We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Transport Planes

by Blackbirds FC

supported by
regalrhythm
regalrhythm thumbnail
Mark Walsh
Mark Walsh thumbnail
Rob Harwood
Rob Harwood thumbnail
james uden
james uden thumbnail
dexitroboper
dexitroboper thumbnail
Arun Kendall
Arun Kendall thumbnail
essjayeff
essjayeff thumbnail
jessicarae
jessicarae thumbnail
Kirk Colton
Kirk Colton thumbnail
fin_fin
fin_fin thumbnail
jenmcasey
jenmcasey thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1.50 AUD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    5
    releases

    Get all 5 Blackbirds FC releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Magiclands LP, Transport Planes, Island of the Dogs, Field Recordings LP, and Life Sciences EP. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $20.80 AUD or more (35% OFF)

     

about

FOR FANS OF: The Chills, R.E.M, Prefab Sprout, The Church

Rousing indie rock and sublime jangly guitars are the order of the day as Blackbirds FC channel an intoxicating blend of New Zealand icons The Chills (circa 'Heavenly Pop Hit' and their Submarine Bells album), and R.E.M's Life's Rich Pageant – two albums that songwriter Jeremy Gronow reveals he "rediscovered during lockdown." Over a solid rhythm section, the guitars and keyboards weave a melodic and uplifting mix of tough and tender melodies while Jeremy and Gina Hearnden's voices cruise blissfully at high altitude, recalling the likes of art-pop auteurs such as Prefab Sprout.

As Jeremy explains, the song had a fascinating genesis from childhood memories and one's awareness in a semiconscious, half awake state. “'Transport Planes' is about that liminal space between sleep and waking, dreaming and thinking. The other day for example, I was in bed dozing between alarms when there was an earthquake in Melbourne – I remember feeling the bed shaking back and forth and thinking ‘Ah, we’re having an earthquake’ and then closing my eyes again."

That mix of awareness and disconnection was one that struck Jeremy and stuck with him as the song began forming. "Looking back I think I should have been more alarmed. It was also pretty challenging - I mean, what kind of person sleeps through an earthquake? But such is the weird power of not being quite awake."

Like all great songs, inspiration and meaning are often born from different strands and ideas and 'Transport Planes' drew from a couple of tangentially connected experiences. "The song has its roots in a childhood memory of hearing an aeroplane fly over the house most nights about midnight. It was propellor driven and seemed very low and loud as it flew over me but I found it comforting. I asked Dad and he said it was a transport plane flying to Tasmania which gave me the first line."

"Years later I was lying in bed in the midst of a relationship break up and listening to all these things happening around me - trucks passing, the couple upstairs going at it and so forth - and the rest of the song came."

"I did some reading and found that sounds seems louder and travels further at night because they bounce off the layers of cold air and back to the ground and that became the bridge, so this song is all bad love and science.”

lyrics

TRANSPORT PLANES J.Gronow

Verse 1
I can hear the transport planes flying to Tasmania
As I lie awake each night
Waiting for you baby
A truck is changing gear
And it shakes the window pane
As the people upstairs start making love again

Chorus
Maybe it’s a dream I’m having
Tell me what goes on inside your head
I don’t hear a thing, who wants to? Oooh

Verse 2
I can hear your voice ringing across a bar
Hell, I can hear you baby, but I don’t know where you are
I am only waiting for a sign you’ll come again
God, I wish the transport planes would carry me away

Repeat chorus

Bridge
In the dark, the sound can travel further 
And the cold, air, bends the waves back down to earth
Are we all, trapped beneath the layers and the cold?
Til the sun comes and frees the sound again

Verse 3
Sometimes when I dream, I fly above the house
And look down at the sleeping world and want to shake it up
Hanging here in space, woken by the sound
Of one thousand front doors slamming right across the town

Repeat Chorus to end

credits

released December 9, 2021
Bec Long - Cello
Gina Hearnden - Vocals and guitar
Jeremy Gronow - Vocals, guitars and keyboards
Julien Chick - Bass
Phil Campbell - Drums

Electric guitars by Cameron McKenzie

Music and lyrics by Jeremy Gronow

Cover art by Phil Campbell

Recording, Mixing and Mastering by Cam McKenzie at Station Place Studios, Glenhuntly
January - June 2021


Recorded in the land of the Boon wurrung (Bunurong) people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. Blackbirds FC pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging, recognise their continued connection to the land and waters of this place and, acknowledge that they never ceded sovereignty.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Blackbirds FC image

Blackbirds FC Melbourne, Australia

BLACKBIRDS FC

Featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, and the Vanda’s Blackbirds FC play their own brand of alt. country rock inspired by the Go-Betweens, The Church and Wilco. 

Formed in 2017, the band released the EP Life Sciences in 2018, the LPs Field Recordings in 2019 and Magiclands in 2022.

They are now working on their their third long player for release later in 2024. ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Blackbirds FC

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Blackbirds FC recommends:

If you like Blackbirds FC, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now