#keating!

[doyouknowthismusical]

Do you know Keating! The musical (2005) ?

Yes, I’ve been in it/worked on it

Yes, I’ve seen it

Yes, I’ve listened to it

No, but I’ve heard of it

No, never heard of it

Voting ended onDec 23, 2023

[quantomeno]

It's been almost two weeks now and I'm still thinking about Keating! The Musical. I have to talk about it.

It's often been described as the Australian equivalent of Hamilton. I've never watched Hamilton so I can't say exactly how similar they are, but other than being musicals about politicians, I'm pretty sure they're not much alike.

Keating! tells the story of former Prime Minister Paul Keating. For some context: Keating started off as treasurer under Bob Hawke and then got Hawke to retire so he could step up to be PM. He then won the seemingly unwinnable '93 election, largely by attacking the opposition's plan to implement a Goods and Services Tax. He was one of our more progressive PMs and was famous for his colourful insults (many of which are incorporated into the musical). However, Australia had been going through a recession and (due to that and other things) at the next election Keating lost in a landslide to John Howard.

The whole show's on youtube (it's not a very long musical, it's only an hour and a half):

As someone who enjoys Australian politics, it was amazing. All the references and the symbolisms... It's just so clever.

My favourite part is probably the rap battle between Keating and Hewson, followed very closely by Howard's 'Mateship' song.

Seriously, so many of the weird things in it did happen in real life (including Alexander Downer in drag). Watching it the first time I wished I had someone to watch it with so I could explain all the references and point out just how well-researched it is.

And the songs! They're all in different styles from reggae to mambo to rap to slow rock.

[danny4xb]

...but still I dream,

of a country rich and clever,

with compassion and endeavour,

reaching out beyond forever and I’m still.

dreaming of the light on the hill...

[themyskira]

You could dwell upon tomorrow and the sorrow you feel Or set a course for yesterday and give me the wheel Of the Mateship - rounding the buoy No political correctness ahoy! On the Mateship - anchors aweigh We'll decide if you're invited to stay

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

[fahye]

Keating! (a fond primer)

Are you currently as obsessed with Hamilton as the rest of the internet? Do you think there should be MORE political history musicals involving cabinet rap battles? GOOD NEWS, FRIENDS.

Ten years before Hamilton debuted on Broadway, there was Keating! 

I'll link you to the Wikipedia page, but in essence: it follows the career of Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in the early 1990s, from when he was Treasurer (YEP) onwards. It takes the piss out of pretty much every prominent Aussie political figure, controversy, sex scandal and misadventure of the time.

(I know, I know. Australian politics? Who knows anything about that??

All you need for song context is that Wikipedia article, guys. I knew less than nothing about the American Revolutionary War/the Founding Fathers before immersing myself in Hamilton.)

SADLY you can't see the staged production in its entirety on YouTube, but you can see a large chunk of the songs. I'll take you through them:

The opening number is fantastic, and -- just to confuse things -- is called Right Hand Man. It features the previous Labor PM, Bob Hawke, expressing his reservations about Keating's unAustralian habits like preferring classical music to footy. Warning for those unaccustomed to broad Aussie accents: you may feel like wrestling a crocodile by the end of this song. 

Style (just audio) is the biography catch-up. Very boppy. It's Time is about Keating's leadership challenge and ascent to party leader. The song has very Hamiltonesque overtones in terms of the theme, but also refers to Keating's habit of collecting antique clocks. As you do. Ruler of the Land (just audio) is the ELECTION VICTORY song. Reggae. Why not?

And after that we get Dickensian and some ghosts of past leaders appear to Keating, in The Beginning Is The End. The cabinet rap battle, On The Floor/Do You Slowly, doesn't quite reach Miranda's heights of rhythmic genius, but it gets bonus points for the fact that most of the colourful insults in it are 100% verbatim drawn from the debates between Keating and Hewson. (HE COULDN'T RAFFLE A CHOOK IN A PUB = a classic and devastating Aussie burn.) Oh, and the 'GST' is the Goods & Services Tax. Yes. They have a rap battle about taxation. Alexander Hamilton would be SO PROUD. ('I want to do you slowly', re: delaying the election, is ALSO a verbatim quote. God bless pollies, man.) At one point, the briefly Opposition Leader Alexander Downer actually did pose for a photo in a corset and fishnets. What were they supposed to do, NOT make a whole song about it? Heavens, Mister Evans is about that time the Foreign Minister (kinda like the Secretary of State) had an affair with the leader of the Australian Democrats, Cheryl Kernot. Who was in the audience at this particular performance. And seems to be enjoying herself. Notable for the immortal rhyming line MY HEART’S IN PERIL, CHERYL. Power and Mateship are both songs about the Liberal (careful: 'Liberal' with a capital L is the right-wing party, in Australia) PM John Howard, who defeated Keating in the 1996 election. 'Mateship' is considered to be one of those nebulous 'Aussie values' and is mixed up with things like the 'ANZAC Spirit' and other muddled attempts to glorify our military history. Important to note re: the visual humour in this one is that John Howard was famous for going for a walk in his green & gold trackies every morning, surrounded by his security. Google 'John Howard tracksuit' for plenty of evidence. Light On The Hill is probably the most famous song from the musical, and is a more serious reflection on ambition and dreams and changes in power. It's very pretty. Basically, this musical is one of the most Australian things you will ever put in your ears. It’s unapologetically on the side of the titular figure. It's very sharp on the subject of our ~problematic~ national identity, the way we treat Indigenous Australians and immigrants (though the musical itself is White Dude Central), and the wacky ins-and-outs of federal politics in the 90s. And it is bloody hilarious. 

[bloggish]

hey so i have no idea how long ago you posted the keating! gifs and stuff but i was wondering if you had any links to the keating! songs. I'm having a hard time getting a hold of any.

Yeah, it is really hard to get a hold of it. I think I made my gifs from a torrent/the dvd, I can't quite remember now. But I think there are a few of them on youtube? But only about 4:

My Right Hand Man

It's Time

On the Floor/I Wanna Do You Slowly

Heavens, Mr. Evans

Power

The Mateship

...Okay that's more than four (note: this only includes ones that are both visual and audial - there are a couple others that are audio only)

[bloggish]

KEATING ‒ "ANTONY GREEN" O'BRIEN: Doop dooby doop doop doop dooby Doop doop dooby doop dooby Doop doop dooby doo doo doop Doop doop dooby doop dooby doop dooby Doop dooby doop dooby doop dooby doop dooby Doop dooby doop dooby doop dooby RAY: Doop dooby doop dooby doop dooby KROGER: Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah O'BRIEN: Doop dooby doop doop doop dooby doop doop dooby doop O'BRIEN, RAY & KROGER: Antony Green! GREEN: Wehhh, doo doo doop, a doo doo doo doo doop Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doop Dooby doo doop Doo doo doop Doo doo doop Doop doop ALP!