Song: “Don’t Dream It’s Over”
Crowded House’s signature song has some remarkable musical elements
Emerging out of the remains of the New Zealand band Split Enz, known for a couple of minor hits and its ability to make creative music videos, Crowded House got its name from the living conditions the band found in Los Angeles when they recorded this 1986 hit.
- You get a peek toward the end of the video.
Written during a time of doubt and turmoil, songwriter and lead singer Neil Finn wrote it after sitting down at his brother’s piano and letting his feelings flow.
“That one actually fell out literally, without me thinking about it too much,” he recalled later. The song was written in one day.
Reaching #2 on the US Billboard charts and the Top 10 in multiple markets, the song has been certified Platinum again and again. It is the band’s signature song, and has been covered by Paul Young and Sixpence None the Richer, among others.
Written in Eb-major, the song is notable for a mainstream use of a type of strum developed among Māori guitarists in the 1930s called the “jingajik” or “party strum.”
It also includes a famous organ solo.
Enjoy!