Depreston - Courtney Barnett

Depreston - Courtney Barnett

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Clip by Bec Kingma

DEPRESTON
Words & lyrics: Courtney Barnett

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Lyrics

You said we should look out further,
I guess it wouldn’t hurt us.
We don’t have to be around all these coffee shops.
Now we’ve got that percolator,
never made a latte greater.
I’m saving twenty-three dollars a week.

We drive to a house in Preston,
we see police arresting
a man with his hand in a bag.
How’s that for first impressions?
This place seems depressing.
It’s a “Californian bungalow in a cul-de-sac”.

It’s got a lovely garden,
a garage for two cars to park in
(“or a lot of room for storage if you’ve just got one”).
And it’s going pretty cheap you say?
“Well it’s a deceased estate…
aren’t the pressed metal ceilings great?”

Then I see the handrails in the shower,
a collection of those canisters for coffee, tea and flour,
and a photo of a young man in a van in Vietnam.

And I can’t think of floorboards anymore,
whether the front room faces south or north,
and I wonder what she bought it for.

(If you’ve got a spare half a million, you should knock it down and start rebuilding)

[wheezywaiter]

One of my favorite songs of the moment.

[marculatorenful]

Remember as a kid, you were sitting in the back of your parents' car, playing a cool song on your discman or whatever, looking out the window, and thinking: "Damn, this view would be the perfect video for this song." This is how this video is.

[phlag]

The mundanity of suburbia isn’t what hits me. It’s the undeniable human history that every place has. People lived rich lives in that house, but we’re paving over it.

[daybroken]

I'm from the UK. Back in 2010 I spent several months just driving around Australia and then New Zealand. This song perfectly encapsulates the strange antipodean suburbia, it unlikely anywhere else on earth, its wonderful for reasons I can't explain, as is this song.

[purplegrapes]

Just woke up from a dream where at the end of this anime old movie I was watching this song came on, love this song 👌🥲🔥🔥🔥

[collinmc]

The guitar tones on this track are fucking impeccable.

[ehairgrove]

The way she can evoke complex emotion out of a small turn of phrase, or by a subtle alteration in a chord change, well, this is a rare gift. "A photo of a young man in a van in Vietnam" The way she carries the last syllable of Vietnam is haunting.

[JossRickard]

Another amazing song from an amazing artist.  You can just tell someone around her said that line; "If you've got a spare half-million, you could knock it down and start rebuilding."  Like so many other of her songs, that's what I think this song/story was formed around.  Not only that someone could so casually refer to a half-million like that, but also just so...callously disregard that the home is all that's left of someone's life; the little touches, the pressed metal ceilings, the handrail in the bathroom...all tiny signs of a life that's gone and someone is just thinking about money and equity.

I head this song live months ago and wondered what the film clip would be for it.  I was initially disappointed...but then, watching it, you realise that these are all potentially homes like that.  Anonymous and pointless until you start to think of every one of those houses shown in the clip; each one could be the one in this song.

[lachd]

This perfectly captures the blandness and boredom of lower-middle class outer-suburban Melbourne and Sydney. Dead on.

[sketch]

The combination of soft, groovy guitar riffs, steady soothing vocals and unique video really make this whole song quite a magical journey.

[depressioncherries]

I love how melancholy and hazy this sounds

[Tomnedreb]

You said we should look out further, I guess it wouldn't hurt us
We don't have to be around all these coffee shops
Now we've got that percolator, never made a latte greater
I'm saving twenty three dollars a week

We drive to a house in Preston, we see police arrestin'
A man with his hand in a bag
How's that for first impressions? This place seems depressing
It's a Californian bungalow in a cul-de-sac

It's got a lovely garden, a garage for two cars to park in
Or a lot of room for storage if you've just got one
And it's going pretty cheap you say, well it's a deceased estate
Aren't the pressed metal ceilings great?

Then I see the handrail in the shower, a collection of those canisters for coffee tea and flour
And a photo of a young man in a van in Vietnam
And I can't think of floorboards anymore, whether the front room faces south or north
And I wonder what she bought it for

If you've got a spare half a million
You could knock it down and start rebuildin'
[x6]

[Vell-aah]

Relaxing on a balcony and smoking a joint. With this song playing in the background while watching the sun coming down....Sounds like a perfect time for me.

[euchre]

I love this song, and I don't know why but I tear up really badly at "a garage for two cars to park in, or a lot of room for storage if you've just got one".
Simple, yet so magical.

[lillygilovitz]

I love courtney's lyrics. As an aussie it's great to be able to relate to the song lyrics. they definitely capture the feelings you get while living in Australia.

[itairon]

Her voice is so gorgeous that it's almost painful. Beautiful guitar tone, too. I just love this song

[natamar]

Hehe, this song makes me giggle. As a parent that has kids, this song kinda gives me the vibe of this being Bluey when she’s all grown up. Love this song. Sending love from Alberta, Canada!

[JoseRamirez-enpd]

Depression brought me here....glad i found this....its depressingly beautiful!

[milesli]

I discovered this song only today via a newspaper article! During my recent visit to Naarm/Melbourne I spent some time in Preston; it is a curious place, straddling between the Inner North and the Outer North, where East meets West meets Middle East, where hipsters are moving in, pushing up real estate prices; making this song as relevant as ever.

[SuperJonRivera]

her voice is magic, the chords are so simplistic. I got to see her play this song in Pomona, ca. everyone in the room was chanting along with her. "if you've got a spare half a million, you can knock it down and start rebuilding" it was magical