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

I really like "My Legs Are Gone" and think it's one of the very best of the bonus tracks on the deluxe editions. It has an aura of mystery about it and the keyboard sounds contribute a lot to that. The chorus is excellent too, very catchy. There is a lot happening in the music here, but it never gets too busy for its own good. This is a track I've returned to many times since the deluxe editions were released. I think this track should have been on an album back in the day, but in a way I can understand why it was left off "Woodface" - Neil/the band/the record company possibly felt they had enough mid-tempo songs as it was, especially after the original version of the album and the Finn Brothers songs merged. It baffles me though that it didn't even make it onto "Afterglow". The only reason I can think of is that Nick was strongly against it as it was recorded without him.

By the way, can anyone explain the song's title to me? Obviously English is not my native language but is this a slang expression or something like that? The lyrics for this song makes no sense to me, it seems more like random lines thrown together.

This excellent song gets 4,4/5 from me.

 

Well, "legless" is a mostly British idiom (and probably Australian/New Zealand, too) that means "very drunk", which connects with the "left on the barroom floor" line., But the song still doesn't make a whole lot of sense even if you know that.

 

StefanWq makes a good argument for the song's merits, but I find myself unpersuaded. Not saying he's wrong, just that different people react differently. I find the lyrics uninteresting and occasionally awkward. The music is mildly catchy, and at one point I hear a resemblance to "Way Back Down," the Finn Brothers song from the Visconti sessions that didn't make it onto "Everyone Is Here," and a song that I like very much. But here the melody seems too fragmentary and undeveloped. For a less interesting band, this could have been an adequate album track. But this is Crowded House.

I'll say 3/5, though that's probably generous (I'm trying to avoid decimal points).

 

I’ve been a casual CH fan from the beginning and a serious one from 1991 on. I saw the band live in 1994 just before Hester quit. To be honest, I found some of his stunts and behavior odd, occasionally discomforting, and somewhat distracting from the reason I was there - to hear the music. I think his personality was a double-edged sword. It contributed to a lively, spontaneous atmosphere at the gigs but sometimes destabilized the band, both onstage and off.

Anyway, I had no issue at all with the revival of Crowded House for TOE. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I didn’t even know or pay attention to the fact that much of the album had been recorded as a solo NF effort before the decision was taken to reconstitute the band. It sounded like CH to me and that’s all that matters (for me).

 

"My Legs Are Gone" is one that I really like. No, the lyrics don't make a whole lot of sense to me, which is a stumbling block, but I enjoy everything else about it. I think this one could have fit in well on Woodface, even if there's no song on that album I would replace it with. I had heard this song sometime in the 2000s (it was first released in 2001 on the I Like It Rare comp of material from various Enz offshoots) but always thought it was called "Caught on a Bad Day". I think it should have made it onto Afterglow, but am glad it finally made it out more broadly as a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition reissue of Woodface. I like the instrumental outro - it has a nice atmosphere to it.

4.0/5

 

I really like My Legs Are Gone. I sent away for "I Like It Rare" just to get that one song, and it didn't disappoint. Until the excellent ending, it has a looser feel than many of their studio cuts, like a live in the studio cut. That it's a loose studio recording makes it all the more valuable to me.

I think it's another song for Sharon, he references "dawn", her middle name, and his leglessness (if that's a word) is because he's so in love. He can't do anything but "tell you I love you". It's my interpretation, I may be wrong, but I'm sticking to it.
4.5/5

 

Another song that had potential, but needed more work. The lyrics are a little too gibberishy for my liking.

3/5.

 

When the band were recording the song, it was indeed called "Caught on a Bad Day".

 

New numbers for Dr. Livingstone:

1-0
2-1
3-2
4-6
5-1
Average: 3.68

 

Our votes for "My Legs Are Gone"

1-0
2-1
3-3
4-3
5-2
Average: 3.5889

 

Today's song is "I Love You Dawn", written by Neil Finn and produced by "Crowded House" (i.e., Neil Finn.)

Spotify: I Love You Dawn

"I Love You Dawn" was originally released in 1999 on the Afterglow collection. It was also released as a promo single for Afterglow in some territories. It was not on the original pre-Finn Brothers Woodface.

At the time it came out in the USA Afterglow was accompanied by an interview disc on which Neil stated that at the time he thought the lyric was a little too direct (his wife's name is Sharon Dawn; but now (i.e., in 1999) he thought that it would have fit very well on Woodface and should have been on the album.

Neil Finn and Crowded House both have performed this song in concert, even as early as 1992 (at the Newcastle Jam concert in Newcastle Australia.)

 

"I Love You Dawn" is the best song from these early Nick-less sessions, if you ask me. It's got a lovely melody and a simple lyric that manages to be playful, loving and yet touches on melancholy with some depth:

Beneath the billboards and the hordes
Magazines and rock awards
We can't afford to pay our bills
The day is long and the nights are cold
Just a song to warm your soul
I don't want to see you cry

Despite the fame and success that he had found, life remained full of financial stress and worry: bigger paycheck, bigger bills.

What I like about this song and maybe many of these songs from this period, is that they aren't wallowing in the same angst as Temple of Low Men. He seems to be moving on from that.

Maybe it was the trip to Mozambique that put things into perspective and led to this simple song: in a way, a celebration of the every day. In that sense it sort of reminds me of some of the McCartney songs from the early seventies, or Brian Wilson's Friends from 1968.

But it's the music that really gets me: not only the melody, but the lovely playful yet melancholy bassline (Joe Somebody?) and that sort of Bach-like middle part with the pianos. It's just gorgeous music, underpinned by the gentle drumming and capped Neil's delicate, simple lead vocal.

5/5

 

I think I'm the only one who uses this phrase, so perhaps you need to send me your royalty account details and I'll just put down a deposit. Apologies for the lack of original and descriptive prose. I'm having to keep up with this thread by mostly posting first thing in the morning (this is being typed at 06:48 local time). Not at my most lucid at that time, usually.

 

I Love You Dawn: yes, this is lovely. Understated, and all the better for it. The melody to the section Lance quotes is beautiful. I'm not sure I can rank it up there with the very best of CH, so I'll give it a miserly 4/5.

 

Legs Are Gone: I like Steven ordered the cd to get that one song and really enjoy its wackiness and typical Neil tunefulness. I think Steve’s interpretation of its lyric is spot on. 4.3/5
Dawn: The section quoted by Lance is my favorite part. The verses are too simple and repetitive melodically for me, almost innocent really, which no doubt was what Neil was going for in his open declaration of love. I saw him sing it to her in NYC, looking up towards the main spotlight that she was working. I got the feeling he had messed up earlier in the day with her somehow and was trying to get out of the doghouse! We shall never know (damn good strategy if so, you would think).
3.5/5

 

Truth be told, I'm not very big on rock songs written as odes to family. Oh, I can find some exceptions to this if I were to think hard about it. Certainly there are some brilliant ones (Bruce Springsteen's "Living Proof" comes to mind), but, on the whole, it's not subject matter that's very "rawk and roll, baby!". One of the things that has always struck me about Neil is his devotion to his immediate family and the degree to which he has incorporated them into his music, either as subject matter for his songs or as musicians and collaborators. It's pretty unusual and, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure whether it has proven to be a good thing or not (judged solely from the standpoint of my enjoyment of his music; obviously it has been a good thing for him personally, which is what he rightly prioritizes). On the other hand, it's probably what most good, balanced people who also happen to be successful musicians do as they age and mature. Rather than continuing to exist within an isolated boys' club of extended adolescence, they figure out how to incorporate their significant others and their children into their working lives as touring and recording musicians. I think this is one of the reasons I hold such respect for Neil (and others like Springsteen, McCartney, etc.) - they seem to be essentially normal people in this way.

That said, both some of Neil's best and worst work (in my estimation) has been borne out of this close-knit familial environment he exists within. "I Love You Dawn" is an example of neither extreme, but, still, it's a song I've always struggled to like. Something about it just seems too sticky sweet and, for that reason, I'm quite glad it did not make the cut for Woodface as it would have represented a bit of a black spot on that (essentially perfect) album for me if it had. This isn't to say, however, that I dislike the song. It's catchy, hummable, and quite melodic as it bounds along in its jaunty manner. It's good. It's just not the avenue of Neil's songwriting that holds great appeal to me and it isn't a track I ever seek out to play. When it comes up on Afterglow, I usually think "oh, this is a nice little tune" but it doesn't resonate or stick with me afterward in the way that songs like "Anyone Can Tell" or "Time Immemorial" do (big ratings coming for those!).

3.5/5

 

I Love You Dawn is a nice song, but as someone pointed out the verse melody is a bit simple. But, the chorus (or at least: b-section) is lovely, and it could have been on Woodface. I wonder whether, if the song had gone further, that Neil would have changed the chorus a bit.

The song could easily have been on Woodface even in its current state. However, which song would it have replaced? I can't think of a song which would lead to a better album. I think part of the problem is that it's musically a bit similar to Fall At Your Feet, and I think including FAYF rather than ILYD is the right choice.

As mentioned previously, the song initially appears to be quite simply lyrically, but it has hidden depths, particularly the bit quoted above.

4.0/5

 

Hope you're all tuned in right now to Fangradio. Neil's taking requests via Skype. Just covered Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and "You I Know" on acoustic guitar.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, I was asleep. I saw notice of this yesterday, but the timing was not exactly eastern US friendly..

Did he play “I Can’t Get Started” for his dad?

 

i missed it too: working.

 

Yes:
Bunny Berigan - I Can't Get Started
Bunny Berigan - Marie
Neil Finn - Faster Than Light
Ella Fitzgerald - I’m Just A Lucky So And So
George Harrison - If Not For You
Count Basie - Open the Door Richard
Neil Finn’s Cornucopia of Flowers - lotus (flower review)
Neil Finn - Wicked Game (live by request)
Neil Finn - You I Know (live by request)
Neil Finn - Into Temptation (live by request)
Neil Finn - Lost Island (live by request)
Neil Finn - I’m Only Sleeping (live by request)
Neil Finn - Sinner (live by request)
Ella & Louie - Can’t We Be Friends
Neil Finn - Catch the Wind (live by request)
The Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love
Crowded House - 2 Minutes of Silence
Neil Finn - Alone (live by request)
Louis Armstrong - When It’s Sleepy Time Down South
Neil Finn - Across The Universe (live by request)
Neil Finn - Won’t Give In (live by request)
Neil Young - Birds
Ella Fitzgerald - These Foolish Things

The archived session will hopefully be online tomorrow.

Edit: have inserted You I Know, which Neil played on acoustic.

 

“I Love You Dawn” is a lovely little song, uncharacteristically simple and straightforward for Neil, and, yes, it’s nice to hear him sounding so content after all the angst of TOLM. It might have fit in “Woodface,” although the natural place to slide it in would have been in place of “All I Ask,” and that would have deprived Tim of his moment (not that he took advantage of it).

Not a classic, but a pleasant little tune, and refreshing o hear from Neil.

4/5

 

I'm working I hope that it will be available to listen afterwards. If I remember correctly, it will be.

EDIT: Yes!

For those listening: enjoy!

 

I Love You Dawn is a simple and direct baring of the soul and I like it. If I recall correctly he wrote it as a response to Sharon's reaction to Into Temptation (Sharon: "What was that about?") It seems to me several of his songs in this era are a little more transparently pulled from his own life, and most of these personal songs didn't get released until later on Afterglow and the deluxe editions.
4/5

 

This is a good, pleasant tune that I don't know if I ever actively seek out, but it isn't something I skip when it plays, either. It's just really calm and enjoyable.
4/5