Finn ~ Suffer Never
(written: 11 March 2004)I actually studied for this entry. I was going to pay homage to the work of a certain mid-90s kiwi ROCK sensation, but then I decided to put on another album to see if it inspired me a little better. And it did. So I tracked down Finn and...
I know what you're thinking! You're thinking "OH COME ON! YOUR DOG ISN'T A MUSICIAN!" To that I say "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
Finn is of course, the magically delicious Finn brothers, Neil and Tim. They'd worked together throughout Split Enz, then Tim briefly joined Crowded House (Woodface era). In 1996, they took the music they'd started writing during Woodface and turned it into the album Finn.
When I first got Finn (the dog), I decided that she was destined to be a Finn brothers fan. She learned very quickly that I was her owner. The first night she sought out my bedroom and fell asleep in a pile of my clothes on the floor. She spent a lot of time in those first few months sleeping on my clothes. I spent a lot of time smelling like a puppy. That is until she got bigger. Then she could jump up and spent more time sleeping on my bed. She's probably there right now. I'm not so scared of her mauling the teddies anymore. Skipper and Kammybear have learned to live with her presence too.
Anyway, while she slept I decided to see how she reacted to having music on. I decided, what with the name of the dog and all, the album Finn was perfect. She passed the first test. She didn't vomit.
Those formative months (hahaha), when Finn was the fucking devil, but tiny and cute enough to get away with it, were accompanied by the sounds of Te Awamutu. Suffer Never has become a bit synonymous with my brand new baby puppy mixing up the green rug with the grass outside. Firmly attached at all times to the legs of my pants. Fresh red scratches crisscrossing white flesh. A bowl of carpet cleaning solution on hand at all times. Having my heart broken each and everytime I had to leave her alone, trying not to think about her little squeaky cries of anguish, her only company a small pink baby toy of mine (a teddy) and the stereo playing Finn softly. Yet I still love the song. Hehe.
Those unmistakable Finn harmonies. Neil taking the lead and Tim coming in, rumbling away in the background. Jangley guitars and percussionary (?) illusions of hand clapping. A perfect addition to any campfire sing-along.
Unrelated to the whole puppy reason, if you call my cell phone and get the voice mail, I'm pretty sure the message is still the one I recorded 2 and a half years ago with Suffer Never playing in the background.
And there you have it.
Woof. HAHAHAHAHAH.