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Rating: Some regions of the world seem - more than others - to have the right credentials to compete for the coveted title of "paradise on earth"; Australia, with its primitive yet so modern 'humus', has often approached the fateful goal. The myth - sterile? childish? unfounded? - of the country where you work "only half the year" will have struck a chord with almost all mortals at least once, particularly those who are most victimized by the sickening Western productive frenzy. Believing or not in the truthfulness of the myth is a question to be deferred to the judgment and foresight of the individual. However, the imagination is fueled by some elements whose concreteness is entirely objective: fruit of this land is a music that more than others seems to have enjoyed a healthy exposure to the sun's heat.
To avoid misunderstandings or crafty mystifications, it should be noted that that sun has not only warmed chart-toppers, whether they are funk meteors (Inxs) or debatable, more or less revived, dance queens (Kylie Minogue). Those who recall how half the world found itself pondering - about twenty years ago - the terrifying beauty of a single pop motif know this well: from which galaxy, in what dimension or state of 'trance' could "Don't Dream It's Over" have emerged? To future generations the difficult judgment. It remains that Neil Finn's house was too crowded with ideas and insights to remain tied to the success of a single - however perfect and unmatched - chord progression. And already the eponymous debut of his Crowded House (1986), though immature, hinted at a future of promises fulfilled (especially, the cadenced and dreamy "World Where You Live" and the mystical "Hole In The River"). Upon its release in 1990, the single "Chocolate Cake" - nothing more than yet another pleasantness to which we had become accustomed - paved the way for the varied richness of the adamantine "Woodface": which is perhaps not yet the perfect album of the Australian group, but certainly the most complete and coherent one. Neil and his companions do not bother to hide behind their wooden face the evident Beatles influence of their new production: it is a reinterpretation, in an emotional and playful key, of a musical heritage that transcends the depths of the oceans. Discarded from the start the uselessness of some episodes ("Tall Trees", the Squeez-esque/Costello-esque "Fame Is", the clumsy "Italian Plastic"), the rest is an uninterrupted sequence of pop delights with a pleasantly retro freshness. The admirable triptych "Weather With You"-"Whispers And Moans"-"Four Seasons In One Day" proves it sufficiently: where the first is without doubt one of the happiest and most joyful outcomes ever achieved by pop writing, the second the infinite dilation of a warm and ethereal melody, the third a superb "reverie", condensed into a micro-composition that might even incite envy in Sir McCartney. No less warming, however, are the captivating proto trip-hop rhythm in "There Goes God", the soft gracefulness of "She Goes On" and especially the marvelous choral refrains of "As Sure As I Am" and the concluding "How Will You Go" - indispensable and memorable pieces of a "British invasion" transplanted into the heart of a happy land.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Chocolate Cake (04:02)
Not everyone in New York would pay to see Andrew Lloyd Webber
May his trousers fall down as he bows to the queen and the crown
I don't know what tune that the orchestra played
But it went by me sickly and sentimental
Can I have another piece of Chocolate cake
Tammy Baker's got a lot on her plate
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake
Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave
The band of the night take you to ethereal heights over dinner
You wander the streets never reaching the heights that you seek
And the sugar that dripped from the violins bow
Made the children go crazy, put a hole in the tooth of a hag
Can I have another piece of Chocolate cake
Tammy Baker must be losing her faith
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake
Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave
And the dogs are on the road
We're all tempting fate
Cars shooting by
With no number plates
And hear comes Mrs. Hairy Legs
I saw Elvis Presley walk out of a Seven Eleven
And a woman gave birth to a baby and then bowled 257
The excess of fat on your American Bones
Will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone
Can I have another piece of Chocolate cake
Tammy Baker, Tammy Baker
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake
Cheap Picasso, Cheap Picasso fake
Can I have another piece of Chocolate cake
Kathy Straker, boy could she lose some weight
Can I buy another slice of real estate
Liberace must be laughing in his grave
Can I have another piece of Chocolate cake
02 It's Only Natural (03:32)
Ice will melt, water will boil
You and I can shake off this mortal coil
It's bigger than us
You don't have to worry about it
Ready or not here comes the drop
You feel lucky when you know where you are
It's gonna come true
Here in your arms I remember
It's only natural that I should want to
Be there with you
It's only natural that you should
Feel the same way too
It's easy when you don't try
Going on first impressions
Man in a cage has made his confession
You've seen me at my worst
And it won't be the last time I'm down there
I want you to know I feel completely at ease
Read me like a book
That's fallen down between your knees
Please let me have my way with you
It's only natural that I should want to
Be there with you
It's only natural that you should
Feel the same way too
It's circumstantial, it's nothing written in the sky
And we don't even have to try
Shaking like mud, buildings of glass
Sink into the bay they'll be under the rocks again
You don't have to say I know you're afraid
It's only natural that I should want to
Be there with you
It's only natural that you should
Feel the same way too
It's circumstantial, it's something I was born to
It's only natural, can I help it if I want to
03 Fall at Your Feet (03:18)
I'm really close tonight
And I feel like I'm moving inside her
Lying in the dark
I think that I'm beginning to know her
Let it go
I'll be there when you call
Whenever I fall at your feet
And you let your tears rain down on me
Whenever I touch your slow turning pain
You're hiding from me now
There's something in the way that you're talking
The words don't sound right
But I hear them all moving inside you
Go, I'll be waiting when you call
Whenever I fall at your feet
And you let your tears rain down on me
Whenever I touch your slow turning pain
The finger of blame has turned upon itself
And I'm more than willing to offer myself
Do you want my presence or need my help
Who knows where that might lead
I fall at your feet
And you let your tears rain down on me
Whenever I fall
04 Tall Trees (02:20)
Watch out big ships are waiting
Salt frozen on your cheek
I saw a girl and boy arriving
And a steamer put out to sea
Tall tree
Stand in the distance
Remember
When you were green
Don't wipe
The salt from your skin
You must keep running the distance
Sun sleeps on misty morning
Light years from channel three
I feel halfway to zero
Call me a hero I might just agree
Tall tree
Stand in the distance
Remember
When you were green
Don't wipe
The salt from your skin
You must keep running the distance
And the roses you grow
Have a powerful scent
They'll be breaking your heart
By the morning
I feel halway to zero
Call me a hero I might just agree
Tall tree
Stand in the distance
Remember
When you were green
Don't wipe
The salt from your skin
Tall tree
Tall tree
Don't wipe
The salt from your skin
You must keep running the distance
Tall tree
05 Weather With You (03:44)
Walking 'round the room singing
Stormy Weather
at 57 Mt. Pleasant St.
Well it's the same room but everything's different
You can fight the sleep but not the dream
Things ain't cooking in my kitchen
Strange affliction wash over me
Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire
Couldn't conquer the blue sky
CHORUS:
Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you
Well there's a small boat made of china
It's going nowhere on the mantlepiece
Well do I lie like a loungeroom lizard
Or do I sing like a bird released
CHORUS:
Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you
(Repeat)
06 Whispers and Moans (03:39)
Dull, dull grey
The colour of our times
Cool, cool space
That I still hope to find
Far beyond the veil
The sound of whispers and moans
Slow, time bomb
The clamour of the street
I hear this town
It never goes to sleep
And I will catch the taxi driver
Weeping like a wounded beast
Then I wake up in your room
To share one piece of your life
When tomorrow comes we may not be here at all
Without your whispers and moans
'Cos here you come to carry me home
Here you come to carry me home
Love that sound
Time erase
Tension wheels
Cool heels
Won't ya come on open the bid 'fore too long
Then I wake up in your room
To share one piece of your life
I'd give anything to be a fly upon the wall
And hear your whispers and moans
I'd like to hear your whispers and moans
Here you come to carry me
We are the mirrors
Are the mirrors of each other in a lifetime of suspicion
Cleansed in a moment of recognition
You gave your life for it
Worth it's weight in gold
And growing empires and art collectors
And Alans sound investments
Will one day be forgotten
One day be forgotten, yeah
07 Four Seasons in One Day (02:49)
Four seasons in one day
Lying in the depths of your imagination
Worlds above and worlds below
Sun shine's on the black clouds hanging over the domain
Even when your feeling warm
The temperature could drop away
Like four seasons in one day
Smiling as the shit comes down
You can tell a man from what he has to say
Everything gets turned around
And I will risk my neck again, again
You can take me where you will
Up the creek and through the mill
Like all the things you can't explain
Four seasons in one day
Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day
Doesn't pay to make predictions
Sleeping on an un-made bed
Finding out wherever there is comfort there is pain
Only one step away
Like four seasons in one day
Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day
08 Don't Dream It's Over (03:52)
There is freedom within
there is freedom without
Try to catch a deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead
many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me
-[CHORUS]-
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win
Now I'm towing my car
there's a hole in the roof
my possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
in the paper today
tales of war and of waste
but you turn right over to the T.V. page
-[CHORUS]-
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win
Now I'm walking again
to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead
barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and release
Hey now, Hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, Hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
You know they won't win
Don't let them win
Hey now, Hey now
Hey now, Hey now
Hey now, Hey now
Don't let them win
They come, They come
Don't let them win
Hey now, Hey now (yeah)
Hey now, Hey now
09 There Goes God (03:49)
What'll I tell him
When he comes to me for absolution
Wouldn't you know it
Hope I don't make a bad decision
Cos I'd like to believe
There is a God
Why sinful angels suffer for love
I'd like to believe
In the terrible truth in the beautiful life
Like to know you
But in this town I can't get arrested
If you know me
Why don't you tell me what I'm thinking
Chorus
Hey don't look now
There goes God
In his sexy pants and his sausage dog
And he can't stand Beelzebub
Cos he looks so good in black, in black
Chorus repeat
10 Fame Is (02:23)
Fork lightning in your hall
Break the skin when you break the fall
I'll be the one to fix it up
Love children of the new age
Just a hippy with a weekly wage
There's no rebellion just a chance to be lazy
When fame is in your blood
You follow the science of love
Wave the magic wand
And hang on
Now the rest of us are living in a daze
Keep thinkin' 'bout the choice to be made
Here come the handmaidens of end time
Lost treasure from a primitive race
All the lives written on your face
Can't fill the canyons of yor mind
When fame is in your blood
You follow the science of love
Wave the magic wand
And hang on
Now you've changed
And jumbled the pieces you've changed
You're better before you talked
To a roomful of strangers
Here come the handmaidens of end time
When fame is in your blood
You follow the science of love
Wave the magic wand
All of your stars will fall
And all of your spells will break
So look out for number one
Fame is in your blood
11 All I Ask (03:55)
All I ask is to live each moment
Free from the last
Take the road forgotten
Don't leave me here
Oh please let me stray
Far from familiar things
All I ask is to live each moment
All I ask is to live each moment
Free from the last
Strange roads going nowhere in particular
All I ask is to live each moment
All I ask is to live each moment
Free from the last
Free from the last
All I ask
13 Italian Plastic (03:39)
I bring you plates from Rome
You say they look fantastic
I say we're having fun
Nothing like that Italian Plastic
I bring you rocks and flowers
You say they look pathetic
You pick me up at night
I don't feel pathetic
Chorus:
When you wake up with me
I'll be your glass of water (uh huh)
When you stick up for me
They you're my Bella Bambina (uh huh)
I say we're on a trip
Looks like we're on vacation
I say we're having fun
In our little constellation
Chorus
Then I'll be your Balle Bambino, your man from the moon
I'll be your little boy running with that egg on his spoon
I'll be your soul survivor, you worst wicked friend
I'll be your piggy in the middle, stick with you till the end (Oh)
Chorus
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