It’s a really tough question for me: which is better, Savage Garden or Affirmation? They’re so similar in quality but in sound they’re quite different. Savage Garden’s second album was an event when released in late 1999, and I bet many were wondering if they could overcome the sophomore slump. While the debut made use of electronic beats and was very nineties in sound, Affirmation was more at home with the sound of the decade that was just around the corner. The pop-rock hits were less abrasive but bigger, more confident, more adult.
The best example of this is the massive title track, a shopping list of beliefs, a mission statement for the album, a song tailored for radio that would, hopefully, still make a personal connection with listeners. ‘Affirmation’ has some of my favourite lyrics ever and captures the basic values of the world right before the turn of the century. It also lay down the foundations for some of the other themes explored on the album: sexuality, family life, death.
I was always a little disappointed that such a huge track was followed by two middle-of-the-road ballads. I never got too excited about ‘Hold Me’, either back then or now, though I don’t avoid it. It’s just not one of Savage Garden’s more interesting moments, and the same can be said for ‘I Knew I Loved You’, which became the duo’s second Billboard number one hit. Though while ‘I Knew I Loved You’ is safe, it is beautiful, and when I hear it I can’t help but be sucked in by the pure loveliness of it all.
“I’ve been having difficulties keeping to myself
Feelings and emotions better left upon the shelf”
From there, a parade of radio-ready hits take us through the middle of the album. ‘The Best Thing’ and ‘The Animal Song’ are hugely energetic, with the sort of punch that recalls the more dance-influenced parts of the debut. I remember hearing ‘The Animal Song’ for the first time on the radio and being so happy that Savage Garden were back and that they were still as amazing as ever. That drum intro! My god.
‘Chained To You’ is an intense rush, and my favourite on the album back when I was nine. And having just discovered the magic of The Queen, I got a little kick out of the Madonna line. I remember being so disappointed when it peaked on the ARIA charts at #21, I thought it deserved to be number one for months. More success was given to ‘Crash And Burn’, a lovely ballad that was yet another radio staple – I’m so glad I liked them so much because I can see anyone who hated Savage Garden getting pretty annoyed with their dominance after a while. ’The Lover After Me’, then, is the last song on Affirmation that could have been a single, with jangly instrumental and a catchy chorus.
“Another bruise to try and hide, another alibi to write
Another lonely highway in the black of the night
But there’s hope in the darkness
You know you’re going to make it”
From here on in everything got a little bit more experimental, setting the tone for the Darren Hayes albums of the future. ‘Two Beds And A Coffee Machine’ is, I believe, Darren’s favourite Savage Garden song, and I remember being spellbound by the simple piano-and-vocal. The subject – divorce from a child’s perspective – is not new, but the fragile lyrics and tone were a window into the life of a vocalist who hadn’t yet had much of a chance to get personal with his listeners.
Compare that with the song that follows, ‘You Can Still Be Free’, Savage Garden’s greatest epic. A dramatic, theatrical masterpiece of loss and hope for the future, it is best experienced alongside ‘Gunning Down Romance’, which takes a less optimistic view of the situation.
“Love come quickly
Because I don’t think I can keep this monster in
It’s in my skin”
‘Gunning Down Romance’ doesn’t even feel like it’s from the same album as ‘Hold Me’ or ‘The Best Thing’. A dark-and-moody tearing down of all the squishy lyrics on songs like ‘Truly Madly Deeply’, it was the darkest they ever got, and perhaps they felt like the album should end on a slightly lighter note. Hence, ‘I Don’t Know You Anymore’, which isn’t much happier but still feels less claustrophobic.
The tour in support of Affirmation was my very first concert, on May 20, 2000. The ticket cost $48 – how times change! – and it was pretty much the most exciting thing that had ever happened. I remember standing on the chair (what an annoying little twat I was) and jumping up and down and singing and marvelling at the spectacle of it all. When Darren ran from one side of the stage to the other during the climax of ‘Affirmation’, I experienced that rush that only really amazing pop music can provide.
In the end, Affirmation is probably not quite as good as Savage Garden, but we’re talking minimal differences in quality here. In 2001, the duo would split, citing a need to “grow”. They would never work – or, as far as I know, even appear in public – together again. Daniel Jones would marry a member of Hi-5, launch a production company and a recording studio. He has lived a private life since the end of Savage Garden, which you would suspect is how he always wanted it. Darren Hayes, on the other hand, immediately started working on a solo career. But the first chapter of his career was over, and with Affirmation, Savage Garden went out with a bang.
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