A Taste of Finn for Fiennes Fans

More than one fan has commented on similarities between Neil Finn and Ralph Fiennes -although perhaps these similarities are not immediately obvious. Physically the similarities are minor - a little in the eyes, the nose, the hands…. In personality they are also not that alike other than their intelligence, sensitivity, poetic nature, sexiness…. No, the main similarity is in the chords they strike in their audiences through their work.

Neil's work is highly respected in the music industry. Sheryl Crowe admitted that he can make her blush and Sean Colvin claimed to want to have his love child. But, Neil is as much unlike the average "rock star" as Ralph is most movie stars. For Neil, the music he makes is reward enough. Rather than pushing with his band to really make it in the States, he chose to move back home to New Zealand to spend more time with his family. After breaking up Crowded House for the same reason, Neil's first solo effort was a family affair. His son Liam (who now has his own band at age 16) supported dad on drums and bass. Neil's younger son Elroy contributed the cover art. The whole family went on tour and wife Sharon did the light show. Of course, the family connection doesn't start or end there. The Finns have always been a close family and music was always a part of their lives. At the young age of 14, Neil supported his older brother Tim's band Split Enz on a national tour. Soon afterwards, he joined the band himself. At the age of 19, Neil penned the band's first international hit "I Got You." In the 80s, Tim joined Neil's band Crowded House and together the brothers wrote some of Crowded House's biggest hits. Tim left the band, but then he and Neil recorded a project together - just the two of them - and went on tour together with it.

Common themes in Neil's music are love, sex, guilt -- recurring motifs reminiscent of Fiennes work may be the hands, knees - birds (even talking to them as in the Cormorant). They also share an Irish connection through their mothers. The following is a listing of a compilation I made to demonstrate why some of us Fiennes fans are also Neil Finn fans. If you would like a tape and full details, e-mail me. I assume that many of you may never have heard of Neil - or only as that "hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over" guy. Now you'll know better. Enjoy!

• Fall At Your Feet - from the Womad Festival, Botanic Park, Adelaide March 3, 1992 off the Crowded House club cd, Acoustically Live.
• Catherine Wheels / Four Seasons In One Day -- a mini-medley from the Finn Brothers' tour. The title of the first seems to refer simultaneously to themedieval torture device for which St. Catherine of Alexandria is known and the wheel of the sun. This song from Together Alone is paired with one from Woodface. They are linked musically rather than thematically. Whereas Catherine Wheels is a song about escape from an abusive relationship, Four Seasons in One Day is a song about the weather -- in Melbourne to be specific. Well, it was inspired by the weather anyway....
• Mary of the South Seas The song dedicated to their mom from the Finn Brothers in Los Angeles off the club cd Mood Swinging Man.
• Fingers of Love - another beautifully atmospheric song - supposedly inspired by a sunset in Jamaica in which the rays of light stretched through the clouds like fingers. This song was first recorded for Crowded House's fourth LP, Together Alone. Here from a live recording at the Roxy Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 1994, taken from the club Ccd Paul is Dead, so titled because this was the last performance drummer Paul Hester's made before leaving the group.
• She Goes On -- Neil wrote this for the funeral of a friend's mother. It appeared on Crowded House's Woodface, but Neil has performed it solo as well as for the Linda McCartney tribute. I'm certain that this song and "Mary of the South Seas" will have a special meaning when performed in the future as Mary Finn died earlier this week, October 4, 2000.
• Only Talking Sense -- This recording is the first single from the Finn Brothers LP. Neil and Tim got together after Woodface and did this as a fun side project. Before Tim's brief tenure in Crowded House during the Woodface era, Neil and Tim had not written songs together (although they had worked on a few together during Split Enz). The Finn LP was relaxed and sparsely produced, with just the two brothers "playing all the roles" in the production of the album. This song revisits a theme that both brothers had written about previously, that is of personal inner-demons.
• Private Universe - Mary Ann insisted that this song be on the compilation of Fiennes-fans. I think it's a good pick. This recording demonstrates the antipodean atmosphere from the Together Alone sessions at Kare Kare beach in New Zealand (where The Piano was filmed).
• Nails In My Feet - what is this song about? It's one that you know without being able to put your finger on it - it makes sense but only at a completely subconscious level. This is a good example of the opacity of many of Neil's lyrics. Beautiful images - first "my life is a house" - it is something that you can enter - but only by crawling through the window or passing through the walls.
• Sinner This was one of the singles from Neil's first solo effort after disbanding Crowded House, Try Whistling This. On the Tongue-in-the Mail list it's been said that Neil could write about peeling an orange and make it seem sexy. (Doesn't that remind you of a certain actor's work??) This song has an incredibly sexy vibe to it, but it is filled mostly with images from Neil's Irish Catholic upbringing.
• Charlie From the Eyes of the World club cd, this recording is from the Finn Brothers' tour, but the song is an old one from Split Enz. Superficially the song is inspired by an account of domestic violence in the London paper. The emotional inspiration of the song however is assumed to be Tim's feelings of abandonment after his long-time best friend and song-writing partner Phil Judd left Split Enz mid tour.
• Mean To Me-- was the opening track from Crowded House's debut album. It's always a favorite live - especially in the USA because of the opening line. This recording is from London June 6, 1992 (club One Night Stand cd). Anyway, next time you're stalking Ralph (oh, that was me stalking him, wasn't it?) this might give a look into what he's feeling at the time. ;-)
• Last One Standing This is the opening track on Neil's first solo album, Try Whistling This.
• Angel's Heap - the thing I like best in this song is the harmony - the treat of Neil singing the upper line - beautiful! This is taken from the Finn Brother's tour, Union Chapel, London November 16, 1995. (club Eyes of the World cd)
• When You Come - This is a multi textured song in which nautical imagery, journeys and well….yes….sex all merge. Live this song always sends chills down my spine! Some fans swear that this is a song about a loved one's return from across the sea after a long absence. One argued (jokingly) that it was about love of, well, tea…. You decide for yourself. The song is from Crowded House's second LP Temple of Low Men. This recording is from the club cd Foreplay, Live at the National Stadium in Dublin July 17, 1992.
• Distant Sun - first single off Together Alone -- nice seemingly simple pop. This recording from Acoustically Live - radio broadcast in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 1994.
• Faster Than Light This one's from Neil's solo album Try Whistling This.
• Into Temptation --- the song that Elvis Costello was quoted as wishing he'd written, it would be perfect when thinking of many of Ralph Fiennes' films - temptation, forbidden desire, guilt. A lot of ink has been spilt over whether or not there is an autobiographical element to the song. Neil claims that there is only to the extent that we all know the delicious feeling of being tempted by something yet being afraid to go through with it.
• Whispers and Moans Apparently, Neil remembers cities by color. If I recall this song is about New York - or was it London? This was first recorded on the Woodface album - here from Live at Town and Country in London, November 1991. I don't really know why I included it in this collection, other than I like it.
• Not Even Close --This is a Tim song from his Tim Finn album. This is a recording from his short tenure with Crowded House during the MTV Unplugged rehearsal, Los Angeles March 28, 1990.
• Message to My Girl First recorded on Split Enz' Conflicting Emotions in 1983 when he was a 24. The song was dedicated to /inspired by his wife Sharon. It's been one of Neil's most requested songs ever since then. This recording is from the Finn Brothers tour in 1996 (from club cd, Eyes of the World).

Go to Eelco Doornboos' The Same Language As Me and Steve Bell's Something So Finn for lyrics, tabs and interview transcripts.