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

Always loved the Billie Jean version - it was on high rotation when I first heard it and it turned up on "lockdown" as I sorted out some of my CD collection - on a blank disc someone had burned for me with various curiosities on - have enjoyed listening to it again and agreed, it is fun - 4/5

As for sexual healing - yeah, never really got into that. 2/5

I did enjoy Neil working himself through various covers on the recent FangRadio run - some belters in there, including Prince, Bowie and the Kinks amongst others - Jaffaman has curated a whole archive of them on Fangradio — Neil Finn - as well as doing a brilliant job of patching together "best bits" recordings for when the Finns were otherwise disposed - mainly recording the new CH material!

As an aside - I can also confirm that "Dave's Serious Chicken Soup" recipe that is detailed on the website is really good - my son made it for me on Fathers Day!

 

Those can be streamed in all sorts of places too, just in case we here haven’t got enough Finn music to listen to.

 

Kudos to Neil for being willing to do these "stunt" performances live on the radio. "Billie Jean" works pretty well, I think. 3.1/5

As for "Sexual Healing", it's less successful but, on the whole, certainly not bad. 2.9/5

Both of these are quite listenable, which is somewhat surprising given the overall concept.

 

I must say I disliked both those songs' original versions, and hearing Neil sing them does nothing to improve them. I'm reminded of Richard Thompson's 1000 Years of Popular Song, where he takes on dreck like Britney Spears' "Oops I did it again" with no chance of improving it. (Of course there are better songs on that album.) It's just slumming, and I don't find it humorous or ironic. There's good songwriting, and then there are calculated hits written by formula. These two fall in the latter category. I'll refrain from rating them as they are not NF songs.

 

Our votes for "Billie Jean"

1-1
2-1
3-3
4-5
5-0
Average: 3.05
Our votes for "Sexual Healing"
1-1
2-4
3-3
4-1
5-0
AVerage: 2.005

 

As we all Know, shortly after the release of One Nil, Neil did a series of charity-related concerts with band of well-known musicians from April 2nd-6th, 2001;and several months later, an album culled from those performances was released, in November 26th, 2001.

.It was credited to Neil Finn and Friends. The band was included

• Neil Finn – vocals, guitars
• Tim Finn -vocals, guitar, piano, drums
• Ed O'Brien – vocals, guitars
• Johnny Marr - vocals, guitars, ukelele
• Lisa Germano – vocals, keyboards, violin, guitar, ukelele
• Sebastian Steinberg -- basses
• Phil Selway, drums
• Eddie Vedder - vocals, guitar, ukelele
• Paul Jeffery – keyboard,organ

In addition, some old Split Enz songs were played by Betchadupa.

• Liam Finn – electric guitar
• Chris Garland – electric guitar
• Joe Bramley – bass
• Matt Eccles – drums

The album was released on both CD and DVD, with additional songs (and better mastering) on the DVD. It charted at #5 in New Zealand and, er, at #140 in the UK.

The CD version

1. Anytime (Neil Finn)
2. Take a Walk (N. Finn) lead vocals: Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn
3. The Climber (N. Finn)
4. Loose Tongue (N. Finn, Jim Moginie)
5. Down on the Corner (Johnny Marr) -Johnny Marr
6. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (Morrissey, Marr) Neil Finn
7. Paper Doll (Lisa Germano) Lisa Germano
8. Turn and Run
9. Angels Heap" (N. Finn, Tim Finn) Finn Brothers
10. Edible Flowers" (N. Finn, T. Finn, Eddie Rayner, Nigel Griggs, Noel Crombie)
11. Stuff and Nonsense (T. Finn)Eddie Vedde and, Tim Finn
12. I See Red (T. Finn) Eddie Vedder, Tim Finn & Betchadupa
13. She Will Have Her Way (N. Finn)
14. Parting Ways (Eddie Vedder) Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn
15. Weather With You (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
16. "Paradise (Wherever You Are)" (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
17. Don't Dream It's Over (N. Finn)

The DVD version:

1. Fall At Your Feet (N. Finn)
2. Anytime (N. Finn)
3. Hole In the Ice (N. Finn, Lisa Coleman)
4. Paper Doll (Lisa Germano) Lisa Germano
5. Last to Know (N. Finn, Wendy Melvoin)
   
6. Down on the Corner (Johnny Marr) -Johnny Marr
   
7. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (Morrissey, Marr) Neil Finn
8. Private Universe (N. Finn)
9. Parting Ways (Eddie Vedder) Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn
   
10. Driving Me Mad (N. Finn)
11. Loose Tongue (N. Finn, Jim Moginie)
    
12. She Will Have Her Way (N. Finn)
    
13. Turn and Run (N. Finn)
14. Take a Walk (N. Finn) lead vocals: Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn
15. The Climber (N. Finn)
16. Angels Heap" (N. Finn, Tim Finn) Finn Brothers
17. Edible Flowers" (N. Finn, T. Finn, Eddie Rayner, Nigel Griggs, Noel Crombie)
18. Stuff and Nonsense (T. Finn)Eddie Vedde and, Tim Finn
19. Four Seasons in One Day (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
20. Suffer Never (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
21. Cry Wolf (L. Germano, Jay Joyce, Malcolm Burns)
22. History Never Repeats (N. Finn) Eddie Vedder with Betchadupa
23. I See Red (T. Finn) Eddie Vedder, Tim Finn & Betchadupa
24. Paradise (Wherever You Are) (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
25. Weather With You (N. Finn, T. Finn) Finn Brothers
26. Don't Dream It's Over (N. Finn)

 

Today's song is "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr; performed by Neil Finn & Friends. It's a cover of a Smiths song from The Queen Is Dead in 1986.

Spotify: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

This was released as a promo single in some markets.

 

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

It's a nice song, done very well though fairly faithfully. Neil seems to have put in some effort to sing the song near to how it was done originally.

Sometimes it's hard to separate the music from those who originally wrote it. But, if I do so, this is a beautiful piece of music.

So: 3.8/5

 

The song is one of the most iconic songs of the eighties, and Neil does a really good job singing, his relatively simple phrasing delivering the song and melody well. The chiming guitars help make it go down smoothly. A highly competent cover of a fantastic song.

4/5

 

This is one of those very rare cases where the cover actually manages to achieve the unthinkable: it betters the original. This is, as the advert used to say, class in a glass. 5/5. Neil officially has taken ownership of this song.

And here I was, just doing my best to enjoy life when, suddenly, it turns out I'm 50! How did that happen? Clearly, centuries ain't what they used to be.

Keep smiling everyone

 

Happy birthday to you!

 

I would have loved to have had a full length collaboration between Neil and Johnny Marr, much as Try Whistling This was a collaboration with Jim Moginie or One Nil was with Wendy Melvoin. Seven Worlds Collide and the two tracks on Time On Earth suggest how special an album like that could have turned out.

It's nice to have this cover version, having Johnny play on it (and on the other Seven Worlds Collide performances) is a treat.

4/5

 

Yeah, that would have been cool.

 

There Is a Light - I adore the Smiths. It’s hard for me to get into this cover version because Morrissey’s voice singing it is so ingrained in my head. Having said that, the band assembled here does a great job with it, and Neil does a good job as well - even though Neil is not the Eeyore that is Morrissey, so it rings a little false to me.

4/5

 

I think of Morrissey as more of a heffalump, but point taken.

 

“There Is a Light” is one of the highlights of this fantastic collection. Unlike @brownie61, I was not a huge Smiths fan back in the ‘80s, so Morrissey’s original vocal is not deeply ingrained in my brain, so perhaps I’m more open to Neil’s version, which to my ear carries more innocence and vulnerability. I find this an excellent rendition of a terrific (if rather overwrought) song.

4.5/5

Happy birthday, @Paul H!

 

Observation: Europeans I know think this song is funny, including my wife. Americans don't tend to see it that way.

 

Lyrically, the song doesn't suit Neil at all but he just owns the performance. I really love this version even if it's perhaps less idiosyncratic than the original.

 

"There Is A Light" is my favourite of all Neil's covers, and I think one big reason is that it has Johnny Marr playing on it so you have the link to, and authenticity of, the original. I would guess that only a very small percentage of covers have one of the songwriters actually playing on the cover.

It is also a favourite because it brings back memories of my first Neil concert in 1998 in Manchester when Johnny Marr joined Neil for this very song. You can imagine the reaction from the audience in the home town of The Smiths.

5/5

 

The 7 Worlds Collide: Live At The St. James album credited to "Neil Finn & Friends" is a very strong live album, aided immensely by the presence of a stellar group of musicians. It's probably the Neil Finn-involved live album that I've listened to the most over the years, even more so than any of the Crowded House live releases. It's recorded and mastered well and I think because it contains so much material that is not included on other live releases, it seems fresher to me when I play it. To me, the versions of "The Climber" and "Anytime" here are definitive. It's also great to hear strong material from other members of the collective, especially Johnny Marr's excellent "Down On The Corner" (not the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic). The version of The Smiths' "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is very good. I will admit to being very dismissive of The Smiths back in the 1980s. They were being forced down my throat by college radio DJs (and one of my roommates) and I wasn't having it. It wasn't until much later that I realized the error of my ways. I'll admit to never really listening to the lyrics of this song until hearing this live version - very darkly comical and, yes, quite overwrought (but that's Morrissey for you). Neil does a good job with it.

It was also nice on this album to get a preview of the eventually forthcoming Finn Brothers album with the performance of "Edible Flowers". The DVD version contains a few extra tracks, a couple of which were only released on CD as b-sides to various singles from One Nil. The others remain exclusive to the DVD, including a very good version of "Suffer Never".

4.0/5 for "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
3.9/5 for 7 Worlds Collide: Live At The St. James

 

Elton John's "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" comes to mind - but I agree, not very common at all.

 

The Madness cover of "It Must Be Love" has Labi Siffre in the video with a violin, but I don't think he is on the song itself.

 

I'm giving this post a 5/5 because I never thought I'd ever see anyone else point that out...

 

Screw it - I'ma give the song 5/5 too. It was going to be at least 4.something, but I'm in that kind of mood today. This is REALLY GOOD version of a REALLY GOOD song.

(seriously though, I've never heard anyone else mention Labi Siffre in the "It Must Be Love" Video... the highlight of that video for me is how happy he looks to be there)

 

"There is a Light" - I was heavily into The Smiths in the 80's and this track is, of course, one of their best. Neil & co. do a great version. Love it>
4/5