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

Our votes for "Breaking My Back"

1-0
2-0
3-3
4-6
5-1
Average score: 3.77

 

Today's song is "I Walk Away", written by Neil Finn.

"I Walk Away" was released as a single in September 1984, with Eddie Rayner's "Overdrive" as the B-side. It's reached #45 and #13 on the Australian and New Zealand charts, respectively.
It was also drastically re-arranged by Neil and MItchell Froom and covered by Crowded House on their debut self-titled album in 1986 and featured on the 1985 live album The Living Enz, as well as on some comps.

Earlier we heard demos of songs that eventually were developed into this one ("Love and Success", "Your Inspiration").

 

"I Walk Away" is kind of the happy sequel to 'The Devil You Know" which was a sequel of sorts to 1979's "Give It a Whirl". ON "the Devil You Know", Neil faces the future and the concept of change with trepidation; here he's gone a step forward. He is taking the leap off the symbolic cliff that filled him with yearning and fear and now he is elated, accepting that change is an inevitable part of life and that there is no room for nostalgic regret.

While it can be applied to any relationship that ends, here, of course it is about the disbanding of Split Enz and the new stage in Neil's career. The optimism and brightness of the song is palpable; we haven't heard Split Enz have this much fun since Time and Tide.

In a few weeks, we'll discuss the cover from Crowded House, but in my opinion, the tension-filled angry outburst of the 1986 version really stands in contrast to the optimism of this one....two years later, before he had broke in America and probably getting deep in debt, I think that the optimism had been replaced again by anxiety and fear.

4.5/5

 

Like many, I first came to know I Walk Away in its CH incarnation. That version is definitive. By comparison, the Enz version seems like an attempt at laying down a serviceable demo. The arrangement is too smooth and just doesn't quite set the song on fire in the way that the later version does. It's surprising to me that Neil would revisit this of all Enz songs for CH. Surprising that he would revisit any Enz song, but clearly he felt that an opportunity had been missed first time around. I give this version a 3/5. The song deserves - and will get - more.

It also surprises me to see how poorly the song did on the ANZAC charts. I always assumed the Enz were ANZAC musical gods who bestrode the charts like an Antipodean Beatles. To find one of their singles failing to break the top 40 is a real eye opener. By this point, it seems, the Enz really had fallen out of favour.

 

Would be helpful to see the top ten of the ANZAC charts for that time, anybody know where I can access those? Because to me, "I Walk Away" is great, but doesn't seem like a single that exactly leaps off the speakers compared to the smashes of this era.

 

I love "I Walk Away", but I tend to agree that the original 1984 Split Enz version lacks something when compared to the 1986 Crowded House recording. There's an edge that seems missing. The basic kernels of the song are there, but I don't think the Enz really captured the mixed emotions of the song here. As Lance indicated, this version seems almost too giddy, without the tinge of regret that marks the later version. The opening of the track sounds like the sped-up beginning of one of those MGM musicals from the 1930s/40s, with the dramatic swelling strings. I do enjoy the jangling guitar on this version.

For those who are interested, "I Walk Away" was also released in the 12" single format in AUS/NZ, and in addition to replacing the non-LP 7" b-side with the album version of "Doctor Love", the 12" single also included an extended version of "I Walk Away" on the a-side, in keeping with the fashion of the time. You can hear it here: Neil Finn - The Kitchen Sink IV — Neil Finn

I quite like the 12" mix, with the breakdown in the middle and the extra percussion. It's not overly "eighties", as some of those extended mixes from that period seem to be when heard nowadays. There's nothing in it that is essential and the album version is the "proper" one, of course, but this particular extended mix isn't embarrassing at least. It's the only extended 12" mix that Split Enz ever released (Crowded House would have a couple of their own that we will get to eventually - one very good, one very bad).

3.9/5

 

I always loved this one since I first heard it. I just think it's great and will let my score do the talking:

5/5

 

Thanks for the link @robcar . A couple of of the effects are a tad bit silly but the middle bit with the percussion that you've mentioned is pretty cool, maybe a bit sloppily edited, but I like it.

 

Listening to this song again now,the first thing that strikes me is how amazingly pedestrian the drums sound.

Otherwise though I kind of prefer this to the later version which I think is a little overcooked.

3.5/5.

 

For me, this version seems a bit overproduced and still a bit frenetic. It is not weird like old Enz, but still kitchen sink. 3.5/5.

I saw an interview with Neil speaking of why The Mullanes. One reason he stated was about not having to sound like the preconceived notion of Split Enz. Since he remade this later, maybe this one is an example of those constraints.

 

My impression is that Neil is a bit dictatorial when it comes to his music and the members of Split Enz were a bit too talented for that. Crowded House was a more malleable tool; less virtuosic, more emotional. I always think there is something a bit stiff about Neil’s songs with Split Enz. I think that worked for Tim’s songs, but never felt quite right with a lot of Neil’s songs.

 

Geez mate, this is the kind of post that one has to be thankful for coming across on these forums. You wrote better about this song and its context than professional writers have done. Obviously, I totally agree with everything - this is exactly where I Walk Away is at, and so true about the different delivery in 1986. Glad you expressed it all so well!

 

I find this version of "I Walk Away" far better than the CH version, more enjoyable.
5/5

 

Rounding up to a 5/5 for this one for purely nostalgic reasons. I hunted high and low for this album for quite some time about 30 years ago, and this was, for a while, the only track I had from it thanks to the video compilation.

 

I first heard I Walk Away on The Living Enz album in 1985. I stumbled on the record while browsing The Attic record store in Millvale, just a few miles from downtown Pittsburgh. I had no idea the album existed (or that Split Enz had broken up).

I loved the song on first listen. Eddie’s soaring, swelling synth that opens the song still excites me. The SYR version is excellent, but The Living Enz Take is my go to. The 2 earlier demos that were the basis of this song served their purpose well. I Walk Away is powerful and poignant.

5/5.

 

Yes - someone else agrees with me on this. I actually find the Crowded House version somewhat bland and more like a demo even though it was recorded later than this one. The Split Enz version has a fuller arrangement and I like Eddie's keyboards on it...especially the "psychedelic" part at the end.

 

Our votes for "I Walk Away"

1-0
2-0
3-1
4-3
5-4
Average score: 4.175

 

Today's song is "Doctor Love", written by Neil Finn.


"Doctor Love" was also released on the Spellbound compilation.

 

I think that Doctor Love is a fine Split Enz track, but it doesn't stand out as being exceptional among the other songs on the album.

Again, there is a guitar focus on this track that contributes to this album being quite different sonically compared to CE.

3/5

 

"Doctor Love" is a decent song that I've almost forgotten about. It does sound a bit like some of the early Crowded House songs, although the piano break at the start of the bridge definitely gives it an Enz feel. The lyric is pretty good as well. About the only negatives for me are the goofy vocal effects (the "down down down" part and the falsetto "ooooh doctor love" repeats on the fade at the end) that diminish the song in my view. Otherwise, it's quite good and showed the breadth of musical styles that Neil could work in, as had "Strait Old Line" on the previous album. 3.6/4

 

Just not feeling Dr Love. 2/5
It feels like an attempt at a club dance track, b side, or bonus track.

 

Musically it's great. The funky restraint the mournful melody and uneasy, almost insane-sounding middle 8; the way it builds from minimalism to guitar and moog freak out sort of reminds me of “Dirty Creature”; the song gives me a sense of unease and emotional gloom that builds into something almost scary. I feel that the song depicts a depression that threatens to break out into violence well and I don't think there is anything as restrained and minimalist and funky in Split Enz's entire catalogue.

I don’t Like the lyric Not so much the message. I get what he's trying to say.

It's just not that well executed, in my opinion and I feel it doesn’t fit the music.

The lyric points toward resolution. The music offers none. In fact, the darkness of the song grows, like an itch you can't scratch that eventually drives you mad.

Which I like.

Anyway the lyric drags it down to a 3.5 for me.

 

Doctor Love offers an unexceptional but fine backing. Where I find it difficult to offer any love is the lyric. The whole genre of love analogies (love as a doctor, love as a motor...) just makes me squirm. In this case, it really detracts from my enjoyment of the song. I get the impression that Neil was struggling for lyrical inspiration when he set down to write this one. That said, it's fine for what it is. 3/5.

 

This is not a favourite for me. It's too repetitive, monotonous and dated and there aren't really any interesting lyrical ideas to hold the attention.

2.5/5

 

I actually like this one a lot but am not going to overpraise it because I want the stuff on here that's exceptionally strong to stand out. High 3 for me.