In Session: The Drones: Shark Fin Blues 

Having met Gareth and hung out and was friends with him .....you are on track there ain’t too many poets left they got bought and sold by cheap gags , nosy oblivion, manic perfection ...is how I like to remember the drones , the early days at the tote and cobbled stoned paths of Fitzroy the drunken soaked days , where there felt inside there music we could all be the poets and soar to the sun like Icarus ....long live great Australian rock music and I’m so glad to have met Gareth Rui, and Fiona way back in Sunday school 😊👍 it was an education being part of your music .and sobriety has bought me home to sunny white shores..... and what a magnificent dark horse the drones were .

Isn't it strange how you can hear a song earlier in life and cast it off, then years later (in this case 15+ years), be absolutely floored upon hearing it again, and again, and again...

That is one of the gnarliest guitar sounds and it is so satisfying to listen to.

If anyone wants to check more of this guy’s beautiful work he’s now in a band called Tropical Fuck Storm and I guarantee you.... it brings out his full prowess even more

I love the nod and a wink between Gareth and Mike (Noga) at the start. Partners in a great barrage of raw musical crime. RIP Mike Noga, a great artist in his own write.

Why no one ever told me about this band? I discovered them via an review about Tropical Fuck Storm. I am 58 years old and became unfortunately a bit jaded about popmusic, but this song gives me the same feeling as seeing Joe Strummer, Nick Cave, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen for the first time in one person.

I think this is the best Australian song ever recorded.

Love the belt to keep his headphones from falling off!

It is 6/7/2020, in just over a month I'll be 65 (whoa) I'm FINALLY watching RECTIFY; season 1 episode 2 and I JUST discovered this AWESOME band at the end... so good I had to FIND IT HERE!!! What a GREAT SONG.... thank goodness I was able to track it down! Goes to show you youngsters you're never too old to make great discoveries!! THANKS DRONES!! ❤❤❤

Man, what an aching performance. He really attacks the song. Love it!

Okay, firstly, I wanna start off by saying I think I'm in love with this Gareth guy. :) He's charismatic and talented as hell. Secondly, I think this is my favorite song in the world--such moving, poetic lyrics. I just discovered these bad-asses tonight because of the Missy Higgins' cover. So I'm a bag of mixed emotions right now; I'm overjoyed that I found The Drones, and I'm also pretty peeved I've been deprived of such wicked talent (Where the hell have I been hiding?) My brother would have loved this song. It makes me a little sad to listen to it without him, actually. He wanted to be eaten by sharks after he died (partly in jest, because he loved that Samuel L. Jackson beer skit on The Chapelle show, where Dave Chapelle, as Samuel L. Jackson, incredulous that the bar patrons didn't recognize him, was reliving his role in Deep Blue Sea. "A shark ate me; a mother-fuckin' shark ate me!!" ) Lol. Well, my poet-musician brother somehow romanticized being eaten by sharks, and wanted a funeral at sea. That's just how he was: completely absurd, at times, but he was charismatic and beautiful enough to make it work. He was just all the more charming and lovely. God, I wish I could have played this at his funeral.

This is the best version of possibly the best song ever written

This song is so raw and emotionally charged I felt this one. The Drones fucking rock!!!!!!!

Gold love Australia & the Drones. Gareth Liddiard a man with real passion.

One of the best songs I've ever heard, and a wonderful, captivating performance. This is fkn pure.

I love how this whole song is what 7 to 9 beers sounds like, including the intro. Not a slap against the song, it's fucking awesome

I first heard this song on the Sundance show Rectify. It was immediately one of my favorites ever. And now that I know who the Drones are, I love it even more. A punk band playing the blues........

The tv show "Rectify" turned me on to this awesome song about 7 years ago.

If I could sing, play music, & had a band. I could only dream it would sound this good. Love these guys

Achingly beautiful song about depression.

This is amazing.

incredible art.

Thank you YT Algo on this Sat. Morning. This is ace.

cray cray. up there w the best of AUS, ever

Damn!! They are even better live!!

i love this dude!!!

R.I.P. Mike Noga.

Wow einfach nur wow 😮

Finally found this song! Really hits me.

damn they got good at that song over a number of years and wow live is a magic time

best song ever

love it. so raw and melodic.

This is with me for ever

Standing on the deck watching my shadow stretch The sun pours my shadow upon the deck The waters licking round my ankles now There ain't no sunshine way way down I see the sharks out in the water like slicks of ink Well, there's one there bigger than a submarine As he circles I look in his eye I see Jonah in his belly by the campfire light See the albatross up in the windy lofts He gets to beating his wings while he sleeps it off I hear the jettisoned cries from his dreams unkind Gets to whippin' my ears like a riding crop The captain once as able as a fink dandy He's now laid up in the galley like a dried out mink He's laying dying of thirst and he says or I think Well, we're gonna be alone from here on in Well you are all my brothers, and you have been kind But what were you expecting to find? Now your eyes turn inwards, countenance turns blank And I'm floating away on a barrel of pain It looks like nothing but the sea and sky remain A harpoon's shaft is short and wide A grappling hook's is cracked and dry I said, why don't you get down in the sea Turn the water red like you want to be? Cause if I cry another tear I'll be turned to dust No the sharks won't get me they don't feel loss Just keep one eye on the horizon man, you best not blink They're coming fin by fin until the whole boat sinks

Can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on this

You kno hes got those cans strapped to his head cause.... you know .... passion.

Rectify brought me here. Special thanks to Shazam.

Man I got them blues blues blues blue blues

Triple Mmm will play this in another 10 years time... it’ll always thrill...

It's a hard road writing the best song ever written.

god *damn* just played this about 20 times on repeat

Play this song at my funeral

Bravo,great fucking tune! Love from Philadelphia

Oh Oh Oh my God....I just came. What a performance! This guy puts everything into it... wow. 5:15 to end (lead sounds like bagpipes!) best bit.

AAAAAHHHH Such an awesome song.

God I miss them!

so good

Dude ate on this joint 🍽️

I love that energy ! :o)

Great version! Always best live

when I was down like 10 years ago this was my fucken jam. I'm a happy person now but this still kicks ass.

brilliant stuff! Thank you thak you thank you! :))

incredible.

Who filmed this!? What lenses did you use... The bokeh is gorgeous. I also like the shoulder rig work. Very well filmed!

EXCELLENT !!!

fantastic.

the purpose of my life is to fail while putting up a descent fight?

Wow!

He's just like making up brand new chords and appreggios and shit and if I did that it would sound like bolts in blender. Magic.

How good? ❤❤

Is it just me thinking that he looks a bit like Pete Townshend? Superb song, by the way. The first one to actually send chills down my spine in the last years, the first time I heard it! Insanely intense.

Pezzo stupendo. La parte finale mi ricorda i “band of horses”

Wow. Just wow.

'Shark Fin Blues' and 'I'm Stranded' are the most compatible Desert Island Songs ever..........

Can't help but think Gang Of Youths Ripped the structure and melodies of this song off with their song Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane. (Chords the same) That saying, the recording of this song is freaking incredible. Dark and expressive about the depths of depression. Damn!

Firstly this maybe the greatest ever Australian song recorded. The world is truely fucked with 210 dislikes. Secondly on a recent online poll I was voted as RU-vids 3rd shittest guitarists but even I can appreciate the guitar work of the lead singer

Fuck yes

"How about a bucket full of kick-ass rock n' roll?" ----- Yes, please.

Holy shit this is better than the recorded version

did these guys come to NZ and I missed them?????/ wahhhhhh :(

Awesomeness. Very punk clash like but BETTER!

Where’s Rui?

❤

You go Garreth.

Neil Young meets Iggy Pop!!!

So Australian so fucking brilliant

damn!

Is he still going out with Myth...

Coleridge wishes

Sound remains me of Mott the Hoople

Pete Townsend Phenotype

This is what Coleridge wished he could do

nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah never sounded so good.

lyrics?

Is this song a bunch of 3/4 with the odd 4/4 bars thrown in on the D? or something else

Very happy to get involved in more Drones ... absolute gold, but I'm afraid Ben Salter has done a bit of a Johnny Cash on this song - stripped it back and let the lyrics shine as they should. Will check out the Missy Higgins version next.

Rectify masturbation scene, fuckin epic

Jesus

:)

The drones were great- before woke happened- before tfs went so hard left they fell off a cliff. It was about life/ history and music- not about a bunch of woke tripe.

He looks like Clive Owen.

yep, Missy comes second. Gareth Liddiard fourth. Absolutely confident in recommending a go at the Ben Salter cover, sorry Drones.

He cant sing but hell the rest of it is so good , he just doesn't have a voice

Came here after listening to Missy Higgins' version. The instrumental is great, but the singer is horrible. Not only is he just shouting, you can't understand a word he's saying - he sounds like he's doing some kind of drunk karaoke. Disappointing ☹️

It's too long