Dream Days at the Hotel Existence - Powderfinger

Sarah van Delden | 3 October 2007

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Dream Days at the Hotel Existence is Powderfinger’s sixth studio album, quite an achievement for an Australian band with humble Brisbane beginnings. The ‘Finger, as many loyal fans fondly call the group, have continued to maintain a strong following since the release of their first album back in 1994. So it was without surprise that many waited with bated breath for this latest album to be released. However the response has been mixed and varied. Some loved it. Some loathed it. Some were disappointed, hoping for a new creative edge, instead of more of the same from Powderfinger.

Despite that, I was looking forward to reviewing the latest offering by the group. Regrettably, I found myself struggling to get through the entire album in one sitting. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the mellow, rock sounds Powderfinger are famous for. I also quite enjoyed Bernard Fanning’s folky vocals, in moderate doses. But 11 tracks of songs very similar in pace, arrangement and theme didn’t encourage me to hit the repeat-disc button at the end.

Aside from the controversial social commentary song Black Tears, which Fanning openly said was inspired by the recent Palm Island death-in-custody trial, the rest of the tracks spoke of feelings of depression, loneliness, confusion, regret and apathy all resulting from a loss of romantic love.

As a Christian, what saddened me the most was the emotionally draining cycle of the pursuit of romantic love portrayed over and over again through the tracks. Love disappoints, let’s us down, gets tiring, yet it’s not possible to be truly happy without being in love, so you must pursue love, which disappoints, gets tiring...I think you get the point. It’s depressing.

Nobody knows just how it feels today
Nobody sees how our hearts break

When I hear those lyrics I want to shout out, “Not true! I know somebody who knows how it feels!” In Genesis 6:6, we are reminded that God knows how it feels. The LORD is grieved and His heart is filled with pain when He saw the mankind He had created rejecting Him and His love. It hurt. We can’t possibly understand the magnitude of this rejection. It’s us who don’t know how it feels.

In this album, apparently the only way to be content and free from worry is to rely on the romantic love shared by two people. The song Surviving suggests,

There’s no need now to worry
Our love’s still here tomorrow

But by the artist’s own admission, the idea is ironically flawed. Because the rest of the album is clearly dedicated to lamenting the fact that it is this very type of love that, despite best intentions, lets us down and doesn’t last.

Its no wonder Powderfinger view life as superficial and despairing! As the title of one track says so clearly, its meaningless and we’re still Lost and Running.

The cobblestones are dark and wet there’s no one i trust
The further we slip into this rabbit hole
The harder we look for a new place to go

The track Who Really Cares tries to point us to a hope of a better place, a promised land, a place of love.

Release me from this struggle to be free
Take my hand, lead me to the promised land of your love
Step outside of this superficial life

Oh how close to the truth! The frustrations and struggles of this world are caused by our bondage to sin. 1 John 4:16 tells us “God is love”. As Christians, we believe that the promised land we await is an eternity of perfect love with God. It is Christ who will lead us there if we continue trusting in him. “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (Jude 1:21 )

Dream Days at the Hotel Existence unsurprisingly contains the longings of many people’s hearts, the longing to be loved. Sadly though, it doesn’t point to the love of Christ as the only answer that will ever truly satisfy. Powderfinger have once again delivered a characteristically Powderfinger album.