Bill Bailey recently shared some funny stories from his life. When he met Paul McCartney, he was so nervous that he forgot what he wanted to say and ended up saying nothing. If he could make any animal small enough to keep as a pet, he would pick a tiny elephant that could sit on his desk and play in a bowl of water. He thinks it would be a great conversation starter. McCartney also tried to reunite John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
A tiny elephant, so tiny you could have it on your desk. I think that’d be great. You could put them in a bowl, and then they could spray water over themselves. It’d be a talking point.
Bailey loves the Remain in Light album by Talking Heads, especially the song Once in a Lifetime, which he says is one of his top three favorite songs of all time. When he was a teenager, he even dreamed of playing keyboard for the band, hoping that David Byrne might somehow hear him and invite him to join. He actually met Byrne years later in Melbourne and was thrilled to make him laugh. He stayed in Australia longer than planned to see the show, which led to a warning from Border Force for overstaying his visa.
Remain in Light by Talking Heads is a terrific album. It contains Once in a Lifetime, which is my favourite song of theirs – it is in my top five songs by any artist of all time. Probably the top three. Maybe my top one?
When it came out, Remain in Light seemed to exist in another universe. It was intriguing and it sounded a bit intellectual – it was quite alluring for my romantic teenage self. I didn’t quite know what it was about it, but I was drawn to it instinctively. My favourite songs are like little fragments of poetry that fit perfectly within a groove, and Once in a Lifetime is one of them.
In Western Australia, Bailey discovered a wine called Bill Bailey Shiraz Cabernet, though it wasn’t named after him. He enjoyed visiting the winery and joked that he wouldn’t mind if they put his face on the label.
When he can’t fall asleep, Bailey plays a word game called Spelling Bee on his phone, which helps him relax once he completes it.
One of the most amazing things he’s seen was a group of giant manta rays swimming off the coast of Bali. They looked like they were dancing or playing, and it reminded him of how much we still don’t know about animal behavior.
