"Chocolate Cake" is a song by

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

group

Crowded House Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later ban ...

from their third studio album, ''

Woodface ''Woodface'' is the third studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol in July 1991. It features five singles "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet" ...

'' (1991). Released as a single in May 1991, the song reached number seven in New Zealand, number nine in Canada, and number two on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. The

John Hillcoat John Hillcoat (born 1960) is an Australian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and music video director. Early life Hillcoat was born in Queensland, Australia, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, his paintings were featur ...

-directed music video won the

ARIA Award for Best Video The ARIA Award for Best Video, is presented at the annual ARIA Awards, which recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an o ...

at the

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.ARIA Award previous winners.

History and description

The song was not originally intended as the lead single, as it was more intended for " It's Only Natural" to be the lead track. However, despite this, "Chocolate Cake" was released as the album's lead single. Despite performing marginally better than the singles from ''

Temple of Low Men ''Temple of Low Men'' is the second studio album by New Zealand-Australian rock band Crowded House, released by Capitol Records on 5 July 1988. The three band members, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester, recorded the album in Melbourne and ...

'' in the United States, the song was thought to offend due to its lyrics and the song gained only moderate performance in the US, as it referred to Americans having an "excess of fat on your American bones". The song reached number two on the US ''

chart while also peaking at number 20 on the Australian

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and number 69 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The B-sides featured are "As Sure as I Am", a song from ''Woodface'', and "Anyone Can Tell", which was intended for release on the album however was not released due to the amalgamation of the Woodface project with the Finn Brothers project. The song later appeared on the rarities collection ''

Afterglow An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mainl ...

'' and was released as its lead promotional single.

Tracks

* "Chocolate Cake": written by

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

and

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

* "As Sure as I Am", "Anyone Can Tell": written by Neil Finn * Both "Chocolate Cake" and "As Sure as I Am" are from the album "Woodface". "Anyone Can Tell" is an outtake from the "Woodface" sessions, later to be released on the album "Afterglow" Single release * Released in UK as CD single and 7-inch vinyl and in US as cassette # "Chocolate Cake" – 4:02 # "As Sure as I Am" – 2:53 EP release * Released in UK as CD single and 12-inch vinyl and in US and Japan as CD # "Chocolate Cake" – 4:02 # "As Sure as I Am" – 2:53 # "Anyone Can Tell" – 3:37

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chocolate Cake (Song) 1991 singles 1991 songs ARIA Award-winning songs Capitol Records singles Crowded House songs Song recordings produced by Mitchell Froom Songs written by Neil Finn Songs written by Tim Finn