Legendary Australian Singer John Swan, AKA Swanee Explains Why He Feels Better At 74

Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians

Four operations in a month will either break you or rebuild you. When John Swan joins us, he doesn’t sugarcoat what happened: time in St Vincent’s Private in Sydney, a hip replacement, complications, and that scary mental fog that can follow multiple general anesthetics at 74. But the part that grabs you is what comes next, because he’s not talking like someone who’s winding down. He’s talking like someone who’s back.

We get into the day-to-day reality of healthy aging and recovery, from hill walks and weights to the frustrating math of body composition where the scale lies and your jeans tell the truth. John also shares why he now treats guitar practice like a non-negotiable, and how “use it or lose it” applies to your brain as much as your body. 

If you care about Australian rock, resilience, and what it really takes to keep touring, his honesty lands hard.

Then we go deeper. John tells moving stories from volunteering in hospitals and palliative care, and the moment that reminds him why music matters at all: watching someone’s eyes light up when a song cuts through pain. He also previews A Night With Swanee at The Gov in Adelaide, a no-nonsense Q and A style night with family and friends where the truth matters more than stage dressing.

If this hits you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a review so more people can find the stories behind the songs. What part stayed with you most?

What is John Swan up to at the moment?  Let's find out!

Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!

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Transcript

Warm Up Banter And Audio Check

Cheryl Lee 0:42

I can't put hands on or I'll muck up my hair.

John Swan 0:47

Okay. It doesn't matter about my hair.

Cheryl Lee 0:51

No, that's right. Be like Barry's hair. Oh you've got more than him.

Speaker 0:57

Not much.

Cheryl Lee 0:59

How long have you got? You've got have you got us lined up all day today?

Speaker 1:03

You know, we'll be right. We'll just I've got Paul Cashmere from 11.

Cheryl Lee 1:09

I know who you mean. Yeah. All right. Well, shall we get started then?

Speaker 1:13

We shall. I'm just wondering why I've only got one channel. Oh, sorry, it doesn't matter.

Cheryl Lee 1:18

I can't help you, sorry, John. As long as you can hear me, I guess that's all that matters.

Speaker 1:25

It is, as long as you can hear me too. I can hear me now.

Cheryl Lee 1:27

I can hear us both, which is always convenient, isn't it?

Speaker 1:31

So you're not getting any feedback or anything like that.

Cheryl Lee 1:34

No, so it's not sounds good to me.

John Swan 1:36

That's fine then.

Cheryl Lee 1:37

But you do recall that I'm tone deaf though, don't you?

Speaker 1:41

Eh?

unknown 1:42

Yeah.

John Swan 1:42

What? Well, I'll tell you what, it's uh you certainly know when you've been through a bit though, because even although I'm doing weights and I'm doing everything else as I up the weights and I start doing all these new sort of like squats, and you come up and then you stand up and push up at the same time because they did your car as well. And they just, you know, an hour after it, I'm going, oh Jesus

Getting Fit With Hills Weights Diet

Speaker 2:10

Christ, you know. So it's just a matter of finding a balance, you know, because I'm walking up a hill that's like that, and it's 5k. It's really beautiful at the top of it, and it's a magnificent walk. First time I did it nearly killed me, and I was so out of breath. Now I'm getting up and down there in about 35-40 minutes, you know. It's like you know how that one that used to be.

Cheryl Lee 2:35

Is it like Mount Lofty?

Speaker 2:37

Very much so, yeah, except not quite as steep, but it's just longer, just go straight up. It's like you know that part where I always used to grab the tree and hang on, and the woman would would come down and say, Are you okay? And I go, Yeah, thanks. And the girl, all the kids would go, help me, Mummy.

Cheryl Lee 2:55

Oh, 911.

Speaker 2:57

Oh Christ.

Cheryl Lee 2:59

Oh, well, good on you. And it's nice to do that uh exercise out in nature too, isn't it? Rather than just always, always inside of a gym.

Speaker 3:09

I've finished uh, yeah. Well, I've got my my own little gym, you know, like and it's I've got a bike and all the weights, and most of the stuff I do is still pretty simple. You know, I don't need to use big heavy weights because you know, I'm trying to retain muscle and not not build it, you know, because I've I've dropped I've dropped about three gene sizes, but and I'm I'm losing my man moves. But the problem is, you know, I've not gone down and weight any. And this morning when I weighed myself, I thought, oh fuck, I was 85 kilo, now I'm up to 90. And then it dawned on me because I'm the diet, I'm on Ronaldo's diet, you know, which is like cottage cheese avocado, that's it in the morning, you know, and then I might just have a little snack in the afternoon, more cottage cheese, you know, like and it's working, but it's so freaking slow. And the first place it comes off, yeah, you know, look freaking gooseneck.

Cheryl Lee 4:07

But also, if you are concentrating on your fitness and replacing muscle with fat, muscle is heavier, remember, than fat.

Speaker 4:15

Yeah, and it also uses up fat, you know, like so. So I've got right into it. It's become a hobby, you know, like getting fit, it's become a hobby, you know.

Cheryl Lee 4:24

Well, that's a good hobby to have as we get, especially as we get older.

Speaker 4:28

Just putting new stairs in. Um, I came up quick, I set an alarm on my watch and I said, Siri, uh, send me a oh it's Siri's just answered. What, John? Relax, Siri, relax.

Cheryl Lee 4:42

Take a coffee break.

Speaker 4:44

It's saying relax, Siri, relax. I'm putting stairs into the hill, you know, like I put I put one boat down the I've got 21 stairs at the side of the house, and then there's another slope that goes down like that that I've just used pavers on, you know. But I had to learn how to do it because the first time I did it, the after the first big rainfall, they got they were like this. So I had to pull them all up, put down sand, whack a packet, and then put this uh dust over the top of it, you know, crusher dust, and you crush it in. Then you put them in, you put a little spacer in between them, perfect, you know, and that's now four years. So these new ones are gonna be a breeze. It's just that because it's on a hill, it really taxes your legs. It's just it's unbelievable. Well, you know what it's like going up hills.

Cheryl Lee 5:34

Yeah, well, you could uh get a part-time job as a bricky's laborer now.

Speaker 5:38

It's just heavy duty because it's it's it's all palms and banana trees and that type of thing. So you anything as a palm tree fold and I had to carry it down, they're they're full of water. So I cut it up into pieces about that long, and that was like, oh Jesus Christ.

Cheryl Lee 5:56

Hey, do you see any wildlife on your your 5k walk like we do on lofty?

John Swan 6:02

Yep, yep. Not quite the same as lofty because it's see, I have to walk 2K from the car park to the beach, and from the beach it's 2k to the hill, and then you go up the hill, then you come down, then you get a 2k back, you know, and going up there's fun because everybody's sort of hi, hi. Mentally, I've got I'm just doing it, you know, because it's I've set my mind to it. I'm gonna do it.

Cheryl Lee 6:27

Yeah, you did, aren't you?

John Swan 6:29

And after two weeks, I've got to tell you, there was no more huffing and puffing and blowing, you know, it just sort of

Why We’re Here And Work Life

Speaker 6:35

it does get easier.

Cheryl Lee 6:36

Yeah. Well, we better start talking about why we're here. Why are we here, John?

Speaker 6:41

I suppose good question. That's a really good question.

Cheryl Lee 6:44

I am I really, really love this job. I race home from work for the investment advisors in my lunchtime to do this and then go back because it's the end of financial year. We're very busy. So I just spoke to Kate and now I'm speaking to you. Yeah, I had a great day, thanks. Spoke to Kate, now I'm speaking to you two. Rock and roll's absolute legends now. We thought that you had just whether you were just having a nana nap after the busyness of releasing your duets album, but you've actually had six months off due to a bit of ill health. Is that right?

Speaker 7:21

I had a month in St. Vincent's private in Sydney. So I had basically four operations in a month. I only put I only put two up there. Uh one was my hip replacement, but I had three others. I had my chest done, and then I got pneumonia when they did my chest. So they've I had to go back in and you know, and it's a lot because I'm just getting over it now where my mind fog is gone because four general anaesthetics in a month at 74 is really dangerous, you know.

Cheryl Lee 7:54

Yeah, and my blood pressure is coming back, yes, it's good. And uh you're back with a vengeance. Not only have you just released the single

Six Months Off And Four Operations

Cheryl Lee 8:05

with Mossy from Believe. Yep, but uh you've got a whole lot of stuff going on, and I'm really pleased about this one because you're coming to our town.

Speaker 8:15

Yes, home to Adelaide, yeah.

Cheryl Lee 8:19

It's called A Night with Swanee, Swanee Family and Friends. You're bringing your little brother, yes, Alan.

Speaker 8:27

Yep.

Cheryl Lee 8:28

I think Dave Gleeson is hosting it, and you've also got good old Stefan and Zkye from Adelaide performance.

John Swan 8:37

And Damo and Rob and Rob Verrell, you know, like because well, I can play a lot of the stuff myself now, because I practice every morning at nine o'clock. I do about two hours of practice before anything, you know, even before coffee. So you know how when you get a habit and you keep repeating it, you feel terrible if you don't do it, you know. But I'm really enjoying it because now I'm looking at chord charts that I've made up and I'm going, oh that's not that's a D with an F-sharp bass, you know. So I'm starting to get your knowledge opens up again. And it's like they say, if you don't use it, you lose it, you know.

Cheryl Lee 9:10

Well, yeah, no, it's a great idea to keep your brain.

Speaker 9:13

I never had any of that, and in the beginning, and I never had any of that stuff about chords and all that stuff. I just used to stand there and watch them and go on like this, you know, like and I never had to do anything else because I just was using basics. Now I'm Tommy Emanuel's playing guitar on a couple of tracks. That's a challenge, but I've got the challenge done.

Cheryl Lee 9:33

We are seeing you at the Gov 30th of August. It's a Sunday sesh.

John Swan 9:38

It is, it'll be early too. I think about seven o'clock because I figured I I don't know. Oh, you can tell me. If it if we go on too late, it makes it hard for people to get up for work and you know, kids, mums with kids and stuff like that. So I figure that seven o'clock's a good time to kick off, you know. They can come and have something to eat. Probably Zkye and Damo and Stef and I'll do a bit. Then we'll do the we're gonna do it on stage. I was gonna do the stage up with like you know, a lounge and furniture and stuff like that with a standard lamp in the corner, and you know, and then I just thought, you know what? That's window dressing, it's got it's bullshit, it's got nothing to do with sitting down and telling the truth because it that's the difference. This is there's no PR stuff in this. This is Dave asking me questions, a bit like Andrew Denton did with Jim and I a few years ago. Do you remember that?

Cheryl Lee 10:35

Yeah, I remember that.

Speaker 10:36

Yeah, that was good. I really enjoyed it because you know, Jim would say, Oh, we used to hide the presents in the loft, you know. And I'd say, Jim, there was no friggin' loft, it's a housing trust place, you know.

Cheryl Lee 10:49

There were no presents either.

John Swan 10:50

Yeah, and he said, Oh, you know, I got a bike for Christmas, and he said, I used to get that bike every year, and they'd paint it a different color. I said, Do you know how hard that was to steal every year? Oh, but you know, it it's it's got a a lot of funny stuff in it, but well then it's not funny, it's it's real. That's what makes it funny, you know. Anything that's real finishes up being a joke, you know, and especially now because Jim's at that stage where we can we can do all this shit and take the Mickey out of each other, and there's no no animosity or anything like that because we're we're both growing up, you know, like at last, and we get on great. It's been amazing. He's helped me so much with the album and with PR, and you know, use my studio, record the clip. So I flew down to Sydney, first flight, and I had to be and there at six at the hospital, right? So I got a cab straight off the plane, got a cab straight into the hospital, sat there, no fasting all all night, you know. And I'm sitting there going, Oh Christ, I'd kill for a coffee, I'd kill for some water, you know. And the the guy came in and he said, Hello, I'm the anesthesiologist. My name's I said, Yeah, great, you know, just knock me out. I don't care, you know, as much as you can fit in, I'll have. And he said, No, no, no. He said, That's I'm only here to get make sure of I want to answer his questions. And then the surgeon will

Adelaide Show Plans And Daily Practice

John Swan 12:20

come in, John uh Rooney, and he'll come in and do he'll explain everything to you. Then you finish. I said, Oh, okay. So I rang up and I said, Ian, can you be at the studio at 12? He said, Yeah. So I finished with the anesthesiologist and the surgeon and got to the studio in botany, you know, in time, 12 o'clock. And we recorded for about two hours, you know, two takes, because by the time you put lights, you know what it's like when you put lights up. No, that's like shit, you know. And Mossy said, Take your glasses off. And I said, I won't be able to see a bloody thing. He said, just for a change, you know, like because he's had lassip surgery, you know, like so he's he's walking around going, you know, pretending he can see. No, he's he's actually he's looking good, yeah. And he's so used to wearing my glasses. I look quite strange when I let them know. I looked at myself and I go, Oh shit, you know, I look like my dad.

Cheryl Lee 13:14

The leave is going brilliantly, and the new singles out, as you say, with Mossy, back to your visit to us in our hometown. How proud are you of Stefan? I remember when he used to play with you out at the Hamstead. Young lad, and look at him now.

John Swan 13:36

Yeah, and you know, like what happened, how that came about was I had been doing it, but I was doing it on my own, and I was rushing between the salvos and then going into the hospital to see kids who were disabled, you know, like and kids who were burns or or car accidents, you know, and I started to pay too much attention to individuals, so I wasn't getting enough, I wasn't getting to enough people. And it's okay to do a little bit, but if you're gonna do it, we'll do it for all of them, you know. So I said, Can somebody help me? It's Christmas Day, and I've got four or five places to go. And they said, you know, nobody answered. And anyway, next morning I'm parked my car and the thing there, and he he came in, and I didn't notice it's just a young kid with two other young kids walking towards her, a girl and another kid , you know. Like anyway, Stefan comes up, you know, sort of thin and really sort of young and titty, and he he said, Hello, he said, Up Stefan, I've come to help you with uh the thing. And I went, he had got a bus from Parafield with his acoustic guitar, yeah, and his brother and sister who he was looking after, so mum and dad, you know, so they could get some time. And it was like it's probably the most generous thing anybody's ever done for me because like he didn't know any of the songs and he wasn't intimidated or anything like that.

Cheryl Lee 15:00

He just he just loves playing his guitar, yeah.

Speaker 15:04

And it was also he loved helping kids, you know, like because he he got a real big thrill uh being able to give something because that's where music takes us there every time. We go down that road, and when you start playing, you watch their eyes. When you first walk in, they're all sitting near like this, and they're you know, half of them are drugged out, and the rest have got the top of their head removed and little helmets, and you look at them and they're just sadness in the room, and you just play something. I say, What do you want to hear? They say, Oh, play when the war is over, you know, because they all know I'm Jimmy's brother. So I start playing, and I'm singing quietly. And the the nurse came across, she said, Hey, hey, hey, she said, Can you can you sing properly? Sing he said, Oh, I said, I'm just keeping quiet because they did, and they all went, nah, nah, go for it. So I started going, and that their eyes lit up, and it was like, I swear to you, that's why I play music. That's the only reason it's nothing to do with money, nothing to do with fame, nothing to do with anything else. When you get that reaction out of somebody, you look somebody in the eye and their eyes light up, and when you walk into the room the next day to see them, they're all there in their chairs ready. I just never felt more passionate about eating in my life. Yeah, it was so good that after all the things I've done in my life, I could do some good, you know, like and you know, if you're not doing good for somebody else, you're not helping yourself either, you know. No, that's right.

Cheryl Lee 16:33

You get it quite often when you're volunteering or doing things for others, you get a lot more out of it than you even put into it.

John Swan 16:39

Yeah, I mean, I was tired because some of the days I was getting up at a hospital at nine o'clock in the morning, I was getting home at 10 at night, and that's a long day, you know, especially if you're dealing with people who are I was doing palliative care and I walked into palliative care and I've I've played and and I said, I'm singing too loud. And she said, No, no. She said, The guy in the next room wants you to go in there and sing as well. So I had to go around every single one all the way around, and it was the most touching thing I've ever had to experience that they just wanted you me to sing to them, and it wasn't sort of like you're not anybody famous, you just wanted somebody to sing to them, you know. Yeah, and at the end of it, he was holding my hand, and you know, like and it I just thought I want to do this. That's just what I'm gonna do with it the rest of my life. So that's you know how much time we spent on it, you know.

Cheryl Lee 17:33

Bless Stefan, he also ended up backing you at your your monthly gig at the Marion.

John Swan 17:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Cheryl Lee 17:45

And uh look at him now, he has not looked back, has he?

John Swan 17:48

No, but see, that's that's the that's the thing, you know, because I never I never tell him no bullshit with me. I tell him straight, you know, like and if you want to do it, you've got to get put your head in and get to work, you know. And you can't do it from here, because he was saying, you know, I'm starting there. Well, that's the that's this much. If you go there, there's this much available, which potentially becomes that much, depending on how you handle it and keep, you know, how hard you work. Next thing you know, he's in Italy, and he's sending me back thinking snow's over here, you should work a bit harder.

Cheryl Lee 18:24

Oh, good on him. So you're bringing Alan down. We've got Stefan Zkye and Damo and Rob. What can we expect musically? So it's a little bit of a like a question and an answer.

Volunteering With Music And Stefan’s Story

John Swan 18:35

I'm gonna let Dave ask get the audience to ask a question because they pay, you know, like so the mic. So rather than sort of reiterate all the questions from Denton or somebody else, uh we'll have somebody in the audience with a mic, they'll ask a question. Dave will sort of he'll hear it because he's got hearing, and he'll put it in a way that I can understand it, and I'll give them an honest answer. Because a lot of people just want to know some personal things, you know, like they don't really care about all the rest of the bullshit because it you know, this is still a job, you know. We're blessed, you know. It's not really it's not even a job for me. I mean, you don't do it for for you know, the fan fortune doesn't matter, you know. Let me tell you, at 74, it's a lot more important than what it used to be at 14, you know.

Cheryl Lee 19:23

Adelaideans, there you go. If you've ever wanted to ask John Swan a question, $65 on thegov.com.au, and I'll see you down the front there on the 30th of August. But that's not all you're doing. You've hit the ground running now. Yeah. So in September, what's done got bro?

John Swan 19:45

Empire touring. I do it all the time. That was my main source of income all of the easier, you know. Like everybody thinks, you know, you you know, you're doing you know, poor buggers not making much money, you know, but I'm not because I put most of it back into what I was doing. But if I hadn't had Empire, Mark , who we've been working together for 40 years, we used to take my band, we'd put it on great risk in a big, big theater, you know, and we'd we'd have Mark Gable, you know, Angry, Jon Stevens, myself, , a whole big list of guys would come and sing with my band because my band was really competent and they knew everybody's stuff because they were all apart, they worked with Ice House and Rose Tattoo, but they were Swanee. And when I was off the road, they used to go over to other jobs. So we did that, and the first night we did it, there was about 1,700 people turned up, sold out, bar takings went through the roof, and the guy, you know, we got about 200 bucks for it, you know. So Mark being such a clever guy, he just said, Look, guys, let's do this, but we'll do it properly. You know, I'll make sure that there's proper money, and you'll get a share of the bar, you'll get a share of the door. You know, I'll take a fee, but the rest is yours, you know.

Cheryl Lee 21:09

At the Settlers Arms Hotel, Saturday, the 5th of September. So lucky dumb gog people, head down there. EmpireTrug.com.au.

John Swan 21:20

Yeah. The other one got rocked the backyard. Yeah. Well, see, they're they're about once a month, those gigs, you know.

Cheryl Lee 21:29

Yeah, that one's in November.

John Swan 21:31

Yeah, and uh there's more, but I can't do them because Virginia's going to Italy and France, and I've got to stay and watch Hamish, you know, like because um the Wonder Dog. Well, I wouldn't leave , you know. Oh, I couldn't. He's he gets anxiety if one of us go out, you know. And I just it must be like one that because I don't have children. When the kids come in, you know, you walk, you've been away 10 minutes, and it's the best welcome you ever got back, you know. Oh fend me!

Cheryl Lee 22:01

Dungog you're with Richard Clapton, Ganggajang, Spy versus Spy and the Shantoosies. You have been performing on and off with those guys for a hundred years. And that to rock the backyard, mental as anything, Richard Clapton again, 1927, the Radiators, Euro Gliders. Yeah, everyone.

John Swan 22:23

We do we used to do a place called Comb & Cutler in Black Town when the before the radiators were sort of like touring band, you know. And because they were blacktown boys, and it was just the best gig because you know what the those sort of working class gigs are, you know, the this like Newcastle and Woolongong. They were we broke there before we broke anywhere because there was no shit and it was flat out rock and roll, you know. Like I just I see these boys now, and we've grown up, we've grown all together. We've grown all together.

Cheryl Lee 22:59

These gigs must be like, you know, just big reunions and getting away.

John Swan 23:04

Well, it is, you know, we could look for a hammer surgery. I think that was an amazing thing because, like, when I look back on that six months, I went into the the thing, seen the hospital, the stage of a surgeon, went back, did the clip, went to the hotel, slept for two hours, got a cab back to the hospital, and was knocked out and in surgery straight away. You know, that was all in basically 24 hours. You know, when when I thought about it later on, I thought that's bloody great, you know. Like the the surgeon, I could hear the surgeon and the anesthesiologist and the girls, and they put my believe on in the thing, you know. So apparently I started seeing it as I was going under. And

Touring Gigs And The Business Side

Speaker 23:45

I was telling the doctor, he's a friend, John , you know, he's Jim's doctor as well, and head surgeon at St. Vincent's private. He he standing up and said, I love you. He said, Yeah, I love you too. Put more anesthetic in him. He said, We've got enough in there to kill a racehorse, you know. Like, and he said, Never mind, he can take it, put him down.

Cheryl Lee 24:09

It sounds like you're back with the vengeance. The Rock the Backyard is at Panthers Penrith on the 28th of November. And I reckon, uh except while Virginia's away, watch this space because I think you are back, baby.

Speaker 24:24

I am, and I swear to god, I've never felt better. Maybe 30, 40 years I haven't felt this good. So, you know, there's something in it. Life's good, life's worth living.

Cheryl Lee 24:34

I've always said that rock and roll is the fountain of youth, and you're my proof.

John Swan 24:38

I tell you something that was this is the type of thing that you know, like I want to be able to say to the people because when I woke up after the first surgery, I was in recovery, and the nurse is there and she's looking really worried. And I said, What's wrong? She said, I hate to tell you this. I went, tell me, I can take it, you know. And she said, No, no, she said, We've got no beds. You have to go across, you have to go across the road to palliative care. So I'm they put me in a room with four guys who are dying, and there's a Catholic priest there, you know, a little Irishman. He spoke, he spoke like that. He was the top of the morning, you know. I'll tell you how to be sure. I thought if he had one of those re hats and a collar and a cane, you know, like but he what he had was his rosary beads, and he just sat there and he says prayers, and everybody comes in, oh top of the morning, how are you going there? You're gone. And he's be he's dying, and I'm complaining about being put in. Yeah, and all of a sudden it puts life and every situation that you're in into perspective. He handled the grate. The poor guy that was on the other side was from Newcastle. He just wanted to go home to be with his kids today. He didn't want to die in there. He said, It doesn't matter. He said, We're all gonna die anyway. And the girl came in because all volunteers come into palliative care. That's one of the main reasons. And this girl's Asian, and she's got a little Pomeranian. And he says, She said, Would you like to pet the dog? And I said, Oh, yeah, I love it. Oh, he's coat so beautiful, and he said, Bring it over here. And she she went round to and he said, Jesus Christ, he said, It's an ugly bastard, isn't it? But he spoke, he spoke everything that came out of his mind was exactly what was going through his mind, you know.

Cheryl Lee 26:17

Yeah, no, he built a God bless him, and only an Irishman can make death sound good. I love you know what he made he made life sound good to me.

John Swan 26:28

When I was leaving, he said, I'll never forget you. And I said, I swear I'll never forget you. And he said, Thank you. I said, Thank you, thank you very much. You made and I had I've still got it here, you know. I've got that guy fixed in my head now, he's like an angel on my shoulder. Every time it gets tough, I think of him. He gives me so much pain, you know, like amazing, not a not a word, so it's all

Palliative Care And A Hard Reset

Speaker 26:50

about get on with it, shut the f*ck up and do it.

Cheryl Lee 26:53

And you're so right. We've we actually lost a friend this morning, John.

Speaker 26:57

Yeah, yeah.

Cheryl Lee 26:58

Yeah, so you were you're right about it bringing everything into perspective, and it makes you realize what's important and what's not, doesn't it? It is, it is.

John Swan 27:06

I mean, I'm at that is nowhere. We lose friends every couple of days, you know, like and it's you can't write about it. You can't I don't put it on Facebook anymore because I don't think people need to know all of that stuff because it's quite private, unless the kids want me to do it, then I'll do it.

Cheryl Lee 27:24

Yeah, but yeah.

John Swan 27:25

But I I just think that uh we're all gonna go.

Cheryl Lee 27:29

That's right, there's no escaping it. We're not getting out of here alive, John.

John Swan 27:33

Jim and I were talking about it. He was in Tokyo, uh Osaka, and we're talking on the phone, and he said, I said something to him, and he said, Remember when we were 12? I said, Yeah, he said, we were hitchhiking around the country. He said, Can you imagine? I've got Dylan here letting him do what we did in those days, you know, going to Melbourne when your family's in Adelaide, you know, and you don't know anybody, you're gonna know where I live, not a cent, you know, but somehow you get by. You know, that thing is so deeply entrenched in us that you know, all you gotta do is look for it and you find something, you know, put it out there to the universe, boom, off it comes.

Cheryl Lee 28:14

Yeah, well, then were the days. So so what did you think? Well, if Jimmy can if Jimmy can have a hip replacement, so can I.

John Swan 28:22

Um, I've got mine's have both been gone for a long, long time, and so has my back. But Jim got had his back surgery too, and the doctor took a look at I went and had MRIs and obviously, you know. And the same doctor, he just said to me, 'Look, he said, 'I wouldn't do it with you.' He said, uh he said, quite frankly, yours is worse than degenerative. You've got that sort of powdery bones, you know. I said, Oh, yeah, is that good? He said, No, it's not really. He said, Well, it's good, but you know, he said, if we were to do surgery, you could finish up in a wheelchair or worse, you know. And I went, I don't think we'll bother with it, you know. I don't think we'll bother with it because it's not that important. I stretch every morning and do all that stuff, keep doing the weights, and my back's getting better. Um the the trouble was I started to hunch, you know. I started to get a little bit of a hunch, and I walked past a window and I looked in the window and I seen this old guy walking there and he was hands up all like this, and I looked, it was me, you know. It's like I followed me down a path one day, see how far I go, you know. And I thought, Jesus Christ. So I pulled my shoulders back and I finally found I couldn't get it back. So I had to go in and do all of this physio, and that changed just your life. You know, you once you realize that you've got something wrong, do something about it, shut the f*ck up, you know.

Cheryl Lee 29:40

Yeah, well, well done. Good on you. And I'm really looking forward to um catching up with your little brother Alan, because I've only met him once before. And we didn't get we had a little chat, but we didn't get time to for a much.

John Swan 29:54

Oh, I'll have a chat with him. He's a great kid, he's a great songwriter, he's a really good songwriter, and he's singing really well. He's just had a kidney removed, you know. Oh, I didn't know and he's odd chemo and all that sort of stuff. But he he's got the best attitude too.

Cheryl Lee 30:10

Yeah, I'll bless him. All right, well, I'm looking forward to that. So if I don't see you beforehand, I'll see you down the front at the Gov on the 30th. But hopefully we we might even catch up to do something for the telly before then or at least.

John Swan 30:26

Love to, love to.

Cheryl Lee 30:27

Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you so much for spending some time with us today.

John Swan 30:32

I'm sorry, I digress so much, but you know, I can't help every time we get together, it's like, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

Cheryl Lee 30:38

It's all good. You know what? I don't even think I'll edit it, John. I think I'll just put us up.

Speaker 30:44

Well, you know what? That's it, it's just like talking to them, you know.

Cheryl Lee 30:48

Like exactly.

Speaker 30:50

Well, I figure it. I don't edit too much of it. I tried to edit the poster the other night through AI.

Cheryl Lee 30:55

Oh my god, me and Dave didn't, you know, we looked like I didn't see it, did I never saw it? Was it not

Wrap Up AI Photos And Farewell

Cheryl Lee 31:05

good?

John Swan 31:05

No, no, it wasn't good. Poor Dave. Dave had his cap on and that chip shirt, you know, and that's the only way we could recognize him. His face was totally different, you know. And mines they had taken away all the lines and photoshopped it basically. And I said, that's very nice. I said, but that looks like that. I wasn't that good looking when I was 25, never mind that nails. And he says, I'm sorry. He said, I'll mark it on your your thing that not to ever edit the photos, you know. I said, Well, if you don't, you know, I said, I'll just stop talking to you. And he went, Oh no, Mr. Swan. He said, Um, we're excuse me, the chat you'll be there. All right.

Cheryl Lee 31:48

Well, welcome back, John. I'm so glad that you've come out the other side fighting fit. And yeah, as I say, can't wait to catch up.

Speaker 31:56

It'll be good. Thank you, Jon. See you, Mate.

Cheryl Lee 31:59

Bye.

Speaker 32:00

Bye.

Cheryl Lee 32:01

See you, John. I'll see you when you're here.

Speaker 32:03

Back to work.

Cheryl Lee 32:04

Yeah, I think you're quite right. I must.

Speaker 32:07

Go on. I'm sorry to keep you so long.

Cheryl Lee 32:08

No, no, not at all. Always a pleasure. See you. You're with Cheryl Lee that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rocking Up Podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can, support Aussie music, and I'll see you down the front.