Back in the days of my eponymous blog, I stole a feature from eMusic, the Dozen. I had fun with it and decided to revive it. It’s our new Sunday feature.
I’m putting the Sunday Morning Video on hiatus. I’ve tried killing it off, but it keeps coming back making it the Rasputin of features or some such shit.
I decided to start with Crowded House because I met Cassandra through the Tongue In The Mail email list. Our mutual friend Banana George is the one who Simpsonized the Crowdies. In a rare example of self-restraint, I’m skipping the banana jokes. They don’t appeal to me…
I’m posting the songs in chronological order. They reflect my personal taste without any attempt to rate them in order of importance or something equally pompous. Some songs are hits, others are not.
Mean To Me was the first song on the band’s debut album. It’s one of the best live set openers in rock history.
Don’t Dream It’s Over is CH’s biggest hit. It’s a deservedly celebrated song that New Zealand has used in its tourism campaign along with Peter Jackson movie clips. Now that I think of it, drummer Paul Hester was something of a hobbit. His sense of humor was certainly hobbit forming.
Love You Til The Day I Die is another stand-out track from the first album. It opens with one of Neil Finn’s finest couplets: “There’s closets in my head where dirty things are kept. That never see the light of day.”
Love This Life. Observant readers may recall that my law school novel took its title from another fine opening line: “Seal my fate, I get your tongue in the mail.
Never Be The Same is another tale of life, death, and redemption.
Recurring Dream is the title of a Crowded House anthology on which the song does not appear. Go figure. It was featured in the neo-noir movie Tequila Sunrise.
It’s Only Natural was co-written by Neil and Tim Finn. It’s my favorite Crowded House song.
Chocolate Cake is controversial in many Finn fan quarters. Some are convinced that its failure as a single doomed Crowded House in America. Whatever. It rocks like crazy and has a twisty piano riff. Besides, chocolate cake is addictive, “have another piece.”
Distant Sun is an obvious choice but sometimes the obvious choices are the best choices.
Together Alone. I stole the title for an early pandemic post, which made the Best of Adrastos, 2020.
Nobody Wants To is the opening track of the band’s 2007 comeback album
To The Island comes from Crowded House’s 2021 album, Dreamers Are Waiting. The video is to die for.
Finally, five Crowded House songs have served as the theme song for Saturday Odds & Sods including two that didn’t make this list. That concludes this edition of Adrastos trivia.