Don't Believe Anymore

The Whitlams take on the Icehouse classic

This song initially appeared as a bonus track on the 2002 album Torch the Moon. It speaks of the loss of faith in a partner as the relationship dissolves. Tim Freedman’s version (the rest of the band don’t appear on it) adds a bit of up-tempo without losing the plaintiveness of the lyric.¹

I’m sharing the CD single because there’s a very interesting thing on it. At that point they were still trying to break into Canada and Europe so Tim translated the lyrics into French and recorded a French version which I really like.² They pitched it to the French market but it wasn’t picked up.

(FYI, I haven’t found a good alternative to Spotify and I found out that YouTube pays even less, so it’s back to posting Spotify links. Read this article to find out about the problems with Spotify and act accordingly.)

As for the video, funny story. The first time I heard this track I envisioned a woman running through the field, eventually being picked up and twirled around. The video also features running, but not quite the same way. Turns out the concept was about people getting beached like whales, with Tim being off balance but the Gold Coast didn’t co-operate on filming day.

And if you want to compare, here’s the original 1984 Icehouse version. Yes, it has the classic 80s sax in it.

Whichever version you choose, enjoy your song of the day!

1. He’s utterly brilliant at making a cover his own. There’s a fantastic Bacharach cover I’ve written about.

2. And will probably record at some point.