The One Thing Listen Like Thieves Don't Change Inxs

posted on 9/11 so NYC themed
The One Thing Album: Shabooh Shoobah (1982)
Listen Like Thieves Album: Listen Like Thieves (1985)
Don't Change Album: Shabooh Shoobah (1982)
by Inxs

Written by guitarist Andy Farriss and lead singer Michael Hutchence, The One Thing is about having a girl who is beautiful and confident, with lots of men after her. It was the first song by this Australian group to make an impact in the United States, setting the groundwork for their international success in the mid-1980s.

The One Thing hit the charts as the band embarked on their first tour of America, first as the opener for Adam and the Ants, then as the support act for The Go-Go's (there was lots of intermingling on this tour - the bands' managers had to stay in contact to determine the whereabouts of their members). By the end of the tour, "The One Thing" had picked up steam and so did the band - at the US Festival in California, INXS earned an encore when they played on May 28, 1983.

With their photogenic frontman, INXS was a great fit for MTV. When the network started playing the video for this song, it gave them a huge boost and propelled the single onto the charts. The video was a strange one, but so was just about everything on MTV at the time, since there was no established protocol for the process and the network favored clips that were quirky and/or outrageous (beautiful people also helped). Regarding the video, INXS bass player Tim Farriss said in the book I Want My MTV: "We fed Valium to a few cats and had them running around a table while we had a feast with sexy models and Playboy centerfolds, ripping apart a turkey. Next thing we knew, we had a Top 40 hit in America."

The chorus is just eight words:

It's the one thing
You are my thing

According to The One Thing's co-writer, Andrew Farriss, that was all it needed. Speaking of Michael Hutchence as a songwriter, he told Songfacts: "He was very, very comfortable to sing those kinds of phrases, and he had the conviction to sing a phrase like that and repeat it, no problem. It wasn't because he was short of dialogue or creativity or because he couldn't think of extra words. In fact, one of the things I always noted with Michael as a lyricist was when he felt he had nothing more to say, he wouldn't say anything more than that, and I always appreciated that. He wouldn't try to justify his lyric, and I think there's a strength in that. Once he had a phrase or something that he felt was poignant or important to say, that was enough."

In Listen Like Thieves, Michael Hutchence asks us not to believe everything we read and hear. Discerning the truth takes vigilance, and it's all in our hands. By this time, Hutchence had a good feel for the media and understood their powers and limitations. As a rock star, he saw how he was processed for consumption, which was fine for entertainment, but not when it comes to news and politics. To get the real story, listen like thieves.

Hutchence wrote Listen Like Thieves with band members Andrew Farriss and Garry William Beers. Farriss talked about the phrase "listen like thieves" and the meaning behind the lyrics. "Michael put that string of words together," he said. "Someone said to me recently that it sounds like a British poet from back in the 19th century. But that particular string of words is not a modern vernacular."

Farriss added: "I think it's a very clever phrase to use for a song because through the generations there has been a constant struggle within most cultures to feel like you're controlling your own destiny within the government. I think that was part of what Michael's lyric was: The idea that the media haven't been great watchdogs, and that it is important that there are people who champion the truth. I think that's really what he was getting at."

This was the title track and last single from the fifth INXS album, which found them developing an international fanbase thanks to the lead single, "What You Need." "Listen Like Thieves" suffered because it didn't get a video - the band was very photogenic and did very well on MTV. Still, the song charted in both the US and UK at a time when they were not yet well known in those territories. That changed with the release of their next album, Kick, in 1987.

Lead Singer Michael Hutchence and keyboard player Andrew Farriss created this song in 1982 while recording their third album, Shabooh Shoobah. The song has a defiant feel, with Hutchence warding off negativity. Farriss offered this explanation: "Everything Changes, or does it? Nothing lasts forever and yet most of us at some point in our lives want it to."

"Don't Change" came as INXS were making a steady rise, gaining lots of ground in their native Australia and starting to get noticed in other parts of the world. Their career path was similar to that of U2, another band with a mega-charismatic frontman who was developing as a lyricist. Both groups released their biggest albums in 1987: The Joshua Tree and Kick. The adulation and concomitant expectations were hard for both Bono and Michael Hutchence to deal with, but Bono got through it. Hutchence had a much harder time, and in 1997 he took his own life.

The video was directed by Scott Hicks, who also did the INXS videos for "To Look at You" and "Spy of Love." It's low-budget but effective, with the band performing the song in a warehouse.

Don't Change is simple but effective, making it a popular cover for bands looking to rally the crowd. "It's a good pub band song," Andrew Farriss told Songfacts. "You don't have to know too many chords to play it."

Don't Change was the last song INXS played live. They used it to close their set at Perth Arena on November 11, 2012, wrapping up a tour as opening act for Matchbox Twenty, whose lead singer Rob Thomas joined them on vocals during the performance. The crowd was shocked when INXS announced from the stage that it would be their last show; they confirmed the news in a statement two days later.

INXS closed the July 13, 1985 "Oz For Africa" concert, which was the Australian contribution to Live Aid, with a five-song set ending with "Don't Change."
This was one of the most potent live songs in the INXS catalog. They played it at just about every show, but not at Wembley Stadium in 1991 when they shot their concert film Live Baby Live.