How to Make Gravy

Paul Kelly's album Wanted Man was released in 1994 and reached No. 11 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart. Kelly also composed music for the 1994 film Everynight ... Everynight, directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos; it is set in the notorious H division of Victoria's Pentridge Prison. Kelly's next solo releases were Deeper Water in 1995 and Live at the Continental and the Esplanade in 1996. Between March and May 1995 Kelly undertook a seven-week tour of North America, appearing on several dates with Liz Phair and Joe Jackson. By 1996, Paul Kelly Band members were Stephen Hadley (bass guitar, ex-Black Sorrows), Bruce Haymes (keyboards), Peter Luscombe (drums, ex-Black Sorrows) and Shane O'Mara (guitar). This line-up issued the EP How to Make Gravy, with the title track earning Kelly a 'Song of the Year' nomination at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Music Awards of 1998. In August 1996, Kelly performed the song at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, with O'Mara on slide guitar, which was included on Edmonton Folk Festival Compilation Album (1996). The song was included in 1998 as an extra track on the US release of Words and Music by Vanguard Records. That year, "How to Make Gravy" was also issued as a US single but with a different cover: it depicts a roasted fowl on a serving tray held by a smiling woman with the words 'Christmas Single' included. Kelly and his nephew Dan Kelly recorded the song as part of Kelly's A – Z Tours from 2004 to 2010, it was issued on the 8× CD album, The A – Z Recordings (2010). ==Composition==

"How to Make Gravy" is five minutes and ten seconds long. The song is set in the key of E major and has a medium tempo with a piano range of B1–E5 and a vocal range of B3–E5. Kelly is credited with both lyrics and music. The lyrics tell the story of a newly imprisoned man writing a letter to his brother, in which the prisoner laments that he will be missing the family's Christmas celebrations. All three tracks appear on Kelly's live 8× CD boxed set, The A – Z Recordings (2010). In 1996 Kelly was approached by Lindsay Field, the guitarist and backing vocalist for John Farnham, to perform a Christmas-themed song or carol for a various artists charity record, The Spirit of Christmas, to raise money for the Salvation Army. Kelly originally selected "Christmas Must Be Tonight" by Robbie Robertson (The Band); however, that had already been performed by James Blundell on The Spirit of Christmas 1994, so he told Field that he would have a go at writing one instead. In August 2025, Kelly released a sequel song titled "Rita Wrote a Letter", which reveals that while Joe makes it out of prison and returns to work, Rita has gotten together with Dan as Joe fears in the lyrics of "How to Make Gravy". The song is also sung posthumously from the point of view of Joe. == Gravy Day ==

In the lyrics Joe wrote his letter on 21 December, which led fans to dub the day "Gravy Day". ==Cover versions==

It was covered by James Reyne on the 2003 tribute album, ''Stories of Me: A Songwriter's Tribute to Paul Kelly'' and on Reyne's 2005 acoustic album ...And the Horse You Rode in On. It has also been covered by David Miles, From Nowhere, Semicolon, Ghostwriters, Karl Broadie and Lawrence Agar. John Butler performed the song at a Kelly tribute show which was recorded on the related triple album, Before Too Long (2010). Christine Anu covered the song on her 2014 Christmas album, Island Christmas. Tasmanian band Luca Brasi covered the song in June 2016 for Triple J's Like a Version segment. Australian folk group All Our Exes Live in Texas also covered the song for Bloodshot Records's "13 Days of Xmas" compilation. ==Film adaptation==

In October 2023, it was announced at Foxtel’s 2024 upfronts the song was to be adapted into film which features actors Daniel Henshall, Hugo Weaving, Agathe Rouselle, Brenton Thwaites, Damon Herriman and Kate Mulvany. The film is the first original movie for Binge, which was filmed on the Gold Coast, Queensland, written by Meg Washington and Nick Waterman, who also directed. Schuyler Weiss produced alongside Washington, Waterman and Hamish Lewis. Produced by Warner Bros. Int. TV Production Australia. ==Reception==

"How to Make Gravy" was nominated as 'Song of the Year' at the 1997 Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Awards, which was won by Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply". Kelly was also nominated and won 'Best Male Artist' at that year's ARIA Awards on the success of the song. It was also nominated as 'Song of the Year' at the 1998 Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Music Awards, In 2008 John Butler selected the song as his favourite Australian song of the last 20 years: On 29 September 2012 Kelly performed "How to Make Gravy" and "Leaps and Bounds" at the 2012 AFL Grand Final although most of the performance was not broadcast on Seven Network's pre-game segment. Nui Te Koha of Sunday Herald Sun declared "Kelly, an integral part of Melbourne folklore and its music scene, and a noted footy tragic, deserved his place on the Grand Final stage – which has been long overdue ... broadcaster Seven's refusal to show Kelly's performance, except the last verse of 'Leaps and Bounds', was no laughing matter". A year later it re-entered the top 100 at No. 37. In 2025 the song was voted 9th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs. ==Track listing==

Paul Kelly Band members • Stephen Hadley – bass guitar ("How to Make Gravy", "I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy") • Bruce Haymes – keyboard • Spencer P. Jones – slide guitar ("How to Make Gravy", "I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy", "Glory Be to God"), drawing (tomato sauce bottle on original cover art) • Paul Kelly – guitar, vocals • Peter Luscombe – drums • Shane O'Mara – guitar ("How to Make Gravy", "I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy", "I'll Be Your Lover Now") • Bill MacDonald – bass guitar ("I'll Be Your Lover Now", "Glory Be to God") Recording details • Oscar Gaona – mastering • Victor Van Vugt – mix engineer ("I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy", "I'll Be Your Lover Now", "Glory Be to God") • Simon Polinski – sound engineer ("How to Make Gravy", "I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy"), producer ("How to Make Gravy") • Paul Kelly – producer ("How to Make Gravy", "I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You with Another Guy", "I'll Be Your Lover Now", "Glory Be to God") ==Charts==