Radio Birdman are a punk band that formed in Sydney, Australia in 1974. The… Read Full Bio ↴Radio Birdman are a punk band that formed in Sydney, Australia in 1974. The band's best known lineup consisted of Deniz Tek (vocals, guitar), Rob Younger (vocals, guitar), Chris Masuak (guitar), Philip "Pip" Hoyle (keyboards), Warwick Gilbert (bass) and Ron Keeley (drums)

Radio Birdman formed in 1974 and began recording in 1976 when the single Burn My Eye was released. They took their name from a misheard lyric in The Stooges song, 1970. (The actual line is "Radio burnin'") Their first LP, "Radios Appear" showed diverse influences, including Blue Öyster Cult and Detroit bands of the late 1960s, such as The MC5 and The Stooges. The album was totally ignored by commercial radio but was championed by Sydney station 2JJ (Double Jay) and became sufficiently successful in Australia to lead to a contract with Sire Records (US label, home of The Ramones), who released a different version of Radios Appear internationally. It took three years to record a follow-up, Living Eyes, and by then, the Australian punk scene had diversified and the band broke up before the LP was released in 1978.

The band's lyrics reference US-born guitarist/main songwriter Deniz Tek's home state of Michigan, with lyrics from tracks such as "Murder City Nights" referring to Woodward Avenue in Detroit:

"Cruising down Woodward gotta find me some action/Looking for a lover with a power reaction."

Many of their other songs, such as "Hand Of Law" & "Descent Into The Maelstrom" deal in apocalyptic images of war and violence, but these are more than balanced by the lighter pop culture references of tunes such as "Aloha Steve & Danno", an ode to the TV show Hawaii 5-0. "Man With Golden Helmet" (which Tek wrote in high school) is one of their most cryptic efforts: "Man with golden helmet/drinks water from the faucet..plays with tiny children/on his way home from work...he's a top man/in the language department". Deniz Tek wrote most of the lyrics and music for the band

All members went on to other bands. Younger's New Christs would be more oriented towards hard-edged, blues-based rock and roll. Tek and Keeley and keyboardist Pip Hoyle's band, The Visitors, and guitarist Chris Masuak and bass guitarist Warwick Gilbert's The Hitmen continued the Radio Birdman sound. Tek, Younger & Gilbert played in a one-shot touring band called New Race, with Dennis Thompson of the MC5 & Ron Asheton of the Stooges.

In the 1996, the band reformed sporadically to play gigs, but a full-fledged reunion didn't surface until the 00's, with the 2006 album Zeno Beach being enthusiastically received. The band split once again in 2008.

In 2014, the band announced that Younger, Tek, Hoyle and Dickson announced that they would tour Australia as Radio Birdman to coincide with the reissue of their back catalogue.

Smith & Wesson Blues
Radio Birdman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I went downtown
For something to do
Couldn't find nothing,said I
Couldn't find nothing to do
I was hanging round in bars
I was wasting time
Your face made my past
Look like a lousy dime

Cos you're never alone with a Smith & Wesson baby
You're never alone when you come round here
Wild kinetic rivers of sorrow
Riding to hell on rails of fear

Sitting in restaurant
Waiting for 6 A.M
The waitress was rough
And the milk was skim
Sunlight blasting throgh the window
Nearly drove me blind
Just like the light
On the front of that 12.05

Cos you're never alone with a Smith & Wesson baby
You're never alone when you come round here
Wild kinetic rivers of sorrow
Riding to hell on rails of fear

Night eyes shining
Like Valparaiso street lights
Wasted dogs were hanging round the dawn
Visions fading down
The streets of science
Lizard king is
Leading me on

Cos you're never alone with a Smith & Wesson baby
You're never alone when you come round here

Wild kinetic rivers of sorrow
Riding to hell on rails of fear

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Radio Birdman's song "Smith & Wesson Blues" describe the experience of being lost, aimless and ultimately hopeless in a city where danger is always present. The singer of the song finds himself wandering downtown with nothing to do, looking for something to distract himself from his own thoughts. He spends his time in bars, but it's all a waste of time. It's only when he meets someone who carries a gun that he feels a sudden sense of security, that he's never alone with a Smith & Wesson. This line suggests that the singer has become so disillusioned with life that he needs to rely on violence and the threat of it to feel safe in his environment.

The second verse further emphasizes the bleakness of the situation. The singer finds himself in a restaurant, waiting for 6 A.M., presumably because he has nowhere else to go. The waitress is unkind and the milk is skim, small details that add up to a larger picture of a very unpleasant experience. The sunlight hurts his eyes, just like the light on the front of the 12.05 train that will take him to some other undesirable place. The final verse describes the city as something almost apocalyptic, with night eyes shining like streetlights and wasted dogs hanging around. The Lizard King, a reference to Jim Morrison, is leading him on, suggesting that his only escape from this desperate situation is through drugs or fantasy.

Line by Line Meaning

I went downtown
I went to the city center

For something to do
I was looking for something to occupy myself with

Couldn't find nothing,said I
I couldn't find anything, as I complained

Couldn't find nothing to do
I couldn't find anything worthwhile to do

I was hanging round in bars
I was spending time in bars

I was wasting time
I was doing nothing productive

Your face made my past
Your appearance reminded me of my past

Look like a lousy dime
Which looked worthless compared to now

Cos you're never alone with a Smith & Wesson baby
A Smith & Wesson gun makes you feel secure and protected

You're never alone when you come round here
You're always welcome here and will find company

Wild kinetic rivers of sorrow
Intense emotions of grief flowing like a river