Song · Crowded House
“Better Be Home Soon” by Crowded House
From the album Temple of Low Men (1988)
“Better Be Home Soon” by Crowded House appears on 15 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1988 and 2025. It was first released in 1988 on the album Temple of Low Men. Its best result is #10 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #122 alternative song of 1988 and #1,385 alternative song of all time.
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"Better Be Home Soon" comes from Temple of Low Men, the second Crowded House album, released in the summer of 1988, and it's Neil Finn alone with his conscience, a quiet plea that sounds like it's sung with the car keys already in hand. He wrote it, sings it and plays guitar on it, with Paul Hester and Nick Seymour treading softly behind him.
Mitchell Froom produced, Tchad Blake recorded and Bob Clearmountain mixed, and they had the sense to leave it bare, with a gentle, almost country lilt. Capitol put it out as a single and it went to number two in both Australia and New Zealand. When APRA members picked the finest New Zealand songs of the 20th century in 2001, they put it at 33rd, and after Hester's death Finn sang it solo at the 2005 ARIA Awards while a montage of his late drummer's life played behind him.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 10 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 284 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 285 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 297 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 297 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 1366 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 297 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2003 | 1078 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 297 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2004 | 151 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2005 | 298 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2018 | 46 | Triple M | Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018) | 100 |
| 2019 | 892 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 892 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2025 | 38 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) | 100 |
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