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

“Secret Heart [home demo]” - I like this version, despite it clearly being of demo quality. The intro sounds exactly like the beginning of “Unused Potatoes” by Betchadupa, which I found kinda funny.

I like the effect on Tim’s voice here. I also really like the slow, dramatic sound of this version. Despite its sparse arrangement at times, and a few off pitch vocal spots, it’s a nice demo. I’ve always liked the released/b side version of this song, which is obviously more cohesive, but I wouldn’t rank this too much lower because of its nice, almost atmospheric vibe.

3.8/5

 

I love the B-side, it's one of my very favorites of Tim's many rare obscurities. So I'm not sure why he felt the need to re-do it (if this is indeed a re-recording and not an early 1990-1992 demo.)

Other than the fact that it was an obscurity and always deserved more prominence: it might not have fit the themes spiritual regeneration in Before and After, but he should have included it anyway. Or maybe he felt that the original lyric's snapshot of the lonely wistful woman didn't quite resolve like he would have liked.

But the fact is, I think the melody is gorgeous and I also like the feel of this demo, even though the sound has more than a bit of MP3 mud in it. It also sounds a bit more produced than Tim's 21st century demos, so it's a real mystery, but I assume it was something he was considering for The Conversation.

I like it, but it does not supplant the original for me: it's a proper freebie bonus track, though and a good one for that.

3.2/5

 

Believe there are 3 recordings of Secret Heart in all... a bouncy Before & After demo circa 1992, which had pretty much the same lyrics as the Persuasion B side, then this rewrite from 2007-ish. I may be remembering this wrong, but I think Tim was considering reworking it for what became The Conversation. I guess as songs for that developed, this one fell by the wayside.

It's an interesting, low key stripped back version of a very nice song. The switch from story/mood lyrics to being specifically about music is a little jarring, but that's probably due to me being more familiar with the original. This version's very short and abrupt as well, which seemed to be Tim's preference at the time.

Always liked the B side version, and this may have been a more intriguing take on it once fleshed out further. As it is, there's just not a lot to it in comparison.

3.5/5

 

Yes, you are right; the other one was never officially released and only circulates on bootleg: the Still Life demos.

 

Secret Heart - I guess reading the history of the song I'm not surprised that I also place it as being c.1993. There's just something about the melody line that seems to place it within that era of songs. That being said, I've not heard any of the other versions so I am in the position of judging this one by itself. I can see why it probably didn't fit in to The Conversation - not quite the same themes. But this sparse sound really does seem to suit Tim better than a lot of the over-produced stuff he has done.

I'm now intrigued by the other versions...especially since originally it was a b-side to Persuasion, one of my favorite Tim Finn songs from that era.

3.8/5

 

Secret Heart

This is a bit of a tricky one for me to evaluate. I sort of recognised the title, but haven't played the B&A b-side for a long time. Enough to have forgotten it.

The song sort of jarred with me on first listen - some notes didn't seem to quite work for me. Having played the song a few more times, I'm more familiar with it. And some of the unusual notes now make more sense to me.

Even at first listen I feel that while this is a good song, that there's a better one struggling to get out. A few changes here and there would helped. And, an arrangement that suits the song. The arrangement that's here is fine. But, it's rather straightforward and I think there could be more variation in the arrangement. Perhaps a rather unfair thing to say about a demo.

Tim sings it well, though I'm not sure his voice sounds any younger than The Conversation.

3.5/5

 

Is it me or does Tim's voice sound somewhat younger on this demo? Perhaps I'm thrown by the fact that this IS an old song that had already been released as a b-side. Either way, it's still good although I prefer the version that was released to this demo. I suppose only Tim can say exactly when this was recorded. Nice to hear this one again.

3.3/5

 

I have trouble working up much enthusiasm for this demo. In part I suppose that's because it's a demo--it feels unfinished. It's also afflicted by the occasional Finn disease of unusual melodic/harmonic combinations that feel rather forced (this disease seems to afflict Liam most, but Tim and Neil occasionally fall prey). Nothing wrong in the abstract with unusual chord combinations--music would be dull without them--but some combinations don't quite work.

It's okay.

3/5

 

I like this one! 4.2/5

 

Musically "Secret Heart" doesn't set my world on fire, but as someone who has profound emotional reactions to certain songs (there's a whole side of a classic Squeeze album that, when I hear it, makes me 18 and dealing with the travails of my first serious relationship all over again - Stefan and HitAndRun knew me back then!!!), I completely get the sentiment of the song and have to give it high marks.

4.3/5

 

Our votes for "Secret Heart"

1-0
2-0
3-3
4-6
5-0
Average: 3.6222

 

Today's song is "Every Good Boy Does Fine", presumably written and produced by Tim Finn.


This was another song that was released on Tim's now-defunct MySpace in 2008. There are two versions, actually: a simple demo, and a more produced demo. I've lost the former. But as I recall the two are the same song; there is simply more instruments in the second one. (synth, acoustic guitar, piano) while the former is only rhythm piano and voice. I believe this is probably a song that was considered for The Conversation, but probably not recorded further, but any information that might have accompanied the release is lost to time.

I can still hear your voice on the telephone
Telling me about your life
After school you became alcoholic
And all they told us was mostly bollocks

Every good boy does fine
As long as he's prepared to keep his head down
Not every good boy will shine
For some the years have not been so kind

I remember the sound of the ticking clock,
When we sat our exams
You and I fought the best in the country
But like the pony you had only one trick

Every good boy does fine
As long as he's prepared to keep his head down
Not every good boy will shine
For some the years have not been so kind

and you are no friend of time
And things did not get better

Every good boy does fine
As long as he's prepared to keep his head down
Not every good boy will shine
For some the years have not been so kind

Not every good boy does fine.

 

This demo is all right to listen to; and might have been developed into something special; but, the middle 8 seems particularly undeveloped, to me, though I get a thrill when it kicks in, it just kind of ends abruptly, as if he meant to do something more for it eventually. Utimately it's another decent MySpace freebie.

Lyrically, I'm not sure if it's quite complete either, but it is interesting: and seems to flash back to an old schoolmate and friend of Tim's whose life hadn't panned out as well as Tim's had.

If this is an early Conversation piece (heh) you can see how there may have been this nostalgic exploration of past relationships theme in its conception and how it would fit on that.

Anyway, I'm glad that it was released to the world, and wish that Tim had/would release more of these experimental demos.

2.7/5

 

"Every Good Boy" is pretty good and I think there was a quality song that might have come out of this demo. As is, it does fit in with the mood and feel of the songs on The Conversation. The lyrics have a certain amount of bitterness in them and I suspect that is why Tim set this one aside. The melody is very nice.

3.5/5

 

The simpler demo of Every Good Boy still streams on Tim Finn Songs

A nice but unremarkable melody with some unusually caustic lyrics. Tim didn't seem to enjoy boarding school much, to put it mildly. I like the piano instrumental in the fuller demo and it has potential, but at only 2 minutes it certainly would've needed some fleshing out.

2.5/5

 

That's the one I have!

 

Every Good Boy

I was a bit concerned about how to react to this as I thought that once again people would be giving it 4s and 5s and my score would be lower. But, I see low scores already.

Listening to this song, I started thinking that while I'm a great fan of Tim, and have grown up with Finn music from my mid teens when I first became aware of them (now festooned with grey hairs), I'm not sure I have a great need for more Tim songs that are more of the same.

The lyrics of this song don't work well for me. Perhaps it's because I'm an educator and I am slightly pained that people say that everything they learned in school is b*ll*cks. Then those same people go around falling for conspiracy theories and completely fail to understand exponential numbers and what they mean for pyramid schemes and the spread of disease, and are unable to properly understand and balance the risk from vaccines compared to the risk from the disease, etc. Etc.

Depicting someone who left school being told about their bright future and things didn't go well. That in life there are winners and losers. That is a good topic for a song. But, I think these lyrics are considerably unfinished and they lack the subtlety and poetic touch that would tell such a story.

The verse melody is fine. The chorus is good. But, Tim has huge numbers of songs equally so good. It's interesting to hear this, but I don't listen to his albums often enough that I'm pining for something new. Hence, unlikely some other acts who created less product, there's less need to hear something new. Particularly when it's a bit more of the same.

Overall the melody outweighs the crude lyrics for me a bit, so I'll rate it as 'good'. But, no more than that.

3.0/5

 

OK, earlier, I posted about the Reverbnation version; not the piano/acoustic guitar demo. Which I thought I had lost but I actually had. I also prefer the piano acoustic guitar demo to the Reverbnation demo, despite the voice being a bit ragged and even more of a demo quality to the sound, Ill raise my vote to a solid 3/5.

 

I think the lyric is very undeveloped, (which I see you agree with) but I don't think that Tim is saying that exactly; and it doesn't jibe with things I've heard.

Everything I've heard indicates that Tim actually quite enjoyed his time at the Boys' school, he was a model student, captain of the rugby team, involved with the theatre, won poetry awards, won talent competitions, and made lots of music with the Chunn Brothers.

It was in university when he rejected the establishment, after meeting Phil Judd: I think that "all we learned was mostly bollocks" is the attitude is that the subject of the song (and Tim) had when they were callow youths during the anti-establishment late sixties.

And to some extent back then it probably could have been true in the sense that the "other side's story "is rarely told: I remember Tim saying in interview, for example, that he had never learned about Te Whiti (the subject of "Parihaka", as I'm sure you know) in school: and I guess that that's probably the kind of "bollocks" he meant.

I think he's using taht anti-establisihment attitude as a springboard into the present when he looks at his friend and realize he fell foul of addcition (the dark underside of the counter culture.) And I also think Tim is saying "there but for the grace of god go I".

But it's pretty underdeveloped, it's just a demo, clearly.

 

Every Good Boy - I feel like there is a good song contained in this demo. The melody is good and the verse is catchy (even if I don't love the lyrics per se). But I'm also not quite sure what it still needs - I hesitate to say it needs more instruments and production because in general a Tim song would probably be better as a stripped back version. Maybe it's the lyrics - they are pretty bleak, and I mean bleak, not melancholy.

I'm not quite sure how to score it - I guess 2.9/5 because I hear potential but it's not a finished song.

 

"Every Good Boy": there might be something here, but the song is clearly unfinished, and what's there isn't terribly promising. The melody is okay but unremarkable, and the lyrics are bitter but without genuine bite. It's fun in a sense to hear Tim's cast-offs and unfinished work--it broadens our sense of him as an artist. But as a song, "every Good Boy" isn't very good.

2.5/5

 

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't contributed to this thread in a while. I received some devastating news a few weeks ago. My husband, (I'm a gay man) whom I've been with for nearly 20 years, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It has been incredibly difficult to deal with and we've both been feeling a great deal of depression, anxiety, shock, etc. ever since we got the news. I really just haven't been in the mood to listen to music much, and certain songs can set me off crying. I have still been following this thread and others, which I enjoy immensely, and will be back at some point although I don't know when.

 

I've definitely noticed your absence and I'm so very sorry for what you and your husband must be going through, one of my worst nightmares. I can only imagine what it must be like and even my imagination is pretty horrific. I wish you both strength in this very stressful time.

 

I can't bring myself to "like" your post, but I have noticed your absence as well. I am so very, very sorry to hear this. Losing a loved one to death is terrible whether it comes by surprise in an instant or after a prolonged illness. I wish I had words of comfort to offer you.

 

I'm very sorry to hear this. Do what you need to do, and don't forget to look after the living as well. We, and the music, will be here when you're ready.