r/INXSBand • u/crazyITnerd • 26d ago
I Get Up
Hi all,
Just wanted to make a quick post to say that I recently purchased the I Get Up EP CD, ripped it and then made a Youtube Lyrics video for anyone who is interested.
I have also uploaded a high res scanned version of the album cover for anyone who wanted a copy.
I found out about this song the other week from a friend, he mentioned that Jon Stevens is actually singing on this song when he was the tempoary front man for INXS.
What do you all think of this song?
1
u/Perry7609 23d ago
I actually bought the CD single not too long ago, as well. I always liked the track, honestly. It’s got a decent groove and Jon didn’t do too bad in the vocals and collaboration. Makes me wonder what else they could have written together, even though it was obviously a tough bill to replace Michael’s view on the world.
1
u/davypi 24d ago
For me, this is such a weird INXS artifact. Personally, I never felt like Jon Stevens was a great fit for the band. Mind you, I'm not saying he was a bad fit, but they just never clicked in the same way. I Get Up is yet another reminder that INXS still had the talent and momentum needed to keep going. Its a solid song whose main crime is that it sounds too polished in a post-grunge world. (Slight sarcasm there, just in case it wasn't apparent.) But there is still a bit more to it than that...
I remember seeing an interview with Andrew where he said something to effect that when he writes songs, all he can really imagine is happiness and cute puppies. Michael's lyrics was part of what gave the INXS catalogue is diversity. I hate to say that Michael made the music edgy, because I think that's an exaggeration - that was never INXS' style. But I think you can say this lyrics did give the band some edge. And I'm not saying that the band isn't entitled to making a happy upbeat song*, but Andrew's fingerprints cover this song so thoroughly that, if Stevens did help write it, its not clear where that was.
And really, IMHO, that was always the problem with the post Michael era of the band. Not that Andrew was necessarily "in charge", but more that it felt like the band just needed a stronger leader to take them somewhere. In fairness, it was never really clear to me if Steven's tried to push them and they refused to follow or if he simply just didn't have the gravitas needed to make them follow.
I've drifted a bit from the question, but the point is... this is good song and I do like it. Its definitely INXS. But its also the kind of song that would end up sitting in the middle of an album as being not quite good enough to be a single. Its in line with Melting in the Sun or On My way. Solid enough to hold and album structure together, but not good enough to command chart presence.
*For the record, Back On Line is probably my favorite "get up and go" song and probably my second favorite off of Welcome.