And the ones that didn\u2019t come easy?<\/p>\n
My theory is it\u2019s a good thing to wait sometimes. Even when you get anxious about coming up with new material. I think waiting\u2019s good. It makes you really think about why you\u2019re doing it in the first place.<\/p>\n
Has your knighthood changed you? <\/p>\n
In a way. It\u2019s humbling and makes you more ready to serve. It\u2019s a title yet it\u2019s also an honour. But I\u2019m just happy to be Dave.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years ago you chose James K. Baxter\u2019s poem Song of the Years to put to music. Why that poem?<\/p>\n
I was researching which of Baxter\u2019s I could choose, and was seriously struggling. Then I stumbled across Song of the Years and it blew me away. I was born in 1957 and it was written in 1958, the year Baxter quit drinking. I just thought this is the song for me as I stopped drinking once, then started again, stopped-started a number of times and now don\u2019t drink. That song solidified things for me. <\/p>\n
What lingers about Napier\u2019s live-music icon the Cabana?<\/p>\n
The walls would drip with condensation. A woman named Charlie ran the place back then. On Monday nights she used to put on gay nights – there was lots of jollity, shall we say. We kept the bar up and gigs were always solidly packed and sweaty. There were plenty of towels, water – and beer. <\/p>\n
Given your Pike River tribute This Love, do you have a stance on the renewed push for prosecution?<\/p>\n
Definitely needs a prosecution. That\u2019s the thing that annoys me the most is that boards of directors get off scot-free. The families deserve a deep apology from all successive governments who\u2019ve dicked around and haven\u2019t moved swiftly to get those bodies out of there. It\u2019s a cheapening of human life and it makes me really embarrassed on everyone\u2019s behalf 15 years later. The point is the dignity of the families of those men who need a proper burial and memorial.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Sunday afternoon, Dave Dobbyn\u2019s home alone, who\u2019s playing?<\/p>\n
A bit of Thelonious Monk, maybe Ernest Ranglin – there\u2019s an album of his called Below the Bassline and it\u2019s just great. I really love Cuban music too. Most of it is sung in Spanish so you don\u2019t have to concentrate too much.<\/p>\n
Do you think your music will endure – and do you care?<\/p>\n
I think the songs will outlive me which is a good thing. Maybe they\u2019ll encourage other songwriters to do the same thing. It would be nice to think that young songwriters, in particular, I had some influence on. I\u2019d be happy about that – but of course, I won\u2019t be around to know. <\/p>\n