It didn't take long before Josh's unique voice and song writing style, influenced by the likes of Elliott Smith, Evan Dando, and Sparklehorse, began to find favour amongst music tastemakers, critics and Triple J listeners. The first taste, the assured 'Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast', found high rotation on Triple J and soon 'Silver' and the gently sweeping 'Doldrums' followed to similar praise and airplay. These tracks are now available on the CD 'Recordings 2003-2005' through The Million records.
Josh signed to Ivy League Records in 2005 and shortly afterwards travelled to New York for some further writing, performing and demoing and upon return set about recording what was his debut release under his own name, a mini album entitled "Feeding The Wolves".
"Feeding the Wolves" signified a great deal more than a change in name: It revealed a huge step in the development of Josh as an artist and songwriter. The subject matter was as broad as titles like "Beg Your Pardon", "Private Education", "Middle Of The Hill" and "Goldmines" suggest, however it's Josh's lyrics that draw this collection of songs together into a complete package. He cleverly dissects human emotion and feelings and shows them for what they are: complex, abstract, fascinating.
There is hope in the opening track 'Beg Your Pardon' and in 'Fill You In' there is emptiness and longing. The first single, 'Middle Of The Hill', is a near-stream of consciousness of a suburban childhood - family affection coloured by those sometimes darker, sometimes trivial details that for some reason stay with you. 'Goldmines' a vision of a land, or maybe a talent, stripped of its riches - but here and there a flash of colour survives. A relationship that seems to be an ongoing test is at 'Private Education's' centre. The title track finishes it, with Josh quick to point out the Wolves are not those wanting a piece of you for whatever reason - but those uncontrollable, irrational, emotions inside yourself that you have to keep in check.
With production by the much-lauded Wayne Connolly (You Am I, Underground Lovers, Youth Group, just about any Australian act of note...), "Feeding The Wolves" had the artist now rightly known as Josh Pyke letting his talent flow without constraint. The words seem to tumble out of him: honest, evocative, and emotional all at once. The playing - again mostly all Josh - is one moment sweetly melodic, then turning urgent and insistent as needs be. This range of feelings, packaged so they bounce around inside your head like good songs do, and given so generously, go together to make "Feeding The Wolves" the sound of an artist beginning to realise an enormous potential.
In 2007 Josh released his first full-length album 'Memories and Dust'. Although the record features three of the stand-out tracks from 'Feeding the Wolves' there are a further 8 tracks of similar quality, including the title track, which was the first single taken from the new batch. The release is again through Ivy League Records.
Josh's second album Chimney's Afire was released 4 October 2008 and was recorded at Sydney's Linear Recording studios. The first single off the album was "The Lighthouse Song", and the second was called "Make You Happy".
Middle Of The Hill
Josh Pyke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not the top, not the bottom, but the middle
And I still remember where I cracked my head
In the vacant lot, there's a row of tiny houses there now
And we used to light fires in the gutters
And I could cool my head on the concrete steps
But the girl down the street hit my sister on the head
With a stick and we hid behind my father
To tell the them what she did
But the parents were drunk so they really didn't give a shit
And the girl down the street said a dog couldn't bark
'Cause a man with an axe cut its voicebox out
But my older sister told me that it prob'ly wasn't true
And I believe what she said 'cause she took me by the hand
One time when a coupla men drove down the hill in a white van
Said there was a phone box filled with money 'round the corner
And I woulda gone along but she took me by the hand
To the house in the middle of the hill
In the middle of the hill, in the middle of the hill
And my mother knew the words to a lot of different songs
And we'd always sing the harmonies, yeah we'd sing along
She had cold, cold hands when the fever hit
And then the noises that the trains made sounded like people in my head
And the stories that the ceiling told
Through the pictures and the grains in the pine-wood boards
And let me stay outside 'til the sky went red
And I could cool my head on the concrete steps
And you could never really see the top from the bottom
But I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
And you could never really see the top from the bottom
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Josh Pyke’s song “Middle Of The Hill” is a reminiscence of his childhood spent in a house located in the middle of the hill. He recollects his childhood memories of various events that took place back then. The song opens with Josh describing his childhood home, which was located neither at the top nor at the bottom of the hill, instead at its middle. He highlights the places around his house, such as the vacant lot where he had an injury, the row of tiny houses that have now replaced the vacant lot, and the gutters where they used to light fires. He also mentions the girl down the street who hit his sister with a stick and how she and her parents didn’t care about what happened.
The next verse talks about the different stories that Josh heard as a child, such as the one in which a man with an axe cut a dog’s voicebox out. His sister, however, refuted the story’s truthfulness. The same sister also took Josh by the hand and led him away from two men who claimed to have found a phone box containing money. In the final verse, Josh sings about his mother and how they used to sing harmonies together. He mentions the fever that his mother got, and how the train noises sounded like people in his head. The song ends with Josh repeating the phrase “I don’t pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em.”
Overall, the song is a nostalgic trip back to the place where Josh spent his childhood. He is appreciative of his upbringing but feels regretful that he didn’t appreciate it enough when he had it.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a kid I grew up in a house on a hill
I reminisce about my childhood home on a hill
Not the top, not the bottom, but the middle
Our house was located in the middle of the hill
And I still remember where I cracked my head
I have a vivid memory of where I hit my head
In the vacant lot, there's a row of tiny houses there now
The empty lot of land we used to play in has been developed into small houses
And we used to light fires in the gutters
We had fun igniting fires in the street gutters
And I could cool my head on the concrete steps
The concrete steps to our house were my go-to spot to cool down
But the girl down the street hit my sister on the head
My sister got hit on the head by a girl who lived nearby
With a stick and we hid behind my father
We hid behind our father for protection
As he knocked on the parents' door
My father approached the parents' house
To tell the them what she did
To inform them of what their daughter did
But the parents were drunk so they really didn't give a shit
The parents were intoxicated and didn't care
And the girl down the street said a dog couldn't bark
The same girl claimed a dog's ability to bark was removed by a man with an axe
'Cause a man with an axe cut its voicebox out
The girl's reasoning for why the dog couldn't bark
But my older sister told me that it prob'ly wasn't true
My older sister doubted the girl's story
And I believe what she said 'cause she took me by the hand
I trusted my sister and followed her guidance
One time when a coupla men drove down the hill in a white van
A memory of when two men drove down the hill in a white van
Said there was a phone box filled with money 'round the corner
The men claimed there was a phone box with money nearby
And I woulda gone along but she took me by the hand
I considered following the men but my sister stopped me
To the house in the middle of the hill
We went back to our house in the middle of the hill
In the middle of the hill, in the middle of the hill
Reemphasizing the location of our house
And my mother knew the words to a lot of different songs
My mother was familiar with many songs
And we'd always sing the harmonies, yeah we'd sing along
We enjoyed singing together and harmonizing
She had cold, cold hands when the fever hit
My mother's hands would feel cold when she had a fever
And then the noises that the trains made sounded like people in my head
When the trains passed by, the sounds they made had an eerie effect on me
And the stories that the ceiling told
The ceiling had an imaginative and storytelling quality
Through the pictures and the grains in the pine-wood boards
The natural wood paneling on the ceiling created images and stories
And let me stay outside 'til the sky went red
I was allowed to stay outside until sunset
But I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Reflecting on not appreciating the positive aspects of life
And you could never really see the top from the bottom
The hill's elevation made it difficult to see from different angles
But I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Continuing theme of not valuing what one has
And you could never really see the top from the bottom
Restating the perspective of the hill's top and bottom
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Repeating the song's refrain
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Third repetition of the song's refrain
I don't pay enough attention to the good things when I got 'em
Final repetition of the song's refrain
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: JOSHUA JON PYKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ria Pal
It's so impressive how he integrated the stream-of-consciousness songwriting style and managed to tell a story with it in this song.
vadermarvel
This song is so underrated, I love this song
Kato Burke
That's totally my Aussie childhood, running wild until dark then coming home dirty and exhausted from all our adventures!
nastyhobbit
anyone else notice he does the whole song in like 4 breaths?
Rob Stanford
This song is nostalgic regardless of the lyrics ❤❤❤
Bren DeZen
Listening to this and the rest of Josh's Art in 2021. Crazy times but if we ignore the news and just find a healthy distraction it will help you today. Bless you 🌱☀
Homeless Sloth
What news are you talking about?
Bryce Kelly
I literally just discoved this guys music. This song is really cool. The music and lyrics are so unique and yet catchy.
DarkenedShrines
awesome song, cant get much better than this
electronic calculator use battery dc:1.5V
i’m 15 and this has been my favourite song for as long as i can remember and i just relate so much