I (Henk) lived in Sydney, Australia, from 1995 until 1998. Whilst there, I once read in the Melbourne Age newspaper about a dancer in St. Kilda, Melbourne, who was dying of an AIDS-related illness, who used to drive down to the Esplanade everyday and dance on the roof of his car. I think I remember the dancer’s name was “Bruce”. In the article, a friend and local businessman referred to him as “my best friend in the world”. Anyway, I was quite touched by the story and thought it made a compelling metaphor for the celebration of life.
If anyone knows more about “Bruce” I would be very interested to hear from them.
The earliest incarnation of the song stems from the mid 1990s. The main body of the song remains intact from then. Joe conceived and added the choruses and harmonies in March 2013. Speaking the verses was also Joe’s idea. I love the juxtaposition of the spoken verses and high harmonies of the choruses.