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

My Song

Once again, Lance has posted first with a very similar opinion to mine. The lyrics sound like placeholder lyrics to me. I think they probably should be rewritten. The melody has that unusual 'Liam-ness' about it, which I'm getting more used to by participating in this thread. The arrangement is good, and like a lot of Betchadupa songs the distinctive backing vocals/harmonies add a lot to the song. The arrangement is good, though perhaps they've used that basic arrangement quite a lot.

For me the lyrics get in the way of the overall song more than (numerically at least) they did for Lance.

3.1/5

 

"My Song" (a reposte to Elton John's "Your Song"? ) is a nice ballad with a pretty melody and a sort of quiet grandeur. It's not a real standout, but it's good, especially Liam's multi-tracked harmonies (again, steering into Elliott Smith territory, but he can't help that his voice just sounds that way). I think the song loses steam once it gets louder; it might have worked better if it had just stayed softer throughout.

3.6/5

 

I hear bits of the melody to Long Drive Home in "My Song".

 

I like the melody and harmonies in "My Song". It's a nice layered sound. I think the lyrics are a bit meh and I was a bit bored with the song by the end. I could see me returning to this song and maybe having a different opinion as I think it might be a grower. It's quite catchy I just found myself tuning out a bit at the end (disclosure: I have not had coffee yet...)

3/5

 

My Song - Nice melody, great harmonies as usual, very good album track. 4/5

 

I don't know if I hear quite that melody but I know what you mean; there's a way the key changes behind the melody unexpectedly that might be similar in both songs. Liam liked these long drawn out notes in his ballads at this point in his career and Neil kind of did that with "Long Drive Home", too.

 

"My Song" shows off Liam's gift for quirky melody and has some nice, layered harmonies. That's the good. The not-so-good: there's not quite enough here to sustain my interest--even over the short 3:05, I found myself impatient for the end. And once again, the heavy, distorted guitars just grind me down.

2.5/5

 

It's like they can't help themselves, they have this pleasant ballad with some nice melodies and then they notice their guitars lying around doing nothing and get withdrawal symptoms and think they have to use them as heavy as possible. Yes guys, you've shown us this trick before, a few dozen times. Just let the melodies breathe for a whole song once in a while.

3/5

 

It's fine.

3/5

 

Our vote for "My Song"

1-0
2-0
3-5
4-3
Average: 3.225

 

Today's song is "Diversions", written by Liam Finn and produced by Nick Launay.

Diversions
Lyric.

This track has an apparently unrelated, untitled, "hidden" instrumental appended at the end of it.

 

This is a great song, a Neil-style shuffle that the band sounds good playing with a good vocal melody and some of the best, most interesting guitar playing Chris had yet displayed. While the song does build into a sort of explosion, it's definitely not your typical post-Nirvana binary quiet/loud thing that Betchadupa pulls all too often; no, I feel that it all makes sense and is somehow part of the overall composition. The band is really on top of their game here and Nick Launay has really helped to bring their strengths into focus.

I would have loved to see the band play this live. If they could pull it off like they had on the record it would have been really something.

AS for the lyric, it's not bad: a bit inarticulate but no worse than lots of things his father had written, and the words convey the melody well. Anyway, it seems to be a song about a girl met in a dream.

4.8/5

As for the untitled instrumental that follows: I'd like to know a bit more about it; it's an interesting little filler piece that I'll give a 2.8/5, if it indeed it is to be considered a separate song.

 

"Diversions" is quite a good song, with Neil's influence clearly apparent. It's nice to see that Betchadupa can depart from its well-established formula--the heavy guitars are kept under control here, and the song never feels like an assault on the senses. Liam continues to show a knack for interesting chord changes.

I think this one is genuinely good. 4/5.

I'm not counting the instrumental as part of the song--it's to self-consciously quirky to be really enjoyable.

 

The melody in the verses of "Diversions" reminds me of one of Liam's solo songs, possibly "Second Chance", although I actually prefer this song because Liam is singing much lower here than he does generally on his solo albums, and I prefer this to his higher, wispier vocals.

This is certainly one of my favourite Betchadupa songs (of which there are not very many).

4/5

 

Diversions

Hmm.... Usually I post earlier. I see that everyone loves the song. I think it's good, but in my personal opinion it's not up there with their best. It's got a good, but not exceptional melody.

The lyrics are interesting. Not fantastic, but tell a little story (true?) of Liams experience with someone he met.

I like the little hidden track.

3.3/5

 

I like this quite a lot. The lyrics are *just* behind where I'd want them to be to get into the "really, really good" levels on the scoring, but it's close. you can hear him drifting towards the sort of stuff he'd get to in his (largely excellent) first two solo albums.

3.9/5

 

Diversions - I like this song a lot, nice bouncy rhythm, great melody and the quiet part at the end is perfect. Liam's vocals are spot on, sounding really good here. One of my favorites.
oh, and the hidden instrumental is fun to hear, I love short little weird interludes like this.
5/5

 

"Diversions" is really good. One of the better Betchadupa songs IMO.

4.0/5

 

OK, Diversions is pretty darn good. I like the melody in this song and again I seem to be in agreement with @therunner - I definitely seem to hear elements of Liam's "Second Chance" in this song.
Easily the best song I've heard so far from this album.
4/5

p.s. the instrumental is kind of quirky and just sounds very different from everything else I've heard - would be interesting to know a bit more about it (was it going to be part of a song, or just goofing off and experimenting??)

 

Our votes for "Diversions"

1-0
2-0
3-1
4-5
5-2
Average: 4.125

 

Today's song is "Aiming for Your Head", written by Liam Finn and produced by Nick Launay.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0FSOTEQ7X3wfTGxszxVEnc?si=55AhkDlbRna-l1iIgtgusg
Lyric.

 

"Aiming for Your Head" is deft little rave-up, a sort of punkish power pop number that manages to sound light on its feet rather than brutally heavy; another rhytmically complex composition, otherwise, the song reminds me a little of early Weezer, which is better than the grungisms of much of their work. Kind of fun..

3.5/5

 

Aiming for Your Head

I agree that this is fun. It's got a sort of singalong melody, but with a slightly left-field feel that Liam's melodies often have. The arrangement is good. The backing vocals sound a bit Beatleish in places. The song is short, but I think that suits the song, and it doesn't outlive its welcome.

The lyrics don't say much. It's almost as if at this time Liam is mostly focussed on the music and isn't really focussing on the lyrics that much.

It is an enjoyable song, but to get near the 4s for me, the song needed more in both the lyrics and melody.

3.3/5

 

I got my True Colours 40th anniversary remix in the post today! Haven't listened to it yet, will report if it's brickwalled or not on the other thread. Also got the Prince Sign o'the Times super-deluxe box, so a good day: plus I'm home sick with cold so have plenty of listening time.

 

Let's all hope it's only a cold!!