So I'm driving tonight and was listening to Mean to Me. I know that song was written about true life experience years ago, and so my little brain stated to turn.

Are there any other songs that Neil has written (either for CH or solo) that is about his personal experience?

Sorry is this topic was talked about before.

Lester is about his dog's near-death experience on the street outside Neil's house -- and Anytime might refer to the same experience too.

Into Temptation (motel in Timaru NZ, rugby and netballs players)
Black and White Boy (another one about his Dog Lestor)
World Where You Live (neigbourhood woman in LA)
Hole in the River (aunt's suicide)
Sister Madly (sister's screaming nightmares)
She Goes On (a song to commemorate a friend's friend death)
Pineapple Head (Liam's delirious ramblings while sick, and Neil was sort of looking after him)
I Love You Dawn (His life with Sharon Dawn Finn)
One Mouth to Feed (Liam's imminent birth, sorry but it's a Split Enz song, but relevent)
Driving Me Mad (his writer's block in making lyrics for a song)
Souvenir (answering people's/media's questions)
Dr. Livingstone (trip to Mozambique relief camp early 90's)
Lullaby Requiem (his mother Mary's song after she passed away)

Of course EIH is full of them, won't mention them.

Hope I didn't hog them all.

No.... Black and White Boy is actually NOT about Lester. But it IS (most definitely) about Paul Hester.

Our Day - impending fatherhood (Sharon was preggo with Liam)

Don't Stop Now - Sharon being lost in the English country side, having issues with her GPA, and called Neil in a panic....I think almost out of gas and cell phone near death as well.

The Paul connection to the lyrics in B&W boy is pretty spooky and dead on, but according to finnatics.de, it was always about the Black and White dalmatian.

Anyway, Paul's bad moods etc. didn't really kick in til after T&A was released. The song was written late 1992

On a live recording I've listened to very recently.....I think maybe it's on Acoustically, but I'll have to check the source......Neil very specifically says, as he's introducing the song B&W Boy, that it is NOT about Lester and that it IS about Paul.

I can't find any song lyric interpretations on finnatics.de, but if you're going by that old "Finn Lyrics Interpretation Manual", my experience with that info about song interpretations is that it is full of unconfirmed speculation. I agree with Half-Full - Black and White Boy is about Paul. I am positive that I've seen that confirmed in more than one place over the years. However, it is a nice coincidence that part of it can also apply to Lester. (But doesn't Neil often mix inspirations in his songs?)

http://www.finnatics.de/Crowded_House/flim.pdf

You guys may be right, but re-reading the lyrics it just seems more likely about a pet and not a person. I know Neil had dedicated the song to Paul once or twice, but I thought it was about the pooch. Let me know when you find what you were looking for Shauna.

The line I like is towards the end:

"And you run like a cat to the cream". Good line for you Brownie.

That and the line "you are vicious and quick to attack" reminds me of my bad luck. I've been bitten three times by a dog. All dalmatians, all unprovoked. Long story ..

Anyway, Transit Lounge is another song of personal experience. Too many times stuck in Bangkok and Singapore airports, waiting to get to Europe or coming home, and seeing all the strange comings and goings in the terminal.

Why did he write the song The Devil You Know?
That song hit me like a freight train, years ago, when I was in a psychological rut. I don't think Neil would have written that song about his own life, but I wonder where the inspiration came from. Was it about someone he knew?

I've heard somewhere that Private Universe is about a "near daeth experience" that Neil once had but I'm not sure.

quote:

Originally posted by Half-Full:


Don't Stop Now - Sharon being lost in the English country side, having issues with her GPA, and called Neil in a panic....I think almost out of gas and cell phone near death as well.

I had forgotten about that. I also heard that she was in a storm in the midst of all that.

"Our Day" -about Liam before he was born, beautiful lyrics.

I seem to remember reading a late 90s Neil interview and Neil being asked about Black And White Boy. And he thought it was interesting how all the fans speculated it was about Tim, Paul or Phil Judd. But he said that he was stoned one day and just watching Lester and finished up writing the song.

Well, Acoustically wasn't the one I was thinking of.....he only says Black and White Boy was written with someone in mind. But something I've listened to in recent months has him specifically saying it's about Paul. I'll track it down eventually and will quote at that point...

quote:

Our Day

I think with Neil he mixes and matches sometimes and sometimes he is specific
that track on TOE the one to make me cry
about the nz yachtsman who was lost at sea, i love it
i love Our Day too bless him
he often is asked that question and he often says he makes most of it up and lets us do our own interpretations lol

Neil used to introduce "Anytime" as being a song inspired by Lester. Once when he was talking about the song I mentioned "Black & White Boy" and he said something like, "yeah, that's another one. There's a whole slew of songs about/inspired by the old boy."

It's nice to think about B&W Boy being about Paul. Certain parts do fit and it's nice to believe that the song has a deeper meaning. It does not, however, seem that such a deeper meaning was the intention of the writer.

Well, after watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W5VbvC1yCo I'd say it is about Paul. Makes much more sense than it being about a dog.

quote:

Originally posted by EllenM:
Well, after watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W5VbvC1yCo I'd say it is about Paul. Makes much more sense than it being about a dog.

Obviously you're not a pet lover!

Perhaps the point is that Neil writes deliberately obscure lyrics that can be interpreted in multiple ways. There's certainly more going on in the lyrics than just "I love my dog, he's black and white" but I think that was the initial seed of the idea for the song. I wouldn't expect Neil to go around saying "here's a song about my dog" because it wouldn't allow others to apply their own feelings and interpretations.

It's true, especially immediately after Paul left the band, that the song seems to apply to him. It's entirely possible that the song was written with both Lester and Hester in mind. Perhaps it started as a stupid song to a dog and then Neil expanded the concept of a "black and white boy" to include more human personality traits. We may never know for sure but I do know that Neil sure did love that dog!

quote:

Obviously you're not a pet lover!

Don't jump to conclusions. I really like my dog but a dog is not the same as a human friend.