Essential Finn
My promised summary of some of my favorite Finn Brothers music. I’m always a little surprised that I’ve become such a big fan of Neil and Tim’s work over the years. I’m generally not into the singer-songwriter thing very much, even when it leans to the alterna-pop side of the spectrum. I guess I was entranced by the majesty of a certain song in the spring of 1986 and have never really gotten over it. Rather than do mini-reviews of each Neil Finn product I own, which were turning out to be not-so-mini, I’ll share my top ten Neil Finn songs with you. These are listed in chronological order, oldest to newest.
“I Got You” Split Enz, 1979. 18 year-old Neil joined his brother Tim’s band and immediately paid dividends, penning this New Wave classic that proved to be the Splits' biggest international success. Neil’s pure pop sensibilities were already coming through, despite his youth. Interesting trivia note to music geeks: Neil had not yet learned to play electric guitar when he joined the Splits….as their lead guitarist. Not sure if that’s a high level of trust from big brother, or a case of throwing someone into the fire to see how they react.
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” Crowded House, 1986. Still my favorite song from the 80s and one of my all-time favs as well, this was the first single from the band Neil formed after Split Enz dissolved in 1984. Unfortunately, it was their only big hit in America, relegating the band to One Hit Wonder status despite their international success over the next eight years. A beautiful song full of conflicting emotions. Is it triumphant or defeatist? Hopeful or melancholy? A little bit of everything, this ambiguity adding to the genius of the track.
“Four Seasons in One Day” Crowded House, 1991. Tim briefly joined CH in 1991 and helped to create what was the band’s most critically acclaimed disk, Woodface. Much more mature and developed than their work together in Split Enz, Woodface was both a brilliant apex for CH and a sign of what was to come in future Finn brothers collaborations. “Four Seasons” is an amazing work of simple harmonies and perfectly restrained music.
“Distant Sun” Crowded House, 1993. Most of Neil’s love songs have an interesting twist somewhere along the way that keep them from being songs that can be comfortably used in weddings. There is always an acknowledgment that partnerships are full of troubled times, wandering eyes, and outright disloyalty. Trust me, I listened long and hard hoping to find a song we could use at our wedding. This was the closest I came; utterly gorgeous musically, but just a little too much realism for me to ask a DJ to spin as S. and I started our lives together. “I don’t pretend to know what you want, but I offer love.” More a song written for 30 somethings who have learned life isn’t perfect but are still in love than fresh-faced newlyweds who still believe in fairy tales (And yes, I know we were 30 something when we got married!).
“Suffer Never” Finn Brothers, 1995. The highlight track from the brothers' first album as a duo. Dark and foreboding, it serves as a nice balance to the brothers' more buoyant works.
“She Will Have Her Way” Neil Finn, 1998. From Neil’s first solo album, Try Whistling This. For most of the album he attempts to follow his brother’s more experimental path. This track, however, fulfills Neil’s perfect pop song quota.
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, “History Never Repeats” Neil Finn & Friends, 2002. In 2001, Neil invited several musicians whose work he admired and had been influenced by to join him at his home in New Zealand. They would rehearse for a week, perform for seven nights, and then break up the “band”, never to perform together again. Joining him were Sebastian Steinberg of Soul Coughing, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway of Radiohead, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Indiana’s own Lisa Germano who performed with John Cougar Mellencamp for almost ten years, his brother Tim, his son Liam’s band Betchadupa, and the genius Johnny Marr of the Smiths. The performances were documented on the tremendous CD and DVD, Seven Worlds Collide. In addition to classic Neil tunes, the “group” covered songs of each participant as well. Two of those covers highlight the disks. On “There Is a Light”, which happens to be my favorite Smiths' tune, Neil absolutely nails the lead vocal, giving it a level of heartbreak that even Morrissey was unable to reach. The brilliance of the song lies in the combination of absolute depression and disconnection to the world with finding absolute love which gives life meaning. One of the strangest love songs ever, the chorus sums up that balance:
"And if a double decker bus, crashes into us, to die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die. And if a ten ton truck, kills the both of us, to die by your side, well the pleasure, the privilege is mine."Fairly sick stuff, yet both Morrissey and Neil make it sound beautiful and heartwarming. Where the dark one from Manchester sang with a disaffection that put the emphasis on the angst of the song, Neil offers a warmth that puts the focus on love. Musically, the cover isn't much different than the original, but that change in emphasis turns it into a totally different song. Vedder and Betchadupa performed two Splits songs most nights, "I See Red" and "History", both of which were fairly straight-forward in their original form. With 16 year old Liam and his band, which were heavily influenced by Pearl Jam, rocking away in the background, Eddie glams it up and turns both into neo-punk classics.
“Rest of the Day Off” Neil Finn, 2002. From Neil’s second solo album, One Nil globally and One All (in a remixed form) in the States. A gorgeous ode to turning off the phone, ignoring work obligations, and kicking it with someone you love on a sunny, warm afternoon.
“Disembodied Voices” Finn Brothers, 2004. After making music together periodically for almost 30 years, one would think the well could be dry. Yet the Finn Brothers' 2004 release Everyone Is Here was loaded with tracks that were quickly labeled classics by their fans. This gorgeous song is one of remembrance to times when young brothers lay in bed talking about the possibilities of life at night when they should have been sleeping.
"Talking with my brother when the lights went out. Down the hallway, 40 years ago. And what became much harder was so easy then. Open up and letting go..."Happy downloading!