"God's Top Ten" is a song by Australian band

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

, which was released as the fifth single from their eleventh studio album, ''

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

'' (November 2005). The album was the first with new lead singer, J.D. Fortune, winner of the '' Rock Star: INXS'' competition. The single was released in 2006, but only in Poland and Canada as an airplay single, where it peaked at No. 18 and No. 88 respectively.

Song information

"God's Top Ten" was written by

guitarist and keyboardist,

Andrew Farriss Andrew Charles Farriss (born 27 March 1959) is an Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. He released his debut solo album in 2021. Career Andre ...

, and is predominantly about the late INXS frontman

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

(1960–1997), his partner,

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a Welsh television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was subjected to intense media ...

(1959–2000), and their daughter, Tiger Lily. Andrew and Tim Farriss (his brother, on guitar) have both separately said in TV interviews that this song is actually a gift for Tiger. In addition to new lead singer, J. D. Fortune's vocals, "God's Top Ten" also features the vocals of his fellow '' Rock Star: INXS'' contestant

Suzie McNeil Susan Jane "Suzie" McNeil is a Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. After garnering attention as a contestant on Rock Star: INXS in 2005, McNeil began pursuing a musical career and released her debut album, '' Broken & Beautiful'', on Apri ...

. Jane Stevenson of the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' reviewed ''

'' (November 2005) and described this track "A pretty piano hook kicks off this soulful, strings-laden tribute to he couple and their daughterwith McNeil and Fortune trading verses and singing together". During a radio interview with the BBC, Andrew changed the lyrics around to the song from "When you hear his songs, on the radio, I don't need to tell you what you already know" to "When she hears his songs on the radio, I don't need to tell her what she already knows" and also changed "He's on God's top ten, where heaven never ends" to "He's on God's top ten, he'll always be my friend". The term "God's Top Ten" was also used in the band's song "Here Comes", off their album ''

Shabooh Shoobah ''Shabooh Shoobah'' is the third studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 13 October 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band's first album to be released world ...

''. The lyrics read "Here comes my kamikaze, Here comes God's top ten, Nothing to be done to stop it, Nothing to get in its way".

Charts

References

{{authority control 2006 singles INXS songs Songs written by Andrew Farriss Commemoration songs Songs about musicians 2005 songs Song recordings produced by Guy Chambers Epic Records singles