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

Given a couple of the early comments, I'm surprised how much I like this song--its forward drive and Tim's excellent vocal. I may be overscoring this song after the slog we've just been through, but 4/5.

 

Not too interesting musically, but Tim sells it. 3/5 for me.

 

This is actually quite good. I'm rather surprised considering some of the the stuff that we've discussed recently which hasn't been to my tastes at all.

3.5/5.

 

"Long Hard Road" is a decent enough rocker and I can see why it was released as a single from the soundtrack album. It doesn't scream "hit" material, but it seems like a track that rock radio might have played a bit. The song is a bit too straight ahead for me to really get into, but I never mind hearing it when it comes up. I do like the faint acoustic guitars in the background on the chorus; I've always been a sucker for that sound on an otherwise electric guitar-led uptempo rock song.

3.4/5

 

I’ve always enjoyed “Long Hard Road”. It was a real joy back in 1990 to hear Tim and Phil together again on record.

3.5/5.

 

Our votes for "Long Hard Road"

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2-2
3-2
4-6
5-1
Average: 3.3909

 

Today's song is "Precious Time" written and produced Phillip Judd & Tim Finn and performed by both. Lead vocal is by Tim Finn with Phil singing lower harmony.
You can hear it here.

Phil Judd Tim Finn - Clyp

Like the last song, this was released on The Big Steal soundtrack in 1990 and was later released again on Other Enz in 1999. The Big Steal soundtrack has much better mastering.

You start out with nothing to speak of
And you end up with all the time in the world
I'm starting to (keep running hour?) -I have no idea what he's singing
So don't keep me guessing, let's make an early start
Let's make a move

Ooh, I wouldn't waste your precious time
And I don't need anybody wasting mine
When I'm with you, all we have is precious time

Come straight from the arms of oblivion
I"m counting the seconds that add up to days
I reach for the moment, the untouchable moment
I'm digging for treasure
I want it all and I want it now
But I can't tell you how

Ooh, I wouldn't waste your precious time
And I don't need anybody wasting mine
When I'm with you, all we have is precious time
OOh, won't you give me just a little of your precious time?
And I've tried so hard to make it on my own
When I'm with you, all we have is precious time

Yeah you gotta seize the moment
make it last forever
Oh, the moment
goes on and on and on and on and on and on

(synth solo)

I wake up and stare out at nothing
I wait for salvation to knock at my door
And I want it all yeah!

Ooh, I wouldn't waste your precious time
And I don't need anybody wasting mine
When I'm with you, all we have is precious time
All we have is precious time....

you have all my precious time
when I"m with you I walk the line
when I'm with you
You gotta seize the moment
Make it last forever

 

While "Long Hard Road" sounded very much like a Schnell Fenster/Phil Judd song, this one sounds like it has a much stronger Tim influence.

It's a fine song with a good melody with some very nice guitar work throughout it and I like the lyric which applies to all sorts of human relationships.

I wonder if Tim/Phil wrote it thinking about their own rocky friendship, which in an interview I read with Tim from about ten years ago he said was perhaps "cursed by bad karma from a past lifetime" -- referencing the fact that there is love there, but they just can't get along. (Apparently he and Phil wanted to work together, but Phil got angry when Tim recorded Imaginary Kingdom first.) But of course, it can apply to any human relationship. How often have I thought about the wasting of precious time in life when we argue about nonsense, or get into internet squabbles or whatever.

The song is so solid, well-crafted and even well-produced and shows a genuine, gentle heart (I think, despite being a trifle busy -- busy is what both of these guys do). 4.1/5.

 

This is a nice song, with a few nice touches. Perhaps it doesn't stand out against other Tim songs - and this sounds very much like a Tim song to me. It could have fit onto 'Tim Finn'. Though it wouldn't be a stand-out on that album. There are some nice arrangement/touches such as the bit before the synth solo. I'm not sure about the synth solo itself.

The lyrics are good, but again Tim has done better.

A nice song that's a good addition to the list of Tim songs.

3.2/5

 

Another good song—good melody, some interesting chord changes, and another excellent vocal by Tim. The groove here doesn’t grab me quite as much as “Long Hard Road”—it feels very much of its time, and I don’t care for the backing vocals in the chorus. Love the guitars in the outro, though. I would listen to this again without objection, though I don’t see myself seeking it out. That makes it a 3/5 on my scale.

Tim was on such an impressive run at this time (in which I include “Woodface”).

 

"Precious Time" is another song I really like. Very melodic, very catchy and terrific singing by Tim. The acoustic guitar in the background throughout the song is quite low in the mix but really adds to the song's mood. Like "Long Hard Road" I think the song works both as part of the soundtrack album and as a stand-alone song. The lyrics are quite good but don't move me quite as much as the previous song, where I felt it sounded like Tim was singing from the heart as well as singing lyrics written for a movie character's experiences. Here I think Tim and Phil didn't spend that much time working on the lyrics. It doesn't spoil the song for me but to me it doesn't work without the music. Still, this is a song I really enjoy and keep returning to.

4,3/5.

 

Better than some of the Manzanera stuff, but again pretty dated by the production.

An average song. 2.5/5.

 

"Precious Time" is another pretty good track. This one seems more like a Tim Finn song than the first one from this soundtrack does. This one also has those acoustic guitars in the background of the mix that I'm such a sucker for. It almost has a Mitchell Froom production sound, which is a good thing in my book.

3.4/5

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

3.4/5

 

This is ok, but I definitely don't like it as much as the previous one, so 3/5.

Also, did anyone else hear Spin Doctors' "Two Princes" in the little drum fill at the very, very beginning? Just for like a fraction of a second?

 

Our votes for "Precious Time"

1-0
2-0
3-5
4-2
5-0
Average: 3.4143

 

Today's song is "Tai Chi", written by Phillip Judd and produced and performed by Phillip Judd and Tim Finn. Lead vocal is by Tim Finn.

Tai Chi Phil Judd and Tim Finn - Clyp

"Tai Chi" was released on The Big Steal project in 1990, then later rereleased with brickwalled mastering on the Other Enz compilation.

Woodface tomorrow.

 

Try now, @Otis82.

 

It's a lovely piece of music, with some stately, Cure-like keyboards and a wordless, vaguely middle-eastern vocal from Tim. I really wish it were longer than 1.25.

4.3 out of 5

 

It is a lovely piece of music. The chords themselves would have been a bit boring, but that can often be appropriate for film music. Tim's vocal really makes this track. I would have preferred that it was longer and had more variety, but again as a piece of film music it was most likely composed for a purpose that specified the length.

Are there any other examples of Tim doing wordless vocals? (Cue someone posting an absolutely obvious track and me slapping my forehead in embarrassment.) I mean a whole track, not just wordless lines such as in Dirty Creature.

3.5/5

 

I think that will be his next project. The only thing I can think of is maybe "Wail"...although maybe he's singing "Wail" on that song. It sounds like "Way-oh", to me to me though. Which is not a word.

I think there may be songs from Steel City that might have some wordless singing ,but am not sure offhand. There are certainly a lot of instrumentals on that.

 

I am quite fond of "Tai Chi". It's really atmospheric with the ambient-ish keyboard and Tim's wordless singing and works very well as the closing track on the excellent The Big Steal soundtrack album. I do lack a bit of context though - I have only a very vague idea of what tai chi is and since I haven't seen the movie I have no idea how it fits in there which would probably make it even better.
3,8/5.

 

As we will start discussing Woodface songs tomorrow, I think it's worth mentioning the session work Tim and Neil did for other artists (mainly in Australia) in the period between Temple of Low Men / Tim Finn and Woodface. Back in the day, I'd usually check out the records they appeared on and how discovered some great artists and music that way. In this time period, with little touring during the latter part of 1989 and most of 1990, and with both of them living in Melbourne, they clearly enjoyed being a part of the community of artists there. Their session works were:

*Neil sings backing vocals on unspecified tracks on Hunters & Collectors' album Ghost Nation, released in Australia in late 1989 and in Europe and North America in April 1990. From what I've read, he is definitely on the track "The Way You Live" (one of the album's singles, the video clip is on YouTube), which I think is the most "CH-ish" song of the album, and I believe he is also on the track "You Stole My Thunder". The whole album is on Spotify (and can probably be found in bargain bins in your local record stores).

*On Pretenders' album Packed! (released May 1990), Tim and Mark Hart sing backing vocals on the track "When Will I See You". The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and engineered by Tchad Blake. The song itself was written by Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Marr.

*Tim and Neil both appear on the album Charcoal Lane (released in May 1990) by indigenous artist Archie Roach. The album was produced by Paul Kelly and Steve Connolly. Tim also appears prominently in one of the video clips, see below.

*Tim sings backing vocals on the track "Holiday of Planet Earth" by Japanese artist Mimori Yusa on her album Hope (released September 1990). On this particular track, the other musicians are Phil Judd, Eddie Rayner, Noel Crombie, Nigel Griggs and Schnell Fenster guitarist Michael den Elzen. Phil and Eddie play on several tracks on the album, and the other Schnell Fenster guys also appear on other tracks.

*Tim sings backing vocals on two tracks on Wendy Matthews debut solo album Emigré (released November 1990) which was produced by Ricky Fataar. One of the tracks, "Token Angels", has a connection thematically to a Woodface track, see video clip below.

*Tim sings backing vocals on the tracks "Stand Up (Love Is The Greatest)" and "I Call This Living" on the album Good Humour (released February 1991) by Stephen Cummings. The album itself is on Spotify and both of those tracks are on YouTube.

*Tim sings backing vocals on Yothu Yindi's "Treaty" (released June 1991) which was on their album Tribal Voice. The very good video clip is on YouTube. On their next album, Freedom (1993), Neil sings duet on the track "Dots on the Shells" which he also co-wrote so I guess we'll get to that track eventually.

*Tim and Neil both sing backing vocals on the single "Hey Boys" (released 1992, but recorded before Woodface was released) by Mark Seymour & Paul Kelly. This track also has Nick Seymour on bass and Peter Jones on drums. See video clip below.

(Before Temple of Low Men was released, Neil also sang backing vocals on a track called "Under A New Heaven" on the LP The High Lonesome Sound by Tim Scott. That album was produced by Mitchell Froom and features several of the session musicians who have also contributed to the first two Crowded House albums).

 

Here is the video clip (featuring Tim) of the song "Took The Children Away" by Archie Roach. Tim sings backing vocals. The autobiographical lyrics tells the story of how Aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their parents in the '50s. This was a government-led project in Australia in which the plan was that the Aboriginal children should be removed from their "primitive" families and raised by white (Christian) families (at best, many Aboriginal children were placed in orphanages). Archie Roach was two years old when he and his siblings were taken from their parents.

In 1991, this song was given a Human Rights Achievement Award, the first time a song has been awarded this.

 

“Tai Chi” isn’t really a song. It’s a fragment, a snippet of movie background music. It’s there to set the mood for what’s happening on screen; it’s very hard to evaluate as a standalone work. On its own, it’s certainly atmospheric, but I don’t find it terribly interesting. It’s inoffensive, so I guess I’ll say 3/5: I wouldn’t skip past it (especially knowing it was short), but I certainly wouldn’t seek it out.