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

Someone made a good point earlier about the role reversal on this album with Tim suddenly supplying the more commercial-sounding songs (while still composing meaningful lyrics) while Neil temporarily trades his usual role of hit writer in exchange for becoming Captain Artsy. And this song is a terrific opener for Neil on the album. Love the arpeggiated opening guitar riff that continues through the song, the cool melody, Nigel's funky bass work and Eddie's usual "atmospherics".

IMO, the opening two songs alone already qualify it as their best album. And the song quality stays high from here.

 

'Giant Heartbeat' is about as close Neil Finn ever got to progressive rock - fantasy lyrics, epic sweeping feel....

 

“Giant Heartbeat” isn’t one of my favorites on the album, but it’s still a good song. Love the jangly riff that repeats throughout the song. I have no idea what the song is about, however.

3.6/5

 

Yeah, not one of Neil's better moments but not a disaster either. 3/5.

 

I love "Giant Heartbeat". The moody vibe with it's undercurrents of anger and emotional oppression, the weird, proggy arrangement; I think Neil, Rayner and Griggs all excel on this track -- Griggs with his chugging bit juxtoposed with lovely melodic bits, it's got one of Neil's best, edgiest guitar solos and the synths sound like nothing I can remember Rayner doing before.

The lyric is nonsense, like many of Neil's lyrics, but I like the way they somehow manage to convey the visceral emotion of the song, even as their meaning is utterly elusive: they connect with me on a musical and emotional level, just not an intellectual level.

4.4/5

 

A solid album track, but nothing more than that. Fairly repetitive.

A low 3/5.

 

I really dig giant heartbeat, but I only REALLY love it on LP. It's a travesty that this album doesn't have any digital version (that I have anyway) that can touch the old vinyl.
4/5

 

I guess I suffer from not having ever heard it. I think I had a vintage 82 cassette in the late 90s, which sounded terrible, and now have a digital copy which is not the 2006 LOUD master.

 

Stop it, you guys. You're making me want a day off (more than I usually do) to get this thing needledropped!

 

Our votes for "Giant Heartbeat":
1-0
2-0
3-2
4-4
5-0
Average score: 3.83

 

Today's song is "Hello Sandy Allen", written by Neil Finn.


"Hello Sandy Allen" was also releassed as a single, with the aforementioned "I See Red (live)" on the B-side.

 

"Hello Sandy Allen" is another one of Neil's "power pop" songs with heavy guitar and thunderous drums, in much the same mode as "History Never Repeats." But it doesn't really sound like it's an attempt to rewrite that earlier hit, it's just mining the same rich vein. Lyrically it concerns Neil's meeting Sandy Allen, who, apparently was the world's tallest woman. If you google "Sandy Allen" you will find a photo of Neil and the humongous Sandy Allen smiling at the camera.

Not the deepest song in the world, lyrically, perhaps, but it fires my imagination and I like to think that what he's really singing about is the pressures of success, and the absurd and hollow victory that being at the top constitutes.

Musically though, the stuff is great: a real rush of rockin' power pop energy; from the eerie synth sirens at the beginning to the tasty guitar work from Neil to the amazing thunderous drumming near the end. Drummer Noel Crombie really shines here and it's a great little hard rockin' song.

I give it another 4.4/5.

 

I love "Hello Sandy Allen" musically, but the lyrics definitely throw me a bit. This has to be one of the heaviest rock tracks that the Enz ever did. It's a strangely constructed track, starting with a heavy guitar instrumental intro. Then we have the first verse, followed by what one would assume is the chorus -- except that we never hear it again. Then we have a repeat of the guitar intro, followed by a quieter section with echoey guitar jangles (my favorite part). Then the volume rises and we have the second verse. Instead of going back into the chorus, however, the song just goes into an instrumental jam and then fades out. Not exactly how hit singles are drawn up (although it was only released as a single in NZ).

Overall, another winner. 4.3/5

 

When I first heard this song, I thought it was a bit goofy, but it grew on me and is worth a solid 4/5

 

I love Hello Sandy Allen. I don't find the lyric to be an issue: it talks about the difficulties of people who aren't or who don't feel like they are "normal". It talks about the pressure of fitting in; something I can relate to. Neil talks about the parallel between the Enz literally putting on a mask before each show, and Sandy having to put one on metaphorically every time she stepped out in public and had her "abnormality" become the definition of her as a person and something that dominated her life. For those who don't know, she passed away a few years ago.

The song gets a full 5/5 from me.

 

3/5

The lyrics are too simplistic for my tastes and they do detract a lot from the song.

 

Hello Sandy Allen is a favorite of mine. The instrumentation is brilliant. Everyone really shines. Noel most especially.

I love everything about the song.

5/5.

 

As I stated earlier in this thread, Noel did a terrific job as a drummer on this album...very energetic and creative. There was no reason for them to move him back to percussion so soon afterwards and bring in Paul Hester. Noel was as good or BETTER than Hessy. I have also found at least one old Enz documentary where Noel didn't sound happy about being replaced.

 

I agree with you about the lyrics--to me, they are thoughtful and remarkably touching. On the one hand, they begin as a straightforward description of a real-life encounter, but end up opening up to different levels of meaning if one chooses to look for them. I can't give the track a 5 because the music doesn't stand out to me that much, but I think the lyrics help to elevate it to a 4 for me.

 

I'm genuinely surprised at the lack of love for the lyrics of Hello Sandy Allen. Of course, I don't expect everyone to love them but I always thought of them as genuinely interesting. Neil was, what, 25? when he wrote that song. Most people that age would have just gushed about meeting someone famous, someone in the Guinness Book of Records. Neil, however, seems to have taken more from the encounter - and been more intrigued by it and her - than one might expect. And I think the lyric is actually quite touching in that he seems to want to send her a message of support, wishing her well. Possibly, the first public example of Neil's now-well known graciousness and class. Maybe the lyric is a little clunky and straightforward in places, but I also find that to be an attraction: better that than some eloquent but dehumanised prose.

 

Agreed 100% on all counts.

 

Our votes for "Hello Sandy Allen:

1-0
2-0
3-1
4-4
5-2
Average Score: 4.24

 

Today's song is "Never Ceases To Amaze Me", written by Tim Finn.

"Never Ceases to Amaze Me" was released as a single in August 1982. The video features several animals and Tim Finn's wondrous hair.

 

One of Tim's only weak cuts on this great album. I actually like the clever lyrics, which continue the album's theme of facing inner struggles and personal demons. But I really don't like the music, which is very rare for me with a Split Enz song. I don't think the "fairground" motif in the arrangement works and the overall presentation seems too lightweight and fluffy to jibe with the more serious lyrics. And the accompanying video is as bad as the one for Dirty Creature was good.

 

I love this. It is quirky Enz, old style and I always thought it was great 4.5/5