Penelope Swales - Bio
Singer and songwriter Penelope Swales, described by Sydney's Drum Media Magazine as "The most authentic voice to come out of Australia in the last 15 years,” combines wry and often outrageous humour with her deep passion for people and issues. Her spoken word material swings from anecdotes bordering on stand-up comedy to an astute presentation of deeply challenging and thought-provoking ideas. She pokes sly fun at our failings while celebrating with insight and compassion our attempts to build a better world and our capacity for love, courage and sensuality.
Highlights of Swales’ career include a headline the New York's Estfest Women's Music Festival in 2004 and a standing ovation for her formal showcase at the North East Regional Folk Alliance in New York State. Her favourite event of recent years was giving workshops at the MiDi School of Music in Beijing. She was also described as the pick of the 2000 Port Fairy Folk Festival by Melbourne's Inpress Magazine.
She is increasingly being sought not only as a musician but also as a public speaker, appearing in events like the Woodford Folk Festival Great Green Debate. Her next engagement will be “A Conversation with the Archbishop” at Federation Square in Melbourne on the 27th June to discuss environmental issues
Some people seek comfort in religion. Some use money. Some like power. Others prefer intoxication, adrenalin, oblivion - a whisky sour. But the analgesic of my preference would have to be my own insignifigance - and I’ll tell you how.
My world is magnified. I’m wrapped around you in the night. And I’m terrified, terrified of losing you. Your bones so breakable, your flesh so bruiseable. Your skull so crushable, your precious fingers so losable. The mysterious, curious workings of your interior, all the things that could go wrong in there, devour you from within, yeah. Your old age so unstoppable. Each day tricklin’ away.
And I’m knowing that you will die and take your place in eternity. Just one more monkey that lived on a rock where 10 billion monkeys lived. No more important, no less essential than any other bat, bird, sea-lion or bacteria. And when you go, oh, it’ll be just a handful of us monkeys that grieve - aaah.
And so what if more noticed? What if the death of you or I was lamented with the same hue and cry as Elvis, or Lennon or Princess Di? Just a few more eddies and swirls in a race intent on destroying itself on the third rock from some star in some infinite universe.
Can you see, my friends, why I don’t find my insignifigance frightening? Oh, no! I find it comforting. It steadies me. When I’m hounded by fear, grief or loss, frightened by my death or yours it grants me some serenity.
Coz I’m knowing that I will die and take my place in eternity. Ah, just one more monkey that lived on a rock where 10 trillion monkeys lived. No more important, nor less essential than any other snake, bear, insect or monsterea, and when I go, it’ll be a compliment to me if some other monkeys grieve – ohhhhh.
Some people seek comfort in religion. Some use money. Some like power. Others prefer intoxication, adrenalin, oblivion - a whisky sour. So if to dwell on my own insignifigance might seem like a strange preference - well it don’t seem any stranger to me than the other monkeys around here. Other monkeys around here, other monkeys around here.
Pretty strange monkeys around here
