My promised summary of some of my favorite Finn Brothers music.\u00a0 I’m always a little surprised that I’ve become such a big\u00a0 fan of Neil and Tim’s work over the years.\u00a0 I’m generally not into the singer-songwriter thing very much, even when it leans to the alterna-pop side of the spectrum.\u00a0 I guess I was entranced by the majesty of a certain song in the spring of 1986 and have never really gotten over it.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These are listed in chronological order, oldest to newest.<\/p>\n
“I Got You”\u00a0 Split Enz, 1979.\u00a0 18 year-old Neil joined his brother
\nTim’s band and immediately paid dividends, penning this New Wave
\nclassic that proved to be the Splits’ biggest international success.
\nNeil’s pure pop sensibilities were already coming through, despite his
\nyouth.\u00a0 Interesting trivia note to music geeks: Neil had not yet
\nlearned to play electric guitar when he joined the Splits….as their
\nlead guitarist.\u00a0 Not sure if that’s a high level of trust from big
\nbrother, or a case of throwing someone into the fire to see how they
\nreact.<\/p>\n
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” Crowded House, 1986.\u00a0 Still my favorite song
\nfrom the 80s and one of my all-time favs as well, this was the first
\nsingle from the band Neil formed after Split Enz dissolved in 1984.
\nUnfortunately, it was their only big hit in America, relegating the
\nband to One Hit Wonder status despite their international success over
\nthe next eight years.\u00a0 A beautiful song full of conflicting emotions.
\nIs it triumphant or defeatist?\u00a0 Hopeful or melancholy?\u00a0 A little bit of
\neverything, this ambiguity adding to the genius of the track.<\/p>\n
“Four Seasons in One Day” Crowded House, 1991.\u00a0 Tim briefly joined
\nCH in 1991 and helped to create what was the band’s most critically
\nacclaimed disk, Woodface.\u00a0 Much more mature and developed than their
\nwork together in Split Enz, Woodface was both a brilliant apex for CH
\nand a sign of what was to come in future Finn brothers collaborations.
\n“Four Seasons” is an amazing work of simple harmonies and perfectly
\nrestrained music.<\/p>\n
“Distant Sun” Crowded House, 1993.\u00a0 Most of Neil’s love songs have
\nan interesting twist somewhere along the way that keep them from being
\nsongs that can be comfortably used in weddings.\u00a0 There is always an
\nacknowledgment that partnerships are full of troubled times, wandering
\neyes, and outright disloyalty.\u00a0 Trust me, I listened long and hard
\nhoping to find a song we could use at our wedding.\u00a0 This was the
\nclosest I came; utterly gorgeous musically, but just a little too much
\nrealism for me to ask a DJ to spin as S.\u00a0and I started our lives
\ntogether.\u00a0 “I don’t pretend to know what you want, but I offer love.”
\nMore a song written for 30 somethings who have learned life isn’t
\nperfect but are still in love than fresh-faced newlyweds who still
\nbelieve in fairy tales (And yes, I know we were 30 something when we
\ngot married!).<\/p>\n
“Suffer Never” Finn Brothers, 1995.\u00a0 The highlight track from the
\nbrothers’ first album as a duo.\u00a0 Dark and foreboding, it serves as a
\nnice balance to the brothers’ more buoyant works.<\/p>\n
“She Will Have Her Way” Neil Finn, 1998.\u00a0 From Neil’s first solo
\nalbum, Try Whistling This.\u00a0 For most of the album he attempts to follow
\nhis brother’s more experimental path.\u00a0 This track, however, fulfills
\nNeil’s perfect pop song quota.<\/p>\n
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, “History Never Repeats” Neil
\nFinn & Friends, 2002.\u00a0 In 2001, Neil invited several musicians
\nwhose work he admired and had been influenced by to join him at his
\nhome in New Zealand.\u00a0 They would rehearse for a week, perform for seven
\nnights, and then break up the “band”, never to perform together again.
\nJoining him were Sebastian Steinberg of Soul Coughing, Ed O’Brien and
\nPhil Selway of Radiohead, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Indiana’s own Lisa
\nGermano who performed with John Cougar Mellencamp for almost ten years,
\nhis brother Tim, his son Liam’s band Betchadupa, and the genius Johnny
\nMarr of the Smiths.\u00a0 The performances were documented on the tremendous
\nCD and DVD, Seven Worlds Collide.\u00a0 In addition to classic Neil tunes,
\nthe “group” covered songs of each participant as well.\u00a0 Two of those
\ncovers highlight the disks.
\nOn “There Is a Light”, which happens
\nto be my favorite Smiths’ tune, Neil absolutely nails the lead vocal,
\ngiving it a level of heartbreak that even Morrissey was unable to
\nreach.\u00a0 The brilliance of the song lies in the combination of absolute
\ndepression and disconnection to the world with finding absolute love
\nwhich gives life meaning.\u00a0 \u00a0One of the strangest love songs ever, the
\nchorus sums up that balance:<\/p>\n
“And if a double decker bus, crashes into
\nus, to die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die.\u00a0 And if a ten
\nton truck, kills the both of us, to die by your side, well the
\npleasure, the privilege is mine.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFairly sick stuff, yet both
\nMorrissey and Neil make it sound beautiful and heartwarming.\u00a0 Where the
\ndark one from Manchester sang with a disaffection that put the emphasis
\non the angst of the song, Neil offers a warmth that puts the focus on
\nlove.\u00a0 \u00a0Musically, the cover isn’t much different than the original,
\nbut that change in emphasis turns it into a totally different song.
\nVedder
\nand Betchadupa performed two Splits songs most nights, “I See Red” and
\n“History”, both of which were fairly straight-forward in their original
\nform.\u00a0 With 16 year old Liam and his band, which were heavily
\ninfluenced by Pearl Jam, rocking away in the background, Eddie glams it
\nup and turns both into neo-punk classics.<\/p>\n“Rest of the Day Off” Neil Finn, 2002.\u00a0 From Neil’s second solo
\nalbum, One Nil globally and One All (in a remixed form) in the States.
\nA gorgeous ode to turning off the phone, ignoring work obligations, and
\nkicking it with someone you love on a sunny, warm afternoon.<\/p>\n“Disembodied Voices” Finn Brothers, 2004.\u00a0 After making music
\ntogether periodically for almost 30 years, one would think the well
\ncould be dry.\u00a0 Yet the Finn Brothers’ 2004 release Everyone Is Here was
\nloaded with tracks that were quickly labeled classics by their fans.
\nThis gorgeous song is one of remembrance to times when young brothers
\nlay in bed talking about the possibilities of life at night when they
\nshould have been sleeping.<\/p>\n“Talking with my brother when the lights
\nwent out.\u00a0 Down the hallway, 40 years ago.\u00a0 And what became much harder
\nwas so easy then.\u00a0 Open up and letting go…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHappy downloading!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My promised summary of some of my favorite Finn Brothers music.\u00a0 I’m always a little surprised that I’ve become such a big\u00a0 fan of Neil and Tim’s work over the years.\u00a0 I’m generally not into the singer-songwriter thing very much, even when it leans to the alterna-pop side of the spectrum.\u00a0 I guess I was entranced by the majesty of a certain song in the spring of 1986 and have never really gotten over it.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These are listed in chronological order, oldest to newest. “I Got You”\u00a0 Split Enz, 1979.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Interesting trivia note to music geeks: Neil had not yet learned to play electric guitar when he joined the Splits….as their lead guitarist.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 A beautiful song full of conflicting emotions. Is it triumphant or defeatist?\u00a0 Hopeful or melancholy?\u00a0 A little bit of everything, this ambiguity adding to the genius of the track. “Four Seasons in One Day” Crowded House, 1991.\u00a0 Tim briefly joined CH in 1991 and helped to create what was the band’s most critically acclaimed disk, Woodface.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 There is always an acknowledgment that partnerships are full of troubled times, wandering eyes, and outright disloyalty.\u00a0 Trust me, I listened long and hard hoping to find a song we could use at our wedding.\u00a0 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.\u00a0and I started our lives together.\u00a0 “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.\u00a0 The highlight track from the brothers’ first album as a duo.\u00a0 Dark and foreboding, it serves as a nice balance to the brothers’ more buoyant works. “She Will Have Her Way” Neil Finn, 1998.\u00a0 From Neil’s first solo album, Try Whistling This.\u00a0 For most of the album he attempts to follow his brother’s more experimental path.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In 2001, Neil invited several musicians whose work he admired and had been influenced by to join him at his home in New Zealand.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The performances were documented on the tremendous CD and DVD, Seven Worlds Collide.\u00a0 In addition to classic Neil tunes, the “group” covered songs of each participant as well.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \u00a0One 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \u00a0Musically, 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 After making music together periodically for almost 30 years, one would think the well could be dry.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Down the hallway, 40 years ago.\u00a0 And what became much harder was so easy then.\u00a0 Open up and letting go…” Happy downloading! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[81,9],"class_list":["post-577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lists","tag-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16116,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions\/16116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}