Master Index of Archived Threads
Stranded on a Crowded Island
| Pineapple Head | 0 votes |
| Don't Dream It's Over | 2 votes |
| Distant Sun | 1 votes |
| Something So Strong | 2 votes |
| Weather With You | 1 votes |
| Fall at Your Feet | 1 votes |
| Locked Out | 1 votes |
| World Where You Live | 0 votes |
| Recurring Dream | 1 votes |
| Mean to Me | 0 votes |
| Other (write in, post video) | 1 votes |
| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 10:16 AM |
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Neil Finn, who joined his older brother Tim's band Split Enz in time for its transition from 70s art-rock weirdos to zany 80s pop wavers, founded Crowded House as a showcase for a more sober, classic pop sound he favored in the mid-1980s. Originally known as the Mullanes, they were renamed for the small LA apartment in which they stayed during the recording of their first album. That album's first single -- "Don't Dream It's Over" -- is still their best-known song and probably one of the greatest debut singles of all time.
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 10:23 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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Good poll, even if the result would seem like a foregone conclusion. Their nineties drummer Peter Jones just died last week. He was only (my age, gulp!).
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 10:36 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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Yes, that news started me listening to their stuff again, even though I found out Jones was a short-time fill-in for their flaky original drummer (as noted above their lineage confuses me). The latter committed suicide in '95 by hanging himself in a public park, so they have a real Spinal Tap thing going.
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| The Second Spitter May 24 2012 10:48 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I swear I was gonna ask the forum today about how well Crowded House were received in the US. (Couldn't figure out which thread to write it in). Wow.
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 10:54 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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One of my first iTunes purchase was the enigmatic lovely "Into Temptation":
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| The Second Spitter May 24 2012 11:02 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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That's a good song too.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 11:42 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I'm sort of where you are on "Don't Dream..." I remember when it came out, it was just one of those songs that was such an obvious home run but now as then it's basically the only thing you ever hear of theirs unless you try.
The word I think of often with them is "sneaky." "World Where You Live" for example almost always begins as though its the worst song I ever heard until that hook, then I'm like, oh, yeah and afterward wonder how they did that, and why I still never see it coming. I'm not sure if that's what you meant by puzzling, or whether you mean they are puzzling lyrically. "Don't Dream it's Over" is kind of a fight song for an unhappy relationship, I guess.
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 12:02 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I just sometimes find such joy in their sad songs and sometimes find torment in their happy ones. You're walking through one neighborhood and you think you know it and recognize it and understand what's happening there, but you never know what's going to hit you around the corner. Emotional complexity is what I'm talking about.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 12:07 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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This is a great performance, gonna make the difference in my vote:
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 12:17 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I don't know what happened to it, but sometime back in the 1990s, I wrote a song called "Nu Wave Thanksgiving." Set in the year 2035 (or more accurately a few years after, recalling that year's Thanksgiving). It's from the point of view of a grandfather who visited his son's house for the big holiday meal, only to be shocked and dismayed about how his grand children were being raised, lacking even a cursory knowledge of nu wave. He quizzes them on the giants of the industry --- Cars, Talking Heads, Joe Jackson... Mink Deville! --- but they come up scandalously empty.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 02:45 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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What is this 3 votes shit.
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 03:04 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I can't rock out at work. Don't know all those tracks, so I have to review later.
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| The Second Spitter May 24 2012 04:48 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I never thought about it this way but it's true. "Fall at Your Feet" starts off with a man seemingly happy with being this girl's comfort blanket, until he's practically begging her to accept him in her life. At this point, it gets very sad. And I'm more than willing to offer myself Do you want my presence or need my help Who knows where that might lead Contrast this to "Don't Dream It's Over" which starts off as a consoling song and ends as a liberating one.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 06:21 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I think it's worth exploring whether the song title ought to be interpreted as "Don't Dream It's Over" or as Edgy wrote above "Don't Dream, It's Over."
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| The Second Spitter May 24 2012 06:39 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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My take is that he's drawing the listener's attention by making it sound it's about the relationship, but he's really talking about their quest for happiness.
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| Edgy MD May 24 2012 08:49 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I'm leaning toward "Weather with You." Is that from when both Finns were in the band?
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 24 2012 09:27 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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yup, that's the one CH album with both Finns on it. As said above it probably wasn't good for their identity to fool around with the lineup, but you can't argue with the results.
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| The Second Spitter May 24 2012 11:12 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I guess only 4 votes answers that question. Another song which captures joy in solemnity and vice versa [youtube]W9sem05RHnM[/youtube]
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| Edgy MD May 25 2012 04:40 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I don't think programmers ever really gave them a chance to show what they could do. They gave us "Don't Dream...," it was sublime, and once "Something So Strong" failed to capture the public imagination in an equal or better way, the programmers moved on. I don't know why they move on so fast like they do, but they do.
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| The Second Spitter May 25 2012 05:34 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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Fair enough. I can understand that. That said, "Something so strong" is one of their weaker songs (imo anyway). Another reason for my antipathy toward "Don't Dream..." is that it is associated with an ad campaign (for NZ holidays of all things) which doesn't seem to go away.
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| Edgy MD May 25 2012 09:08 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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Wow, that must be awful.
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| The Second Spitter May 25 2012 11:01 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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lol.
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| Gwreck May 25 2012 05:59 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I'm partial to Fall at Your Feet, for the harmonies.
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| The Second Spitter May 26 2012 09:44 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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^That was my second choice
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| metsguyinmichigan May 26 2012 10:35 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I love "Locked out." I found a great live version.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket May 26 2012 04:50 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I am at the inlaws. I don't think Willets posted yet, he would have an opinion on this and could break the tie.
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| Frayed Knot May 26 2012 05:20 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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I'm waiting for the 'Crowded on a Stranded Island' poll.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 01 2012 11:38 AM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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[bigpurple:3npsvkl2]SOMEBODY BREAK THIS SEVEN-WAY TIE[/bigpurple:3npsvkl2]
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| TransMonk Jun 01 2012 12:21 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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Something So Strong
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 01 2012 12:39 PM Re: Stranded on a Crowded Island |
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[bigpurple:oky730bf]THANK YOU[/bigpurple:oky730bf]
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