"Keating!" Soundtrack Lyrics

"Keating! (Company B Original Cast Recording / 2008 Live Broadcast)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

Can a sung-through political satire punch like a rock show and still function as history? Keating! does exactly that. Casey Bennetto’s score—equal parts cabaret, funk, rock anthem and torch song—reconstructs Paul Keating’s rise and fall, from the Hawke handover to the Howard defeat. The definitive listening is the Company B Original Cast Recording (2007), with a widely seen 2008 ABC2 live broadcast cementing the show’s timing, laughs and crowd energy (DVD followed later that year). According to the show’s production history, the Company B expansion added new Act II material and six fresh songs to the earlier one-act version.

The album plays like a campaign scrapbook you can dance to: “My Right Hand Man” frames Hawke/Keating dynamics, “I Remember Kirribilli” and “It’s Time” stage the leadership challenge, “Redfern” and “Ma(m)bo” tackle reconciliation and native title, while Howard’s “Power” and “The Mateship” sketch an ideological foil. Awards across 2006–2008 (Green Room, Helpmann—Best Original Score and Best Musical) underline that this isn’t fringe—it’s canon.

Questions & Answers

What’s the core recording to hear?

The Company B Original Cast Recording (CD, 2007); it captures the expanded two-act Belvoir/Company B production.

Why is “2008” important if the cast album is 2007?

ABC2 broadcast a full live performance in August 2008 and issued a DVD that November; this fixed song order, gags and pacing for most fans.

Who wrote the music, lyrics and book?

All by Casey Bennetto. It’s a sung-through score—dialogue is minimal and set to music.

How does the show treat politics?

Satirical and overtly pro-Keating, while needling the Howard era; the songs use direct quotes, TV rhetoric and newsroom tropes.

Are the musical styles varied or one-note?

Very mixed: bossa, blues, rap, soul, rock, vaudeville—each ties to a character or argument strand.

Any official accolades?

Yes—Helpmann Awards (Best Original Score 2006; Best Musical 2007; Best Regional Touring Production 2008) and earlier festival prizes.

Notes & Trivia

• The Company B version added six songs to the original 2005 one-act festival hit and split the show into two acts.
• ABC2 aired a live performance from Sydney’s Seymour Centre on 20 Aug 2008; a DVD release followed in November.
• The 2007 cast CD omits the short “Antony Green” sting; otherwise it’s a near-complete stage set.
• Original cast highlights include Mike McLeish (Keating), Terry Serio (Hawke/Howard), and Bennetto himself (Hewson/Downer).
• By 2008 the cast CD had sold 5,000+ copies in Australia.

Genres & Themes

Show-band soul & funk → Campaign swagger: brass punches and back-beat guitars sell Keating’s self-myth, especially in “Ruler of the Land.”

Vaudeville & patter song → Policy explainers: snappy rhyme density turns debates, timelines and media spin into comic set-pieces (“On the Floor”).

Anthemic rock ballad → Leadership psyche: “I Remember Kirribilli” and “It’s Time” frame yearning, grievance and the coup mathematics.

Folk-inflected lament → Reconciliation & memory: “Redfern” and “The Light on the Hill” give space to apology, nationhood and loss.

Tracks & Scenes

Scene timings are approximate to the ABC2 2008 live cut (two acts; ~2 hours with interval). “Diegetic” here refers to on-stage sound acknowledged by the cast (e.g., campaign events).

“My Right Hand Man” — Hawke
Where it plays: Opening sweep (Act I, ~00:02). Hawke sets the 1990 landscape, mateship bona fides and Keating’s “Mahler and clocks” mystique. Band kicks in under applause. Non-diegetic performance number.
Why it matters: Frames the rivalry and mateship—two men, one party, one deal.

“Do It in Style” — Keating
Where it plays: Early ascent (~00:07). Keating outlines ambition and aesthetics, strutting across the stump with wardrobe and wit. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Establishes persona: taste as politics, confidence as platform.

“I Remember Kirribilli” — Keating
Where it plays: Pre-challenge break (~00:15). A rock-ballad confession about the leadership pact and broken trust. Non-diegetic solo with band swells.
Why it matters: The show’s “I Want” song—stakes and motive locked.

“It’s Time” — Keating & Hawke
Where it plays: Confrontation montage (~00:22). Cut-ups of pressers and caucus numbers; riffing on Whitlam’s slogan. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: History quoting history—slogan as cudgel.

“On the Floor / I Wanna Do You Slowly” — Keating & Hewson
Where it plays: Debate throw-down (~00:35). Verbatim barbs and rhetorical jabs, then a swaggering takedown. Non-diegetic performance number styled as televised debate.
Why it matters: Quotations-as-lyrics make the punchlines land harder.

“The Arse End of the Earth” — Keating & Evans
Where it plays: Foreign-policy turn (Act II, ~01:05). Pacific pivot with a comic-earnest thesis. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Reframes isolation as opportunity—melodically optimistic.

“Redfern” — Keating
Where it plays: Core apology beat (~01:18). Lights drop; text-driven delivery over restrained accompaniment. Non-diegetic but staged as address.
Why it matters: The moral centre of the show; satire pauses to listen.

“Ma(m)bo” — Keating
Where it plays: Native Title momentum (~01:26). Dance-band swing meets legal lyric—titles, cases, roll call of change. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Turns case law into choreography—joy as policy argument.

“Power / The Mateship” — Howard
Where it plays: Opposition manifesto (~01:36). Howard’s platform reframed as costume-change theatre. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Character foil in two movements—control then camouflage.

“Choose Me” — Keating & Howard
Where it plays: Final pitch (~01:44). Duet as vote-plea; tally room lights stack over the chorus. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Competing myths, same electorate—music makes the contrast clean.

“The Light on the Hill” — Keating
Where it plays: After polls close (~01:52). A reflective, almost elegiac turn; gravel in the voice, strings in the pit. Non-diegetic.
Why it matters: Labor memory as lullaby; the dream survives the loss.

Music–Story Links

• Quoting the record: Debates and speeches become lyrics—when “Redfern” arrives, the band retreats and the text leads, signalling gravity over gag.
• Genre = stance: Howard’s numbers lean on straight-ahead rock and hymn-like unisons (“Mateship”)—ideology as sonic simplification.
• Hook as headline: Refrains compress policy arguments into chantable slogans; audiences leave humming the thesis statements.

How It Was Made

After a 2005 comedy-festival breakout (one-act, Drowsy Drivers), director Neil Armfield and Company B expanded the show to two acts for national touring (2006–2008). Bennetto added six songs and broadened the canvas (reconciliation, native title, Howard-era critique). The cast album followed in 2007 (near-complete set), while ABC2’s live broadcast on 20 Aug 2008 preserved the touring company on camera; a Madman DVD arrived that November. Production notes list a tight pit band (drums, bass, keys, acoustic & electric guitars) driving the genre shifts.

Reception & Quotes

Festival juries and national critics treated Keating! as event theatre: a crowd-pleasing show that smuggled civics lessons inside bangers. The Helpmann jury later agreed.

“Brilliantly satirical … dazzlingly funny.” The Age

“Winner of Best Musical (Helpmann Awards, 2007).” Helpmann Awards roll

“Live to air on ABC2 from the Seymour Centre.” ABC2 guide (20 Aug 2008)

Availability: The 2007 Company B cast CD circulates via retail/second-hand listings and streams in select territories; the 2008 performance is widely viewable from broadcast-sourced uploads; the official DVD was released by Madman Entertainment in 2008.

Additional Info

• The Company B CD is typically catalogued as an independent/“Not On Label” release for the theatre company itself.
• The MICF one-act recording (Drowsy Drivers) predates the two-act cast album and includes material later revised (“The Beginning Is the End” replaced “Dogs of Damnation”).
• “Antony Green” appears on stage as a short sting; many audio editions omit it.
• By its final 2008 shows, the production had toured most Australian capitals and key regional centres.
• Yes—the real Paul Keating attended recordings; the show leans “ridiculously pro-Paul Keating,” by the author’s own description.

Technical Info

• Title: Keating! (Company B Original Cast Recording / 2008 Live)
• Years: 2007 album; 2008 national TV broadcast & DVD
• Type: Sung-through stage musical; original cast album (near-complete set)
• Music/Lyrics/Book: Casey Bennetto
• Label/Crediting: Company B / independent (CD often listed as “Not On Label”)
• Awards: Helpmann — Best Original Score (2006), Best Musical (2007), Best Regional Touring Production (2008)
• Notable numbers: “My Right Hand Man,” “Do It in Style,” “I Remember Kirribilli,” “It’s Time,” “On the Floor,” “Redfern,” “Ma(m)bo,” “Power,” “The Mateship,” “The Light on the Hill”
• Trailer/Promo Video ID: _ox_NKiclzk

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Wikipedia (production & awards summary); ABC2 program guide (live broadcast 20 Aug 2008); Discogs/castalbums listings (2007 CD details); public performance uploads confirming running order.

November, 12th 2025