same body they bludgeoned to death

I was born like a thief in the streets of the traders down south
In my youth any roof that was tiled sufficed as my house
My only friend in this world
Was a fatherless Japanese girl
In summer we'd curl up and sleep in that fruit box of ours

In the years that passed by she and I were like old working shoes
And never a face with such grace was seen south of the blues
Behind a beggar boys shield
My love for her was concealed
Still I prayed on the rooftops at night she'd eventually chose...........

(Ahhhhhhh Oh Ahhhhhhh)

Choose me
Be true to me.........ahhgggg

He lived like a lord in a northern industrial town
And I understand secondhand it was love that he found
In the arms of my Japanese doll
They'd sleep till the church bells would toll
Then they'd wake and make passionate love till the sun rolled back down

Everyone knows I'm opposed to the taking of life
I've always believed good and evil are husband and wife
But jealousy sews deadly seeds
And harvests the darkest of deeds
I cut both their throats in the night with an old butchers knife...............

Ahhhggggggg

I swear every word that you've heard is the terrible truth
And now my young friend this song ends with the tangible proof
If you still do not believe
The loss for which I have grieved
You'll find all the bones of my love in a box on my roof................

Ahhhhhhh etc etc etc...........ahhhhggggg

Hear my confession my only possession was born of obsession so pure...and so on

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Gus and Frank's song "Confessions of a Rooftop Killer" tell the story of an old man confessing to the murders of his lover and her new partner. The song begins with the old man calling for attention from listeners as he shares his own story. From his hand on his heart, listeners can tell that he is genuine and the story he is about to share is personal. The story begins with his upbringing in a southern trading city where he slept on any roof he could find. The only friend he had was a fatherless Japanese girl whom he grew to fall in love with.

Years passed by and she found love with another man who apparently lived like a lord in a northern industrial town. The approach of jealousy, envy, and the fear of losing his only love took over, overpowered him to commit murder. Gus and Frank sing that "jealousy sews deadly seeds and harvests the darkest of deeds". The old man confesses that he cut off the throats of his lover and her partner with an old butcher's knife, then collected their bones and kept them in a box on his roof.

The song is a story of a desperate and dangerous love, conveying a mood of sadness and introspection to its listeners. Gus and Frank use metaphors of rooftops, a fruit box, and working class characters to tell the tale, which is driven by the old man's confessions. Overall, the song is an emotive portrayal of the consequences of the dark side of love.

Line by Line Meaning

Come around children
The singer wants a group of people to listen to his story and learn a lesson.

I want to tell you a little story
The singer wants to recount a tale of his youth.

Come around
The singer wants the listeners to gather together and listen.

Sit down
The artist wants the listeners to become comfortable.

Shut the fuck up
The artist wants the listeners to be quiet and pay attention.

The old man began with his hand on his working class heart
The singer is about to recount his own true story.

I swear on my grave that my days have been damned from the start
The singer emphasizes the hardships and challenges he has experienced throughout his life.

Shall I tell you my tale of woe
The artist wants to recount a tragic personal story.

Let me sing before my days go
The artist wants to share his story before he dies.

It's a story of love and the darkness that drove it apart
The artist's story is about a relationship that failed due to negative circumstances.

My love song begins with the sins I'm compelled to confess
The singer begins to recount the mistakes he made in his past relationship.

Maintaining deceit is a feit that I need to undress
The artist regrets the dishonesty he perpetuated within his past relationship.

It's not gold or silver I stole
The singer did not commit a crime of theft or larceny.

Nor slanderous lies that I told
The singer did not lie about his lover.

These hands of mine held the same body they bludgeoned to death
The singer uses a metaphor to describe physically causing harm to someone he loved.

I was born like a thief in the streets of the traders down south
The artist was born into poverty and survived by stealing.

In my youth any roof that was tiled sufficed as my house
The artist was homeless as a youth and would sleep on any roofed surface.

My only friend in this world
The singer's closest companion was a young girl.

Was a fatherless Japanese girl
The singer's friend was a young female from Japan without a father.

In summer we'd curl up and sleep in that fruit box of ours
The two children would sleep together in a small, shared space.

In the years that passed by she and I were like old working shoes
The two companions remained extremely close.

And never a face with such grace was seen south of the blues
The artist believed that his friend was incredibly beautiful.

Behind a beggar boys shield
The singer hid his love for his friend.

My love for her was concealed
The artist tried to hide his feelings of romantic love for his friend.

Still I prayed on the rooftops at night she'd eventually chose
Although he was afraid to admit it, the singer hoped that his friend would fall in love with him.

Choose me
The singer wants the girl to choose him.

Be true to me
The singer would be a faithful partner to the girl if she chooses him.

He lived like a lord in a northern industrial town
The artist's former lover lived a luxurious lifestyle.

And I understand secondhand it was love that he found
The artist has heard that his lover fell in love with someone else.

In the arms of my Japanese doll
The singer's lover fell in love with the Japanese girl whom the singer was once friends with.

They'd sleep till the church bells would toll
The singer's lover and the Japanese girl would sleep together.

Then they'd wake and make passionate love till the sun rolled back down
The two lovers would have sex enthusiastically.

Everyone knows I'm opposed to the taking of life
The artist does not believe in killing or violence.

I've always believed good and evil are husband and wife
The artist believes that the concepts of good and evil are closely entwined.

But jealousy sews deadly seeds
The singer became jealous of his lover and the Japanese girl.

And harvests the darkest of deeds
The artist's jealousy caused him to commit a terrible crime.

I cut both their throats in the night with an old butchers knife
The singer killed his former lover and the Japanese girl with a knife.

I swear every word that you've heard is the terrible truth
The singer is telling a true story.

And now my young friend this song ends with the tangible proof
The singer has physical evidence that supports his confession.

If you still do not believe
The artist is trying to convince the listener that his confession is honest.

The loss for which I have grieved
The artist is mourning the loss of his lover and the Japanese girl.

You'll find all the bones of my love in a box on my roof
The singer has kept the remains of his lover and the Japanese girl in a box on his roof.

Hear my confession my only possession was born of obsession so pure
The singer wants the listener to understand that the murders he committed were the result of his obsession with his lover and the Japanese girl.

Contributed by Sebastian T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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