Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, Jan 21, 2019.

  1. Otis82

    Otis82 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Near perfection.

    Alex Acuña plays percussion on this track.

    “Love This Life” was a fixture of Crowded House set lists in 1989. Since then it has been played regularly, albeit that being around twice or three times per year, with 2014 as an exception when “Love This Life” was played 14 times.

    4.8 / 5
     
  2. dthomas850

    dthomas850 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    "Love This Life"
    One of my absolute favorites! This to me is Neil at his best, and love this uplifting message.
    5/5
     
  3. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    "Love This Life" is just a wonderful song. It has so much melodic richness to it and the arrangement is simply sublime. The lyrics send a powerful message, even if I don't quite follow all of the individual lines. The combination of the relatively optimistic lyrics and the bittersweet melody make the song far more than a "Don't Worry Be Happy"-style anthem to positivity, as if there is tacit recognition that even life's best moments will inevitably be counterbalanced by periods of sadness and despair, and that to truly love life, we must embrace both equally. The only officially released CH live version (aside from "instant live" or fanclub discs) appears as a bonus on the deluxe edition TOLM reissue. It was recorded in April 1989 in Los Angeles (same source as the "Byrdhouse" tracks, I believe) and was first issued on a fanclub disc before being commercially released on the TOLM DE. It's a solid version that doesn't differ too much from the studio version. I probably prefer the live version from Sydney in August '88 that was included on the State of Mind fanclub CD. It has a richer, fuller sound for some reason. I don't know if they had an extra musician on stage for that show or not, but it just seems to sound fuller. In any event, the album version is the definitive one for me.
    4.7/5

    The home demo that was released as a bonus track on the deluxe edition reissue of TOLM in 2016 is fairly well developed, I'm assuming that Neil played all of the instruments on some sort of multi-track recording setup. It's obviously just a rough draft for the final version, but it's quite listenable in its own right. 3.2/5 for the demo version.
     
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  4. Jaffaman

    Jaffaman Senior Member

    Yes, the home demo was recorded on 4-track cassette with Neil on all instruments.
     
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  5. StefanWq

    StefanWq Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallentuna, Sweden
    "Love This Life" is a truly wonderful track. Both musically and lyrically it balances melancholy and optimism, giving the song a realistic but ultimately uplifting feel. The verses suggest some kind of conflict with the "you" person, though perhaps the narrator is actually adressing himself, tired of being grumpy, complaining and not realising how many great things his life also contains.

    I think Neil's guitar playing here is stellar and really makes a great song incredible.

    Crowded House only ever did four gigs in Sweden (in 1986, 1991, 1994 and 2007) so I'm glad they played this song at the 1994 show. Swedish radio broadcast about an hour from this show and included this one. A friend transfered the cassette recording onto CD-R, which I have a copy of. Love it!

    5/5.
     
  6. StefanWq

    StefanWq Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallentuna, Sweden
    From the June 1988 fan club newsletter, here are the band members' comments on "Love This Life":

    Neil - "Self explanitory really. A bit of irony in there... 'Love this life, don't wait till the next one'. You can defeat any enemy by having a lust for life."

    Nick - "This song to me is about enjoying being in Melbourne. The first LP finished its run, sold all it was to sell and it was an incredible hectic year and we were just relaxing. I had a little motor scooter, which I still have and I was zipping from home to rehearsal each day and I remember just thinking that this was a fantastic existance."

    (There are no comments by Paul about this song)
     
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  7. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "Love This Life":
    1-0
    2-0
    3-0
    4-5
    5-9
    4.5143
     
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  8. Otis82

    Otis82 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Near perfection.

    Alex Acuña plays percussion on this track.

    “Love This Life” was a regular part of Crowded House concert live performances in 1989. During 1990 - 1995 it was played occasionaly. Neil Finn plays “Love This Life” regularly but not often.

    4.8 / 5

    (Sorry, I forgot to press “enter” last night)
     
  9. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "Sister Madly" written by Neil Finn.


    Spotify: Sister Madly
    "Sister Madly" features a guitar solo by Richard Thompson (musician) - Wikipedia
    "Sister Madly" was released as a single in some countries and charted 66, 92 and 26 in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, respectively. (According to Wikipedia.)

    "Sister Madly" was a mainstay of their live show, manifesting as a manic, comic number that highlighted the band's zany sense of humor.

    Live versions were released on
    • B-side to "It's Only Natural", 1991
    • B-side to "Locked Out", 1994
    • On the bonus live disc for the Recurring Dream compilation, 1996
    • On the Farewell to the World live album from 2006
    • On the Temple of Low Men bonus album from 2016
    • On Live on Trocadero (grey market release from 2015)
    • and Room at the Top (grey market release from 2019
     
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  10. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

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  11. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Actually, I think you posted this last night. Your post is the first post on the page!!! Maybe you've ignored yourself. :unhunh:I saw your post, anyway, and your vote has been counted.
     
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  12. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    "Sister Madly" is, to me, one of the lesser songs on the album. In fact, it's probably the only track on the album that doesn't really have any substance to it that I can discern. For that reason, it seems like it might have fit better on the first CH album than on TOLM. Musically it is enjoyable enough and Richard Thompson's guitar contributions are very much appreciated. But the song never really takes off, mainly due to the nonsensical lyrics (apparently inspired by sharing a room with his sister as a child; I suppose that the lyrics could have been intended to evoke a dream/nightmare state in which nothing makes any literal sense). I can't really take the song very seriously, even though the melody has a decent hook and the uptempo shuffling beat is appealing. I suppose they needed a grooving track to break up the flow of Side Two of the original LP, so this one got the nod. "Sister Madly" was released as the fourth single from the album in Australia, but I think just the second in the UK/Europe. It was not released as a single in the US at all. At home, the b-side was the album version of "Love This Life". In the UK/Europe, the 7" b-side was the album version of "Mansion in the Slums", with the 12" and CD singles adding to this the excellent live version of "Something So Strong" from Philadelphia '87 that had previously been issued on the US promo "World Where You Live" single and the UK 12" "Something So Strong" single. The single didn't do much in Australia or the UK, but did sneak into the top 30 in NZ.

    When played in concert, this song has often been an opportunity for the band to stretch out and interject some comedy or goofing around to the set. While this made for memorable experiences AT the show, it can become somewhat tedious when listening at home. There's a good live version from Newcastle, England on March 2, 1992 that was first released as a b-side on the UK "Weather With You" single and then later included as a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition TOLM reissue (although the joke that Paul tells at the start was grafted onto the end of "Love This Life" from LA '89 on the bonus disc for some reason!). There's another extended live version on the UK-only Live At The Town & Country Club promo album, recorded in November '91, in which they go into a coda of "This is Massive' right afterward, which makes sense as the two songs share a similar sound. Another strong live version features as a b-side on the UK "Locked Out" single, recorded in London, November '93. Nice piano plucking from Mark Hart. Lastly, an elongated version from Portsmouth, England, also November '93, features on the live bonus disc that came with the 1996 Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House compilation. This one probably runs on too long for my preferences, but it does illustrate what the band typically did with this number when performing it live.

    While I might like this one a bit more than "Kill Eye" from a musical standpoint, it doesn't seem to have any substance at all, unlike that earlier track on the album. These are clearly the two least impressive songs on the album, but I probably appreciate the artistry of "Kill Eye" more than I do "Sister Madly". Don't get me wrong, they are both quite good....but just on a lower tier than the other 8 songs.

    3.8/5

    The studio outtake version (seemingly a compilation from a few different takes and associated studio chatter) that was issued as a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition reissue of TOLM is amusing the first time, but doesn't bear up under repeated listens (and probably wasn't really intended to). I'll give this outtake version 2.0/5.
     
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  13. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    From the sublime to the ridiculous. Sister Madly is poor filler at best; that it became a live staple in place of other, far far better songs, is a crime against entertainment.

    To be honest, it's a fun enough throw-away. An excellent B-side. But to issue it as a single? To play it live every night? Sure, they had fun with it and it was a chance for Hessie to come down the front of stage and have a laugh. But, wow, this song really did find a way to rise above it's station. A blot on an otherwise perfect side of vinyl. 2/5.
     
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  14. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I really have to separate the live version of "Sister Madly" and the studio version of "Sister Madly." Although the same song, the former is an example of Crowded House's improvisational musical humour and spontaneity (not to mention a great showcase for Mark Hart's jazzy piano skills). Although, after hearing a few versions, it does verge on schtick, and, yeah, I get sick of hearing live versions of it. (I have about ten live versions in my library.)

    Whereas the studio version is a dark take on fame itself. I have to disagree that the song is nonsensical.

    I feel "Sister Madly" is the song where I feel Neil most explicitly gets at the heart of his mixed emotions of the "Love & Success" he had at last found after Crowded House hit it big.. "You're headed out to be someone, someone you've imagined in your wildest dreams...someone that you've seen on a magazine..."he sings.

    This is juxtaposed with the constant reiteration of "all the people that you're standing on", reminders of the failing commercial fortunes of his friends in Split Enz (especially Tim). Finally, there's the recurring image of a child (based on a childhood memory of Neil's sister) screaming in her sleep.

    It all paints of a picture that adds up to a rejection of the culture of greed and the cult of success and fame that was so celebrated in the 80s and perhaps the opulence of Western Society in general: as we are all standing on the heads of the less fortunate in the world. (That this was an issue that was winding Neil up at the time is clear from the Bourke biography, as Neil's post TOLM holiday involved working as a volunteer at a refugee camp in Africa and apparently for a short period in 1989 seriously considered becoming a monk!)

    But the song isn't so simple and judgemental as that: there is humour and lightheartedness in it's very rhythm and the utter joy that Richard Thompson's guitar solo brings sets the darkness of the subject matter in relief. The strange combination of upbeat swinging neo-rockabilly and the mixture of fear, guilt and disgust that the lyric conjures up makes this one of the most interesting songs in my opinion: as if the joy and humor in the music feeds the guilt underneath the surface which simultaneously feeds the drive that leads to the success the song rejects.

    So, while I actually enjoy many live versions, the studio version is a totally different animal and to me is definitive. I also feel like this song is the most immediately likable of all the songs on the album. I mentioned above that in my market, "Sister Madly" was on heavy rotation on the local "rock" station, I suppose because of the guitar solo more than anything else, even though, apparently it was not released as a single in the US.

    I give the studio version a 4.7/5 and the live versions a 3.5/5

    (I haven't talked about the rehearsal take included on the deluxe set, which is interesting enough as a snapshot of band interaction but rather inessential. I'd probably give that about a 1.7/5).
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2019
  15. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.K.
    I actively disliked this song when I first heard it, but my feelings have calmed somewhat.

    It is catchy and I understand why it became a live favourite. On the other hand, the lyrics are a little throwaway and feel less than inspired. Neil obviously doesn't always employ traditional rhymes, but I think the downside of that is that when the words are not so impressive that it can stick out even more.

    The group (or the record company) released far too many singles throughout their career and this should have been left as an album track or, more probably, it would have been fun b-side.

    2.5/5.
     
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  16. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Interesting take on this one. I've certainly never viewed the lyrics of "Sister Madly" as anything other than a sort of jumbled up nightmarish nursery rhyme about his childhood memory of his sister's bad dreams. Has Neil ever commented that this song is about his feelings concerning fame and success? It seems like an odd topic to which to devote several songs on an album.
     
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  17. D.B.

    D.B. Forum Resident

    I like Lance's take on this song, which I'm a fan of. I also find the original studio recording to be my favourite, it's concise and just right. 4/5 for me...
     
  18. jimbutsu

    jimbutsu WATCH YÖUR STEPPE

    This song doesn't have any meaning to me at all, and whatever narrative I usually concoct from song lyrics is absent here, but I also don't skip it when it's playing and sing along as often as not, so it's got me in some way...
    4/5
     
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  19. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I don’t know, I just know I’ve always interpreted it that way, and really am a bit surprised that others don’t: I see it as the least ambiguous song with this theme on the album. Just goes to show how differently minds work, I suppose.
     
  20. PJayBe

    PJayBe Forum Resident

    Sister madly, pleasant enough and nice to hear The Blessed Richard (copyright June tabor) deliver a tasty solo. Never really grabbed me though, so a 3 from me (on an album where most people's 3's are probably a 4!!).
     
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  21. BeSteVenn

    BeSteVenn FOMO Resident

    I loved Sister Madly the first time I heard it, especially for the Richard Thompson guitar solo (I was a huge RT fan at the time). My opinion of the song has steadily declined over the years, and while I don't think it's a terrible song, it's feels like a story I've heard too many times and am just not interested any more. Considering how few song we got from Neil at that time, I'm glad we got it, but it does sound/feel more like a b-side, as @Turk Thrust says. On the other hand, its lyrical theme does fit in perfectly with the very personal struggles Neil was examining throughout the album as @Lance LaSalle points out, so it belongs on the album. 3.5/5
     
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  22. dthomas850

    dthomas850 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Sister Madly seems, like others have said, like b-side material. Probably my least favorite Neil Finn song.
    2/5
     
  23. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    Lance's take on the lyric is interesting, and I think it holds up under scrutiny. That said, the song still comes across as a lark, a throwaway. And the lyrics, whatever meaning they carry, seem haphazard. That's okay when the band is improvising in live performances; it's less enjoyable in an album track. Not bad--I much prefer it to "Kill Eye" and "Mansion in the Slums"--but not particularly good either.
    3/5
     
  24. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    There are certainly many interpretations of this song up above. I find it quite interesting to see how different people interpret the song in different ways.

    I find it a fun song, with as normal for this album an undercurrent of darkness. Perhaps Neil was making an analogy between his actual experiences with his sister and the situation he found himself in, or something.

    I like the walking bass line, reminding me a bit of Strait Old Line.

    On the album, it provides a bit of contrast to the more seriously arranged songs.

    Overall:

    3.6/5
     
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  25. Otis82

    Otis82 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    "Sister Madly" is an odd addition to Temple of Low Men. It could have been a song with a similar reputation as "Recurring Dream" or "Left Hand"; a non-album track, which fans would long for at concerts in anticipation for diversions into other songs or non-musical antics. I understand the performances in concert brought out the fun and spontaneous side of the band. Because of diversions during the song live recordings of "Sister Madly lose their novelty after the first or second listen, but I fully understand the song's value in an actual live performance.

    On the album the song kind of sticks out. Like "Kill Eye" it doesn't fully fit within the atmosphere of album, altough in a different manner. The lyrics on the surface like a semi-stream-of-consiousness set of random words. Some of the words in the chorus allude to Neil Finn's experiences in his youth involving his sister waking up after having nightmares. Several lines in the verses have to do with succes and a feeling of guilt. Neil Finn sings about his own succes and adopts a "Hollywood star accent" when singing the word "baby". The musical style is somewhat jazzy music hall and is likely used to camouflage the serious undertones in the lyrics of guilty feelings for being more succesfull than your peers.

    "Sister Madly" is one of the band's most played songs in a live setting. It was introduced in concert in early 1987 and remained a set fixture for several years. When playing this song live Paul Hester always played it with brushes on a snare drum and cymbal at the front of the stage. The picture of Neil, Paul and Nick (with Paul standing in the middlde) to me is an iconic image of Crowded House. Tellingly, the band seldom played "Sister Madly" live after Paul's departure in April 1994. This was likely due to Peter Jones' abillities with playing brushes, but perhaps more because the song had become so closely associated with the Neil /Paul / Nick at the front of stage image.
    At the "Farewell the World "concert in November 1996 Peter Jones and Paul Hester played "Sister Madly" on stage together.
    Crowded House with Matt Sherrod have played "Sister Madly" about 15 times between 2007 and 2016.

    3.5 / 5
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2019
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