Instinct
Neil Finn
I lit the match, I lit the match
I saw another monster turn to ash
Felt the burden lifting from my back
Do you recognise a nervous twitch
That exposes the weakness of the myth
When your turn comes ‘round
And the light goes on
And you feel your attraction again
Your instinct can’t be wrong
Separate the fiction from the fact
I’ve been a little slow to react
But it’s nearly time to flick the switch
And I’m hanging by a single stitch
Laughing at the stony face of gloom
When your turn comes ‘round
And the light goes on
And you feel your attraction again
Your instinct can’t be wrong
Feelings come and go
Where the true present lies
Are calling down
They’re crawling down
Laughing at the stony face of gloom
When your turn comes ‘round
And the days get long
And you feel your attraction to him
Your instinct can’t be wrong
They’re calling down
They’re calling down
Song appears on:
Crowded House - Recurring Dream (1996 compilation)
“I wrote it in the studio one night. That was another where I sang a nonsense version and used made-up sounds. But then I listen through and garner a few lines out of the gabble which become the basis of the song. Sometimes it’s difficult because you get so attracted to the sound of the words you leave them like that because you can’t find a way of making them make sense. I made sense of it as best I could.
It’s definitely a song about breaking things up: ‘I lit the match and saw another monster turn to ash.’”
“We’d gone back to working with Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake for those bonus tracks. There was a working environment that had a lovely feel to it. You know, a feeling of putting on an old coat and finding a tenner in the pocket. It was nice to get the old team back for that one.”
