Paul Kelly - Darling It Hurts

What this video is

Released in September 1986 as the second single from Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls' debut double album 'Gossip' on Mushroom Records, 'Darling It Hurts' is rooted in the gritty street culture of Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, Sydney — at the time a well-known red-light district. The song's narrator confronts a former lover who has turned to sex work, with lyrical references to drug dealers and kerb-crawlers…

Why it matters

A defining artefact of mid-1980s Australian roots-rock storytelling. The track, co-written with lead guitarist Steve Connolly, exemplifies the 'Gossip'-era sound co-produced by Alan Thorne (Hoodoo Gurus, The Stems) — a direct, song-first approach that critics have described as a template for…

The director

Claudia Castle is an Australian multi-award-winning screen and television writer/director with over thirty years of experience. Her credits span feature films, documentaries, drama series, commercials, and music videos produced across Australia, the USA, the…