"Whatever I have is yours, and it's right here"

I remember when I first heard "Bachelor Kisses." In the spring of 2000 I was visiting Manhattan for a journalism convention. I bought the Go-Betweens' Spring Hill Fair, after years of Robert Christgau encomia and memorizing Eric Weisbard's entry in The SPIN Alternative Record Guide. Like all the best McLennan, "Bachelor Kisses" tugged at the memory: specific yet avoiding the literal. I hadn't yet experienced what the beautiful vernacular of his bridge spelled out ("Don't believe what you've heard/`Faithful''s not a bad word"), but he convinced me that I could, and the inexorable tug of McLennan's voice and guitar did the rest. I fell in love.

Here's an ILM thread, filled with reminiscences of critics who interviewed him and fans who loved him.

The official ABC News obit.

A list of the songs you should download, like, now:

"Your Turn, My Turn"
"Two Steps, Step Out"
"Cattle & Cane"
"Slow Slow Music"
"In the Core of a Flame"
"Right Here"
"Bye Bye Pride"
"Streets of Your Town"
"Easy Come, Easy Go"
"Put You Down"
"Lighting Fires"
"Stones For You"

Finally, Steve Kilbey, late of The Church and McLennan's collaborator (Jack Frost), has written the most touching obit to date, going to the heart of Grant's singularity:

grant seemed to have a way of opening up his mouth
and singing instant choruses
hed plucked outta the ether
words flew to him
he walk with melodies at his beck n call

R.I.P.