Mark O'Keefe, who says he wrote some of the lyrics on coasters at the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle in 1991, appeared yesterday in the Federal Court in Sydney for the first day of a five-day hearing.

Mr O'Keefe told the court he wrote the ''lyrics and melody of the chorus'', the opening line of the first verse and the opening line of the middle eight.

In return, he claims, Lloyd said he would register the song in both their names with the Australasian Performing Right Association.

But Lloyd's counsel, Andrew Coleman, criticised Mr O'Keefe yesterday, arguing his version of events was inconsistent because he had changed his mind about the year the song was written.

Mr O'Keefe had originally said he wrote the song in November 1989, but later said he got it wrong and it was up to two years later. Mr Coleman accused Mr O'Keefe of making up the entire story.

Richard Cobden, SC, acting for the singer, said: ''It's a fabrication that you had this meeting with Mr Lloyd.''

''No, it's not,'' Mr O'Keefe said.

Amazing was a hit in 2001 and was voted No. 1 on Triple J's Hottest 100 poll that year. It has been used in three television advertising campaigns, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments for Lloyd.

Mr Coleman compared Lloyd's musical success with Mr O'Keefe's lack of published works.

''I don't mean to be unkind, but the band [What's Next] did not achieve any commercial success, and no recording contracts,'' he said.

Mr Coleman told the court that Mr O'Keefe had no independent corroboration of his version of events. Mr O'Keefe admitted his diary, recording key events, had been either stolen or lost.

Mr Lloyd was accompanied in court by his wife, Amelia Wasiliev, his stepmother and other family and friends.

The case continues.