Don't Dream It's Over

New Zealander Neil Finn is one of the best pop singer-songwriters in recent decades.  His band, Crowded House, was responsible for a lot of melodic and lyrically strong tunes in the 1980s.

Don't Dream It's Over is one of THC's favorite songs.  This version is from the last concert of Crowded House in 1996 (they reformed in 2007) and Don't Dream It's Over is the closing song.  The setting is Sydney Harbor.

There is freedom within,
There is freedom without,
Try to catch the 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 travelling with me

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 the 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
Don't ever let them win.

The song was the Crowded House's biggest hit in the U.S.  Their follow up album Temple Of Low Men contained several gems but didn't sell well.  Here are three to sample:

Never Be The Same

Don't stand around
Like friends at a funeral
Eyes to the ground
It could have been you

We might still survive
And rise up through the mess
If you could change your life
And never be the same 

The countrified Better Be Home Soon

"People are strange
God only knows
I Feel Possessed
when you come round"

The video for I Feel Possessed shows a live performance but the album soundtrack is overdubbed