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

The difference between this and the finished versions of the song are so dramatic that I wonder if this is more of a writing session...Perhaps Neil is just improvising the verse over the groove and the actual writing went on later.

It certainly doesn't seem "written" the way the chorus is.

 

For Your Inspiration, I'm not sure how I should rate it. To me, it just sounds like bits of songs that I know from elsewhere. I'm a bit fan of 'I Walk Away', and the chorus/refrain is here. If I'd never heard IWA or CCO, then I would rate this 3/5 as while you can hear it wasn't on the album, the chorus/refrain saves it. I'm between 2-3/5, and I think that because these bits of songs were better used elsewhere:

2/5

I've listened to a few minutes of the fan club record, but I have to go out now. If Split Enz had ever done a covers album, they could have really Enz-ed up 'Summertime'. I see that I've listened to seven minutes of it - that's more than most. interesting, historically, to hear that Tim is on it. A loveable little boy, Liam, has been born, we are told.

EDIT: I seem to have listened to pretty much all of the fan club record now. Is the AC/DC (seeming) parody at the end a real AC/DC song, or is it an improvisation or something else original? EDIT: Oh, it's a Cold Chisel song.

 

True. Here's my reasoning: I've thought a lot about it and decided to include some of these demos here rather than after See Ya 'Round was simply because I decided that songs like these that were complete and clearly developed into other songs are worth speaking about on their own merits...and I think if we discuss them after See Ya 'Round, it will be a little less interesting conversation. It's a way to see how the albums develop.

I'm also going to include the Tim Finn See Ya Round demos here too, mainly just so that See Ya 'Round is Tim-free.

Other outtakes ("Overdrive, Serge") will come afterwards.

I think the fact that Paul comes onboard here (on this thread) does make this approach a little awkward, I suppose. But I think in general this method won't be too awkward.

I plan to do the same thing with the Crowded House stuff. If a song or demo is a significantly different to the finished product, (like "Hole in the River"or "Something So Strong"), I've decided it makes sense to talk about it before we talk about the album proper. Other versions that are little more than snippets or are just early takes I think we can just talk about whenever it's appropriate without rating them by themselves.

 

Now you are tempting me...

 

It's a Cold Chisel cover.

 

Makes perfect sense. I was mostly just recognizing that few great collaborations in music start out fully formed. It’s logical that Paul’s first recordings with Split Enz would have been on tentative demos like this one. As I remember reading, it took forever for the band to actually ask him to join. He kept being asked to rehearsals and it was a long drive from Sydney. He finally just had to ask if he was in the band or not.

 

Ever since listening to “Your Inspiration” this morning I’ve had “The Emperor’s New clothes” by Sinead O’Connor stuck in my head.

 

I like Your Inspiration as it is. The funkyness is welcome and those familiar bits are just great. Imagine this song as one that was part of a longer piece that includes those later songs that contain these fragments. Put them all together on an album and it would work really well, like some sort of rock opera where their common themes drift in and out of all the songs. That would be fun playlist and you would soon get lost in the themes and not in the songs.
3/5 for Your Inspiration.

 

Our votes for "Your Inspiration":

1-0
2-3
3-3
4-0
5-0

 

Today's song is "Love and Success" written by Neil Finn.


Another demo from the See Ya 'Round period originally released on Rear Enz, the CD collection of odds and sods that was included in the 1991 box set that collected the latter half of Split Enz' career.

Elements of this song, combined with elements of "Your Inspiration", would make their way into "I Walk Away" on See Ya 'Round and Crowded House.

 

I didn't like the verses of "Your Inspiration" at all, but quite liked the chorus. And here, it's the opposite. The verses, while clearly unfinished, are pretty nice, melodically; but the chorus is ordinary and rather drab musically for me. The lyric is all right.

Of course, Neil obviously thought so too as he combined the verse of one with the chorus of the other in the end; some thing we'll be seeing him do a lot in the future.

As for this song itself, well, of course it sounds like a demo...maybe even more so than "Your Inspiration", what with the chintzy synth horns and the repeated lyrics. However, the melody in the verse is such a winner that I rate it a bit higher than "Your Inspiration", and I'll give it a 2.3. The higher vocal in the verse is supposed to sound like Tim, but for some reason (mainly, my ears) I think it's actually Neil attempting to sound like Tim.

One thing both demos have in common is they are really funky; new drummer Hester seems to have brought that element out in Split Enz; either that or Neil Finn was really getting into R&B himself, perhaps in the wake of Prince's meteoric ascent in 1982-1984.

In the end, as with the last song, this is a very interesting glimpse into Neil's painstaking process of writing a song.

 

I like “Love and Success” much more than “Your Inspiration”. It sounds more complete, even if the chorus isn’t up to the melodic quality of the verses. It’s still not a patch on the eventual finished product “I Walk Away” (either version), but it’s quite listenable.

3.2/5

 

As with Your Inspiration, Love and Success is mainly interesting for its role in shining a light on the songwriting process, much like the early version of Fall at Your Feet that was issued on the Woodface deluxe. It's not a great listen in itself but intriguing. Another generous 3/5.

 

I've read the comments above and very much agree with them. As I said before, I really like I Walk Away, and the verse and prechorus are pretty much complete here. The 'Love and Success' chorus isn't as good as the final one, but it's not awful. The production is OK.

As with 'Your Inspiration', I'm looking at the 2-3 range. But, this time I'm going to go for:

3/5

As I don't do fractionals, there may be a bit of me balancing out the 2/5 I gave Your Inspiration to achieve a global level of fairness. If this is against the rules it may happen that Lance will tell me off

 

Global Levels of Fairness: I think that sounds like something from a Bernie Sanders speech. (In UK dialects of English the word for Bernie Sanders is Jeremy Corbyn, if I'm not mistaken.)*

At any rate, we should all be striving for that, so there will be no chiding on my part, only full support and admiration and my donation to your campaign fund will soon be jetting your way.

*I originally wrote Hunt, because all Jeremies basically look the same to me.

 

Not a demo that I would rush to listen to again, but the potential in the verses is clear.

2/5.

 

Our votes for "Love and Success":

1-0
2-2
3-3
4-0
5-0
Overall score: 2.7

 

Today's song is "Big Heart", written by Tim Finn.

Like the previous two songs, this was a demo recorded in April 1984 with new drummer, Australian Paul Hester. Unlike the two previous songs, this sounds more or less finished, other than a lyrical line or two, and doesn't seem to have been developed into anything else. Tim left the band sometime after this so I assume that it was never re-recorded. It was released on the Rear Enz compilaton from 1992 which was included in the first box set of the Enz albums.

 

"Big Heart" has a lovely melody and goes down pretty smoothly; a nice pop song. It's comes off as love song, but I've always heard it as being addressed to God, the one Tim "comes to for inspiration".

A bit uncharacteristic, I guess, but the song works for me. The verses seem a bit more demo-y in regards to band arrangement, but the melody is solid. The minimal drumming contrasts wtih the busy bassline, but the lush sounding keyboards are subtle, and the middle 8 is nice. IN the end, this is an unusually listenable demo. It doesn't really sound like Split Enz, though; more like another solo route for Tim Finn.

It's interesting that both Neil and Tim included "inspiration"as themes in these two songs.

I'll give this one a 3.4, it's something I like listening to, as compared to the last two which is more of an academic exercise than anything.

 

"Big Heart" is catchy enough and I could have seen it on a Tim Finn solo album, but it doesn't sound much to me like Split Enz. Perhaps if Tim had remained in the band, they could have worked it up into a more Enz-y arrangement. Paul's drumming is so metronomic here that it sounds like a machine. I'm a bit surprised that Tim didn't take this one with him and use it on his second solo album, as I do think it had the potential to be a hit. Overall, though, it's not really my cup of tea so I'll give it a 3.3/5.

 

Another song I had to go back and listen to. But enjoyable enough for what it is. 3/5.

 

I agree that it sounds more finished than the other two demos. It's a nice song, but sounds to me something that would fit on Escapade or even more so The Big Canoe. The arrangement doesn't sound finished to me, and I would expect more. Is there any guitar on it at all? The drums are metronomic as Robcar says, and more could have been done. The bassline isn't so basic, but I still think Nigel would have had something better for a final arrangement. It's OK, and very listenable.

3/5

 

There is definitely some understated acoustic guitar on the choruses... perhaps even two. Mixed pretty low, though, more a texture than a sound.

 

Hmmm... I've listened again, carefully, and can hear a bit of a rattling sound, but I'm not sure if that isn't piano. It's probably one of those things where once it's pointed out, it's clear.

Concerning religious inspiration, was Tim already a Buddhist by this point, or did that come later? EDIT: Some research suggests that he formally adopted Buddhism much later - but there are hints that he was on a journey in that direction from much earlier.

 

I think the Buddhist thing came later, post-Woodface, but I don't know for certain.