Hey. Welcome back to Song Of The Day, an ongoing series I’m trying out that’s clearly not going to be a daily thing. Today, shit gets real 80's.
A few days ago I was reminded, mostly by my own subconscious, of a song I hadn’t heard in a while while reading through a Dirt Bag on Jezebel. Click a link, trip on a joke, fall down a rabbit hole. You know, as you do. It’s all very usual. When I finally hit the bottom of that admittedly shallow hole I landed on Never Tear Us Apart by INXS, a synthy waltz of a love ballad interspersed with short pauses and elevated by a pretty neat sax solo toward the end. Musically it’s wonderful. Lyrically it’s wonderful. Simple maybe, but it always gives me feels.
The song released on INXS’ sixth studio album, Kick, in 1987. The song Never Tear Us Apart itself didn’t release as a single until 1988. The song, and to a larger degree the album, saw massive success. Of course, I wouldn’t have known much about that since I was a fetus when Kick dropped. And with that I think I should give a little background on my fondness for this tune.
Being that I was only a few months old when this song hit the air, there are several of my friends and family members who look at me funny when I mention how fucking great an album Kick truly was. Apparently INXS, and plenty of other bands like them, get categorized as “Music you had to live through to appreciate.”
38-Year-Old: Rubber Soul will always be my favorite Beatles album. [Acceptable]
14-Year-Old: Yeah, like, Nirvana was like sooo good. I wish Kurt Cobain didn’t die. [Acceptable, albeit extremely irritating.]
28-Year-Old: Man, Never Tear Us Apart by INXS is my JAM this week!
Some Jerk: INXS? Aren’t you a little young for that? Why don’t you listen to something a little more age appropriate. Here’s Pink Floyd’s Animals.
28-Year-Old: This is unacceptable (in context. Animals was a great album) and you clearly don’t understand irony!
But, see, I was literally born into the international heyday of INXS. They were always on. I was probably learning to walk to the sounds of my mother listening to INXS, The Cure, Tears For Fears, etc. My musical tastes were formed by the same thing every kid’s initial musical tastes are formed by: Whatever the fuck your parents have playing. In the house? INXS. In the garage? Zeppelin and Steve Miller. Sure, I went through my elementary school rap phase (lookin’ at you, Busta), but whereas my siblings’ tastes veered off into peer appropriate territory, mine bounced back and forth between contemporary hits (Looking at you STP and NIN, my first two albums purchases with my weekly allowance) and the “old” that I grew up, and was still growing up, to.
And so here I am, exposing my kids to the sounds of INXS and the like. Not many kids can immediately recognize the intros to Head Over Heels or Never Tear Us Apart, and that fact that mine can is kind of a weird point of pride for me. Because musical appreciation isn’t just some hobby people with spare time partake in; it is, to me anyway, an indicator of character. What you listen to can be very telling. And in 2016, my twin 6-year-olds are joining in at the chorus. “I was standin! You were there!” It’s adorable. Of course, they also know Hotline Bling and Gangnam Style, but I digress.
So without further ado, I present to you a song that I frequently, loudly and quite obnoxiously sing around the house as my girlfriend stares me down with a cringe and a plea to stop, Never Tear Us Apart by INXS.
Don’t ask me
What you know is true
Don’t have to tell you
I love your precious heart
Hey, thanks for sticking around. Be sure to check out the next installment of presumably numerously parted series: Song Of The Day, Day 4: Something Else.
