[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Crowded House — Walking on The Spot
Album: Together Alone
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 636









Released: 1993
Length: 2:51
Plays (last 30 days): 0
The odd times we slip
and slither down the dark hall
fingers point from old windows
an eerie shadow falls
I'm walking on the spot
to show that I'm alive
moving every bone in my body
from side to side

Will we be in our minds when the dawn breaks
can we look the milkman in the eye
the world is somehow different, you have all been changed
before my very eyes

Walk around your home
pour yourself a drink
fire one more torpedo, baby
watch the kitchen sink
you're lounging on the sofa, maybe
see the living room die
the dishes are unwashed and broken
all you do is cry

See the living room die
the dishes are unwashed and broken
all you do is cry
Comments (35)add comment
I have always liked Crowded House and Neil Finn's subsequent solo career musical efforts, BUT. . . 
this song catches me up everytime it gets played for the somewhat simplistic reason that it includes the line,  "can we look the milkman in the eye."  My dad, may he Rest in Peace, owned a small milk delivery business in northern Alberta (Canada), and I delivered milk door-to-door in my youth.  A man who worked for my father, commented this about a coworker,  "Ed's been working for your dad so long that he's afraid to throw a stone into any schoolyard in the district."  
This is a great rainy Sunday morning song.    Thanks RP team for playing this deep cut from my favorite Crowded House album! 
So much great music from this group! 

So much great music on this station!! Thank you RP!!
Always great harmonies and melodies!  The sound brings me back to the 80's somehow.
Pure Neil Finn genius 👍
 jmkate wrote:

The interesting chord changes are preventing me from going about my business..



Ha! That's funny! My chores are being ignored too.  
Lyrics:

All the times we slip
Slither down the dark hole
Fingers point from old windows
An eerie shadow falls

Walking on the spot
Make sure that I'm alive
Moving every bone in my body
From side to side

Will we be in our minds when the dawn breaks?
Can we look the milkman in the eye?
The world is somehow different
You have all been changed
Before my very eyes

Walk around your home
And pour yourself a drink
Fire one more torpedo, baby
Wash the kitchen sink

Lounging on the sofa, maybe
See the living room die
Dishes are unwashed and broken
All you do is cry

Will we be in our minds when the dawn breaks?
Can we look the milkman in the eye?
The world is somehow different
You have all been changed
Before my very eyes

Dishes are unwashed and broken
All you do is cry

Will we be in our minds when the dawn breaks?
Can we look the milkman in the eye?
The world is somehow different
You have all been changed
Before my very eyes
It sounds like he's describing Capgras Syndrome. Delightfully creepy.
A master's class in songwriting.
How nice to hear this.
The interesting chord changes are preventing me from going about my business..
This song always gives me chill bumps. Absolutely love it.
a gifted musician and great composer - BUT i cannot stand/take/arrange myself with his voice - makes me somehow sleepy instantly....
ah, milkmen, yep. My nemesis at the 1500 back at school was a really talented runner who I only beat once and then only because he'd just won the 5000m about half an hour before. He was a milkman. Had a trolley made of steel tube and bouncy fat wheels so the bottles didn't break when dropping off the curb. His routine was to get up at 6 in the morning and do his morning milk run. Fit as houses. Bastid. Great guy.

Yeah, I agree, this song is far too soppy. I'd much prefer Take a Walk from Split Enz, maybe even the version with Eddie Vedder. 
Love the Finn brothers!
All kinds of soppy songs on RP today, and this is the icing on the cake. 
One of the very best — and certainly one of the catchiest — trippy thinking songs out there...will always love hearing it here on RP!
My mom's cousin was our milkman. I look a lot like him, ahem...
Woooaaaooow... first time for me.
Such a melody!!! Gave an 8.
The Finn Brothers are realy gifted, for sure.
 AlienRelic wrote:
Where do they still have milkmen? 
Or is this just one more bogus cliche?
vespasian70 wrote:

 The song was originally written in 1985...perhaps a time when that line was not so much a 'bogus cliche'.

The demo version of this song is fast 80's pop (synths and drum machines all over the place!)...very different than the ballad it became on Together Alone.


 
I can confirm that in 1985 I was a milkman (well milkmans assistant) in Australia and my Mum still gets her milk from the milkman there to this day.
 AlienRelic wrote:
Where do they still have milkmen?
Or is this just one more bogus cliche?
 
 The song was originally written in 1985...perhaps a time when that line was not so much a 'bogus cliche'.

The demo version of this song is fast 80's pop (synths and drum machines all over the place!)...very different than the ballad it became on Together Alone.

 Laurelia wrote:
Thanks, xkolibuul, I totally agree (this was my upload). And btw, when I uploaded it, I googled New Zealand and milkmen out of curiosity, and, yes, they *do* still have milkmen there.
 
That's because NZ may just be the last, remaining civilized culture on the planet...

xkolibuul wrote:
This is subtle, nuanced, gorgeous. Boring is your problem, amigo.
Thanks, xkolibuul, I totally agree (this was my upload). And btw, when I uploaded it, I googled New Zealand and milkmen out of curiosity, and, yes, they *do* still have milkmen there.
This is subtle, nuanced, gorgeous. Boring is your problem, amigo. xerox wrote:
Bit boring isn't it? I just don't get this Finn Fetish going on here at RP?
robadr wrote:
Probably in New Zealand, bless them...
We have a Milkman !!!!
Pyro wrote:
I've never heard it, but I always enjoy Neil Finn's voice and CH's harmonies.
fire one more torpedo, baby/watch the kitchen sink Mr. Finn has a way with words like no other
Bit boring isn't it? I just don't get this Finn Fetish going on here at RP?
Probably in New Zealand, bless them... AlienRelic wrote:
Where do they still have milkmen? Or is this just one more bogus cliche?
Where do they still have milkmen? Or is this just one more bogus cliche?
ThePoose wrote:
RIP Paul Hester
I'm learnin a lot tonight - first Elliot Smith then Paul Hester - might give up the guitar and take a plumbing.
Marr wrote:
I'm glad to see this one added.
Me too. Neil Finn a damn good songwriter? Yes.
RIP Paul Hester
I've never heard it, but I always enjoy Neil Finn's voice and CH's harmonies.
I'm glad to see this one added.