"Age of Reason" is a song by Australian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

singer

John Farnham John Peter Farnham AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

. Written by

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are " April Sun in Cuba", " Are You Old En ...

and Johanna Pigott, it was released as the first single from Farnham's 1988 album of the same name. The song topped Australia's

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 ...

for four weeks and became a top-five hit in New Zealand, where it peaked at number four. At the

APRA Music Awards of 1990 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1990 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of awards held in 1990. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Me ...

, the song won the Most Performed Australasian Popular Work award.

Composition

"Age of Reason" was composed by

and partner

Johanna Pigott Johanna Paton Pigott (born ca. 1955) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. Her best known hit songs are Dragon's "Rain" which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1983, Note: Used fo ...

, who had previously written the song "Rain" for Dragon and played together in the XL Capris. Pigott said, "You write songs and you're surprised at what you wrote sometimes, and you think, goodness, is that me, did I do that? It's not something you consider of perfect taste or anything, and someone records them and you think that's fantastic. It's a really exciting and thrilling thing."

Music video

The music video for "Age of Reason" was filmed in 1988 and included six key scenes, with the Victorian Children's Choir in three of the sequences: running through a scrap metal yard, running down a hill behind Farnham, and standing in a warehouse as Farnham walks between them. In the "making of" feature included on the '' One Voice: The Greatest Clips'' DVD, Farnham can be seen singing with the children after the film clip wraps shooting in the warehouse. They each received a copy of the track on vinyl.

Track listing

# "Age of Reason" (wxtended mix) – 7:42 # "Age of Reason" (album) – 5:08 # "

When the War Is Over "When the War Is Over" is a power ballad of Australian band Cold Chisel from their 1982 album ''Circus Animals''. The song was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and issued as the third single from the album, peaking at number 25 on the national ...

" – 4:49

Personnel

– vocals *

David Hirschfelder David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960, Ballarat, Victoria) is an Australian musician, film score composer and performer. As a musician he has been a member of Little River Band and John Farnham Band. He has composed film scores for many film ...

– keyboards, piano *

Brett Garsed Brett Edward Garsed (born 20 April 1963) is an Australian musician and songwriter, best known for his work as a guitarist with John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich, as well as being a former member of the American band Nelson. Garsed was featur ...

– guitars * Angus Burchall – drums and percussion *

Wayne Nelson Wayne Nelson (born June 1, 1950) is an American musician best known for being the current lead singer of the rock band Little River Band, in which he also plays bass. Shortly after his birth, Nelson's family moved to Rome, Illinois, a suburb ...

– bass *

Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born singer, musical theater actress and vocal coach. She was a backing vocalist for American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble Pi ...

– vocals * Lindsay Field – vocals * Thomas Metropouli – mandolin and piano accordion *

Lisa Edwards Lisa Anne Edwards (born 25 September 1958) is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her cover version of Godley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backing ...

– additional vocals *

Ross Hannaford Ross Andrew Hannaford (1 December 1950 – 8 March 2016) was an Australian musician, active in numerous local bands. He was often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he was best kn ...

– additional vocals * Joe Creighton – additional vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control John Farnham songs 1988 singles 1988 songs APRA Award winners Number-one singles in Australia RCA Records singles Songs written by Johanna Pigott Songs written by Todd Hunter