Under the Milky Way is a song about nothing, and the band didn’t really like it. Not exactly a recipe for international success, but for the Aussie band The Church, those were the humble beginnings for their biggest international hit.
The track, written by singer/bass player Steve Kilbey and his then girlfriend Karin Jansson, first became a chart success in their native Australia, and went on to chart at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart) in America, where it remains The Church’s best-known song.
Kilbey and Jansson had become friends in 1983 and lived together in Australia from 1986. During this time, Kilbey began writing the song on an old piano at his mother’s house on the NSW central coast. “I smoked a joint and started playing the piano,” Kilbey said. “Then Karin came into the room and we just made it up together. I just stumbled upon it and for some reason it has struck this wonderful sense of universality with people that most of my songs don’t.”
Jansson has described songwriting with Kilbey as “a very spontaneous thing. It’s not as if someone has put us together to write a hit song. It’s more like sometimes when we write together, a song comes knocking on the door.”
The title of the song came from an Amsterdam music and cultural venue, Melkweg (Dutch for “Milky Way”), which Kilbey used to frequent.
Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty
Sound of their breath fades with the light
I think about the loveless fascination
Under the Milky Way tonight
Lower the curtain down on Memphis
Lower the curtain down, alright
I got no time for private consultation
Under the Milky Way tonight
When Kilbey first presented the demo version of the song to the band, most of them did not really like it that much – with one exception. “No one in the band was that fussed, other than our drummer Richard Ploog,” Kilbey said. “But our manager liked it and wanted it on the album.”
That album was the band’s fifth opus Starfish (released 16 February 1988 – exactly one day after the Milky Way single). This is widely considered to be amongst their best albums, although there are mixed feelings about it amongst the band. They travelled to Los Angeles to record it, pulling out all the stops to make this their big international breakthrough. They worked with producers Waddy Watchel (Dylan, Stones) and Greg Ladanyi (Warren Zevon, Fleetwood Mac).
No stone was left unturned to get the ultimate performances out of the band, although Kilbey really did not appreciate Watchel making him take singing lessons.
Others were also judged harshly. Drummer Richard Ploog was deemed incapable of providing a performance that sounded right for Under the Milky Way, and was asked to step aside for that song. Ironically, he was the only band member who had shown immediate enthusiasm and support for the song, but the producers had made up their mind. The band ended up playing the song to a click track and later session musician Russ Kunkel was brought in to add drums and percussion to the song.
In hindsight, Kilbey felt recording the album in L.A. was a mistake. In 2006 Kilbey spoke of Milky Way’s sound: “It’s actually flat – lifeless and sterile. Great song, sure, but the performance, the sounds are ordinary. We could have got that in Australia in a week or two for a 20th of the money we spent. Hey, it’s sold almost a million in the US alone, but we’ll never see any money ’cause it cost so much to make.”
The song is instantly recognisable due to its strong 12-string acoustic guitar sound and melody. The solo is also very striking; played with an E-bow on a Fender Jazzmaster, recorded on a Synclavier, leading to a sound reminiscent of bagpipes.
The song is unique in that it does not really have a chorus. The role of the chorus is largely filled by the aforementioned E-bow section, with the pre-chorus bridge also giving the song a lift as the lyrics repeat:
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Of the lyrics, Kilby has said: “There are songs about something specific – about the Vietnam war or about how much you love your wife – and then there are songs that operate as a premise for you to have your own adventure. Under the Milky Way is definitely one of those songs. Although it’s not really about anything at all, I just wanted to create an atmosphere and I didn’t even put a lot of thought into that. History has given it something that it never really had.”
Under the Milky Way has become the song with which The Church are most readily identified, and its creator is OK with that. “It’s not like, say, I was Joe Dolce and I had to keep doing Shaddap You Face – like you had a song that was your song and it was a real stinker,” Kilbey said. “I reckon a song like Down Under would tire me out. But if I had to be saddled with one song that everyone wants me to do, I figure Milky Way is an OK one.”
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