What Makes a Hit? Cold Chisel Share Their Songwriting Secrets
“A good song is one I like. I'll only be working on a song if I'm really enjoying it. That's the whole point"
In Partnership with Shure
2024 is a time of reflection for Cold Chisel.
As they gear up for their 50th anniversary tour, band members Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Don Walker, and Phil Small sit down with Rolling Stone AU/NZ Editor-in-Chief Poppy Reid to reflect on what makes a great song and the stories behind their best hits in the latest episode of ‘Behind The Rolling Stone Cover’, sponsored by Shure.
Over decades, the Aussie pub-rock band have become known for producing massive hits like “Khe Sanh”, “Flame Trees”, and “Cheap Wine”. Then there’s Barnes solo career, which saw him achieve 15 number one albums and iconic tracks like “Working Class Man” and “Driving Wheels”.
It’s safe to say, then, these guys know how to write a great song. In fact, they’re the only Australian band where every single member has written a hit.
According to the band’s lead songwriter, Don Walker, the key is having fun. “I’ll only be working on a song if I’m really enjoying it. That’s the whole point,” he tells Reid in the episode.
“If you get me in the three weeks after I finished a song [and] I think it’s great, I could say then ‘that is a good song.’ But if you ask me about the same song six months later, I’d say, ‘Well, I don’t know, it’s a bit of a dog,’” he explains.
“That’s everybody’s experience of songs. How many times have you heard a song? You think it’s the greatest song you’ve ever heard. And then three months later you’re thoroughly sick of it.”
For Barnes, the best songs are ones that connect personally with the audience. “A good song is a song that, while I’m singing it, it feels like it’s my experience, I could connect to it. I think this is the same whether it’s Van Morrison or Metallica or whatever,” he says.
This understanding and authenticity are key to Cold Chisel’s long lasting appeal, and it’s one of the reasons fans are excited to see them play the same songs, decades later.
Today, their songs are like “portals to memories,” Reid says in the episode. “You’re going on tour for seven weeks from October [and] for fans, it’s like every attendee is taking this trip down memory lane when they’re at your show.”
“Kids in the audience hear the song and think it’s about them,” Barnes says. “They relate to it directly and it marks a moment in time for the listener.”
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