Shark Fin Blues


"Shark Fin Blues" is a double A-side single taken from Australian rockers, the Drones' second studio album, Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By. The single was released on 25 September 2006. It also appeared as a limited edition, 7" picture disc, together with the band's fourth album, Gala Mill.

Composition

The song starts off "hazy" and "distorted" over "restrained drumming" and gradually builds up, "expanding and filling with screeching guitars and a contagious chorus of “na na na’s”". The instrumentation on this track has been described as "jarring" while Liddiard's vocals have been described as
"brutal". Liddiard describes the intro as a "fudged Townes Van Zandt riff" whilst the outro was improvised by Rui Pereira.
The song, whose lyrics were written over "Same Old Man" by Karen Dalton, was composed after the passing of Liddiard's mother and has been described as "an anthem of sorts for the disenfranchised and melancholic". The allegorical lyrics contain biblical and imagery and has been compared to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, its protagonist describing the sinking of his ship as the titular "sharks" surround him "fin by fin".

Reception

Critical

The song was originally received favorably, with Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork calling it "one of the best rockers of the year, a seemingly endless path of riffs and dynamics and a good introduction to Liddiard's nihilistic subject matter". Mike Diver of Drowned in Sound was more mixed in his assessment, calling it "a decent composition executed decently, but far from the original blast of frazzled blues it wishes to be", comparing it unfavorably to their live performances.

Legacy

In a poll of contemporary Australian songwriters in 2009, organised by national youth broadcaster Triple J, "Shark Fin Blues" was voted as the greatest Australian song of all time. In 2014, Denham Sadler of The Guardian wrote that "part of the song’s power is that Liddiard refuses to provide the listener a throwaway silver lining instead it is a raw and brutally honest account of depression a song that unflinchingly bares its writer’s despair, detailed in an intimate, introspective way."

Track listing

  1. "Shark Fin Blues" - 4:34
  2. "You Really Don't Care" - 4:40

    Missy Higgins version

On 7 July 2014, Australian artist Missy Higgins released "Shark Fin Blues" as the first single from her fourth studio album, Oz. It debuted at number No. 71 on the ARIA Singles Chart on the week commencing 18 August.
The video clip was released via YouTube on 11 August.

Reception

In an album review, Helena Ho from Renowned for Sound said the song "begins with simple piano chords so that the bare beauty of Higgins' vocals are highlighted. She sings with such passion and emotion, you can hear her voice tremble with it. It's liberating when the strings and piano eventually swell together for the final hook."
Ali Birnie from Beat Magazine said the song is the album highlight.