Love Is (What I Say), like several other tracks in the INXS catalogue, abruptly starts, then suddenly brings you into the verses, choruses, bridges and outro, without necessarily realizing you're even there...and probably in a more effective way than other tracks written in this fashion. I think it's an incredibly unique songwriting skill. INXS seemed to have an uncanny ability to pull this off, while continuously making each section of these particular songs stimulating and intriguing enough to enjoy. Texturally, this track does its job, slipping into the appropriate mood without being over-done. In fact, it's beautifully done. Outside of a few production elements, I wouldn't change much about it. LI (WIS) is one of the best songs from TS.
"Love Is (What I Say)" is another 5/5 for me. The way the chorus kind of lifts, briefly explodes and then slowly reduces the tension back down into the somewhat moody verses is masterful. The band's songwriting chops really started to shine on this album. While SS is a great album with strong songwriting throughout, The Swing shows that they had staying power and were still growing.
Love Is (What I Say) Great bass line. Joyous and uplifting. This has been stuck in my head on and off now for three weeks. Every time I hear this song it surprises me because it has a structure all it’s own.
Face The Change To be honest, when I first got the album this was the song that didn't really do much for me, but I must say that this song has grown on me an awful lot over the years. It is strange to me now to think that this song didn't grab me immediately, because it seems like one of the somewhat more traditional Inxs songs on many ways, but anyway, over the years this has become a song that I really enjoy. We open with a nice, fairly clean guitar, and then it is joined by another superb bass and drum locked in groove. I think part of the appeal here is the rhythmic structure, it has a really cool swaying flow of groove. Turns back to front Turns hate to love The simple things that mean a lot Turns rock to sand Turns ice to snow It's you and me about to grow Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Stare in shock at what you saw Take a breath, better lock the door Tell your children what to do Mistakes and all they still love you Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Turns rough to smooth Turns don't to do To reminisce turns me to you Turns war to peace Turns greed to need The consequence of visionaries Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Stare in shock at what you saw Take a breath, better lock the door Tell your children what to do Mistakes and all they still love you Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Turns back to front Turns hate to love The simple things that mean a lot Turns rock to sand Turns ice to snow It's you and me about to grow Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Stare in shock at what you saw Take a breath, better lock the door Tell your children what to do Mistakes and all they still love you Change the face of a magazine Face the change of a million years Songwriters: J. Farriss / K. Pengilly / M. Hutchence Face The Change lyrics © Mca Music Publishing, A.d.o. Universal S, Songs Of Universal, Inc. The idea here is really pretty straight forward, and it encompasses the idea of change. It seems to some degree that the idea is based in the thought "If you want to change the world, the first step is accepting the things you need to change about yourself" or something like that. I like this lyric quite a lot actually. The whole arrangement here just bounces and grooves along together beautifully, the little alternate rhythm on the guitar at the end of the lines in the verse is really cool. When the chorus comes in we get this augmented by a nice little keyboard line, that has a sort of Cure sound to it.... perhaps Japan.... Anyway it isn't derivative at all, just a similar style and sound Just after about half way through, we get a really nice little breakdown that gives us a nice little break from the groove and adds a really nice atmospheric feel in the middle of the song. During this little break we get atmospheric keys and a kick drum hold us steady, and Kirk adds a nice floating, airy sax. This leads to a reprise of the opening verse and a nice vocal melody modulation, and rolls into the chorus we a restated melody also. We get another atmospheric breakdown, and I really enjoy that also, it just has a really nice feel, and more importantly, it works as a lead in to the next song .... and man that next song hit the airwaves like a breath of fresh air in Australia at least. It's funny, original sin hit number one, and was hugely successful, but tomorrows song seemed to be the big one in my world, and seemingly the people around me.... anyway, that's tomorrow.
Face the Change. 5/5. Good change of pace for album flow. Give it a higher rating than what probably most do as I love the atmospheric parts which eventually blend into Burn For You. Again Kirk on backing vocals and sax does a great job. He needs proper props!
This Hamburg show is wild to watch...they're super stiff and kinda flopping with this zombified crowd. What a difference a few years would make, eh?
It is interesting. To some degree it is a real learning curve for an Aussie band to go over seas and essentially start again. Generally bands get big in Australia and have already won over audiences, so there is a natural flow and interaction going on. Then they venture overseas, and it is like going backwards five years for them. They go from local superstars to some local pub band nobody knows. It really does effect the way the mentality of the band works.
Face The Change is all about the relentless beat, but there’s enough going on to keep the song interesting. It’s another one that looks forward to Kick, and leads directly into tomorrow's song...
Face The Change contains lyrical and musical elements that are only semi-intriguing. They're not really breaking any new ground here. However, despite the somewhat unique keyboard and funk guitar pentatonic riffs (a theme Andrew utilizes frequently on this album) played together, which saves the track from not sucking, it's still the weakest link from TS.
Face The Change This might seem like a slight little song, but it works great together with the next two to make a great flowing end to the album. I honestly couldn’t recall what this track was until I started listening again to the album in earnest 4-5 weeks ago. Such a grower!
A few listens in, I like The Swing quite a bit. I already knew Original Sin, which is killer, but Johnson's Aeroplane, All the Voices and Dancing on the Jetty are all early favorites so far. The rest sounds good as well.
I've got no issue with "Face The Change" it chugs and struts along nicely but compared to the tracks around it (really, throughout the album), it's the weakest. Our guide Mark's description of it is pretty apt. My favorite parts of the track are the guitar lines after each verse and the way the energy slowly builds throughout. Not a great track but a decent one. It does work nicely as a lead in to the superb next track up.
"Burn for You" Single by INXS from the album The Swing B-side "Johnson's Aeroplane" Released 16 July 1984[1] Recorded 1983 Length 4:59 (album version) 4:26 (single edit) 6:09 (12" extended version) Label WEA Songwriter(s) Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss Producer(s) Nile Rodgers "Burn for You" is a song by Australian rock band INXS that features on the band's fourth album The Swing.[2] It was the third single to be released from the album and peaked at #3 on the Australian chart in August 1984, remaining there for two weeks.[3] 7" single Track listing 1. "Burn for You" M. Hutchence, A. Farriss[4] 4:46 2. "Johnson's Aeroplane" A. Farris[5] 4:39 12"/CD Maxi single Track listing 1. "Burn for You" (Extended remix) M. Hutchence, A. Farriss 6:09 2. "Burn for You" (Remix) M. Hutchence, A. Farriss 3:38 3. "I Send a Message" (Extended remix) M. Hutchence, A. Farriss[6] 4:46 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What a great single. Not my favourite song off the album, but probably my favourite single off the album. From an album perspective this was sequenced and joined to Face The Change beautifully. Then as a stand alone song, it really captured the imagination of the Australian public, and in my circles was the song we were talking about. The intro is superb. We get that explosion into some reverb and then this percussive, atmospheric thing going on, that could almost be the intro to a Peter Gabriel song, and as the atmosphere builds we get that wonderful melodic keyboard comes in and the kick lets us know that we are going to be changing direction really soon. Those drum accents work really well, and are probably a hook for me. The gentle guitar strums ... look to me this intro is just excellent. It's no use pretending That I understand The hide and seek we play with facts It changes our demand Tilt my hat at the sun And the shadows they burn dark Light me and I'll burn for you And the love song never stops I like the look in your eyes When you talk that certain way I love the day in the life When you know that lover's way Minding my own business When you came along Temperatures been running hot The fever was so strong Tilt my hat at the sun And the shadows they burn dark Light me and I'll burn for you And the love song never stops Don't stop it It's always an adventure The fantasies we make a fact Your the secret I desire I can't keep that to myself When we're not together It doesn't feel so bad We could be so far apart But our love's not sad It's no use pretending Cause I understand The hide and seek we play with facts It changes our demand Songwriters: Michael Kelland Hutchence / Andrew C. Farriss Burn For You lyrics © Universal Music Corp. Essentially a love song, but I like the way the lyrics are written. Again the bass and the drums are excellent. The guitar adds some nice textures, and the way the chorus comes in is a really rich sounding piece of work. I reckon it's great. The female back up singers worked beautifully, adding an almost gospel texture to the song. I suppose the synths sound dated to many.... and I suppose in some ways the bouncy stab of the little melodies are out of vogue these days, but I reckon it all just works perfectly. The little breakdowns between the verses and the choruses all add dimension and interest. When we come to the main change at about 3:28 it just sets the song off perfectly and we move into this whole other space. Again it is fairly simple, but it just works for me. This moves into a breakdown version of the verse, and then moves into a cool play out section and rolls into a nice percussive crescendo. I reckon this is an excellent song, and although my favourite single off the album .... probably my favourite three or four songs off here, aren't the singles..... Anyway, please give us your opinion on this track guys.
We will be looking at the 12" versions on Monday with the Australian version of Dekadance, but this is an alternate version of Burn For You from the 12" single
The b-side of the single was a remix of Johnson's Aeroplane, as was previously mentioned.... but I can't seem to find the correct mix..... whilst looking though I did find another couple of versions of the song, so I will post those, and hope that someone is able to share the single b-side version for us
I think I'm going to be an outlier on this track. Burn For You tries to be anthemic but misses the mark. The band doesn’t yet have the songwriting and production chops to pull off an anthem like this. This one just doesn’t work for me on any level. This album came out before I was aware of the band, so my thoughts are all after-the-fact. Until this thread I didn't even know which songs were singles.
Burn For You 5/5. Undoubtedly one of the best songs on the album. Love the moodiness. Along with the next song, they would hardly venture into these waters again. To me, it is not going for anthem. The song is just so strong it may sound like it. Don't think Michael or Andrew ever thought that way. The other week, I listened to this album again. Unlike some songs on the album, this did not sound dated to me. To me, it's a sound painting that forever changes in my ears.
Burn for You is my favourite INXS track. As Mark mentioned, the intro is great, it builds, turns direction then bam we are off! I really like the backing vocals of Jenny Morris on this one too. 5/5, and probably in my top 10 favourite songs.
Unfortunately & again, despite being a well-written song, the production of TS gets in the way of making Burn For You better than it winds up being, at least in a recorded sense. Regardless, there are plenty of strong elements throughout, including vocally and the crescendo builds in the intro and the amazing melodic choruses, as well as the aptly atmospheric interlude. BFY should be considered a classic INXS song and deserves a spot in their canon of greatness. As with most INXS songs, the live versions are better versions than the recorded ones, especially this one from the LLT tour... Johnson's Aeroplane's previously unreleased version doesn't provide enough swing to let the track grow and breathe properly. And it's very sterile and pedestrian. I'm very glad they didn't use this version on TS.
Johnson’s Aeroplane (alt. version released as a Bside) Not sure what to call this. It’s not a demo, and it’s not a remix. This is credited to Mark Opitz as producer, so I hypothesize its an outtake from the Shabooh Shoobah sessions. They didn’t quite nail the song, and I don’t think it would have fit on that album anyway, but this is still a fascinating recording. This version has LOADS of atmosphere. It lacks the string section of the album version, and maybe the drums are too loud, but that guitar is great and so are the sax bits. The spoken word voices heard in sections are a distraction, so it was good to get rid of them for the version released on The Swing. Another improvement is the change of the lyrics “a place to grow and reap” here into “a place to work and grow” for The Swing’s version. I like the album version better, but this has its own merits as well.
Burn For You As I said earlier, when discussing Original Sin, The Swing didn’t make INXS into superstars in the US but rather they seemed to step sideways a bit. After Original Sin came and went, I didn’t hear anything new from INXS until what felt like MUCH later. Burn For You got a lot of play on a UHF station in Chicago that took a stab at playing videos 24/7 for a while. They must have had a hard time getting rights to play a lot of the videos from popular superstar acts, but it seemed like the were playing a lot of videos from up-and-comers that the labels wanted to push. I heard this song a lot, and I really loved it. I like the album cuts a lot, but the two big tracks on this album for me will always be these two singles. Mark nailed the intro in his description: it always reminded me of something Peter Gabriel might use. It builds from the intro, and at first the verses always seemed like they were about to blow it, but the song is so positive and exuberant I can’t help but love it. Always have.
New to the thread, and to the site generally. Thanks for having me! Growing up in Sydney, they were inescapable of course. Just part of the cultural fabric. I would've been 14 or 15 when they started breaking internationally, which was really exciting. There'd been Men at Work I guess, and a few 'entertainers', but this was different. Australia's cultural pool was small at the time, so it felt - not that I'm especially patriotic when it comes to art - that we were emerging on a world stage. Saw them in Sydney touring Listen Like Thieves - the 'Si Lo Tienes Muevelo' tour, 1986. I really enjoyed it, but I was pretty close to the back of the Sydney Entertainment Centre, about 12,000 capacity, and my previous show there was Queen with Freddie, so it was comparatively muted (well, it would be). I've followed them since. Never considered myself a superfan, but an exchange on another online forum made me realise how much their music is part of my life. Loved The Swing at the time, and have returned to it recently with fresh ears and fresh admiration. Last week I found myself listening to it, alongside Midnight Oil's 10-9/Red Sails and Models' Pleasure of Your Company and marvelling at Nick Launay's production. I had a rough narrative in my mind that they only really found their feet with Kick, but The Swing feels, in hindsight, like when it all came together as a sonic identity. Or so I thought, until I was in Velvet Fog records in Katoomba a month ago and Shabooh Shoobah was playing. Picked up a sweet second hand pressing and, upon bringing it home, realised how cohesive and strong an LP it is. So, I think they really found their feet with Shabooh Shoobah
