Neil Finn

Neil Finn Official Website

Silent House
Neil Finn/Emily Robison/Martie Maguire/Natalie Maines

These walls have eyes
Rows of photographs
With faces like mine
Who do we become
Without knowing where we started from

It's true
I'm missing you
And I stand alone
Inside your room

Everything that you made my hand
Everything that you know by heart

I will try to connect
All the pieces you left
I will carry it on
And let you forget
I'll remember the years
When your mind was still clear
All the flickering lights
Filled up this silent house

One room, two beds
In the closet hangs your favorite dress
Good books that you read
Are in pieces now, the pages shredded

Everything that you made by hand
Everything that you know by heart

I will try to connect
All the pieces you left
I will carry it on
And let you forget
And I'll remember the years
When your mind was clear
All the laughter and light
That filled up this silent house

Song appears on:

The Chicks - Taking The Long Way (album, 2006)

Crowded House - Time On Earth (album, 2007)

Demo and Live versions: Various Fangradio broadcasts 2019-2021

I got rung up to see if I was interested in writing songs with the Dixie Chicks and whether I wanted to meet Natalie Maines. We had breakfast one morning and I can honestly say I didn’t really know more than one or two songs of theirs but I loved their political stance. I thought it was brilliant that they were unapologetic and didn’t back down, and I knew they were great singers. It was intriguing and we sat down for two or three days and came up with this song. It’s something I’ve very rarely done but it’s good for you. It’s quite challenging though. Confronting. Because my approach is so random, I feel I’m slightly an imposter when I sit down in a room full of people.
— Neil Finn, 2007
This is a sad song that tries to be sweet ... It’s about my grandmother, my Nonna, who has Alzheimer’s. [As of 2008, she’d] been suffering from it for over 10 years.

It just seems like the worst way to end your life, when you can’t remember any of it. But she touched a lot of people, and we all remember. So this song is about that: It’s okay to forget, I’ll try and carry on. Because, when they first start realizing they are forgetting is the saddest time; they’re embarrassed. So it’s almost better when they don’t know what’s going on.
— Natalie Maines in a feature on The Boot.com

Copyright © 2024 Neil Finn.