The 13 Best Powderfinger Songs

Powderfiner are back! After a 16-year layoff, the Brisbane rockers have revealed they are reuniting for a run of shows across Australia next year, kicking things off in September.

This is huge news for Aussie music lovers, and is akin to when legends such as Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil got back together.

Formed in Brizzy way back in 1989, the band's lineup from 1992 until their demise in 2010 consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer Jon Coghill, with all five returning for the reunion tour.

Powderfinger released seven studio albums in all, with the final five – Internationalist (1998), Odyssey Number Five (2000), Vulture Street (2003), Dream Days at the Hotel Existence (2007) and Golden Rule (2009) – all topping the ARIA Albums Chart.

With 18 ARIA Awards to their name, tens of millions of streams across all platforms and three top-ten singles – 'My Happiness' (2000), '(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind' (2003) and 'Lost and Running' (2007) – the band's 2027 tour is a joyous blast of nostalgia that's sure to sell thousands of tickets and result in a new concert film and possibly an album.

Keen to celebrate Powderfinger's legacy, we've been spinning all seven of the band's LPs and have come up with a list of the best (and our favourite) songs from Fanning and Co's stacked back catalogue.

'My Happiness' (Odyssey Number Five, 2000)

Let's kick things off with Powderfinger's most celebrated track: 'My Happiness'.

Many misinterpret 'My Happiness' as a love song, when it's actually about the loneliness Fanning experienced while on tour.

Is it the best track on their 2000 LP Odyssey Number Five? Far from it, but it is the song that resonated with people not just here in Australia, but overseas.

I can still remember living in a backpacker's hostel in Newquay, England, and hearing this song played multiple times per day by Aussie Steve, one of the guys who worked there and was obsessed with Powderfinger. Good times.

'Pick You Up' (Double Allergic, 1996)

The song that first got Powderfinger noticed, 'Pick You Up' gained national radio play and peaked at #23 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Taken from Powderfinger's sophomore album Double Allergic, 'Pick You Up' sounds more produced than the band's previous releases, with Fanning's soulful delivery complementing the grunge-influenced instrumentation.

It was the first sign the band had the chops to craft not only tasty melodies, but ones that would cross over into the charts, kick-starting Powderfinger's soon-to-be realised dominance of the airwaves for the next 15 odd years.

'(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind' (Vulture Street, 2003)

The first single from Powderfinger's 2003 album Vulture Street is a straight-up rocker that harkens back to the band's roots.

Middleton and Haug absolutely let rip on the guitars, their frenzied riffs feeding Fanning's lyrics about former radio and television personality John Burgess, with the intro to the song said to be a tribute to David Bowie's 'Suffragette City'.

This is a great driving track and one that will get the energy levels up.

'Lost and Running' (Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, 2007)

Written during the band's hiatus from the spotlight, 'Lost and Running' was the first track laid down during Powderfinger's recording session at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles.

Very radio-friendly, 'Lost and Running' is quite a simple track that's a lot more positive than many Powderfinger offerings and was said to be influenced by likes of David Bowie, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones.

'Father's Pyramid' (Parables for Wooden Ears, 1994)

This is the only track from Powderfinger's debut album Parables for Wooden Ears that appears on this list.

No doubt there will be people who disagree with this choice, but 'Father's Pyramid' is like a grunge/alt-rock hybrid that feels like Fanning trying to replicate Pearl Jam, but in a good way.

I know, not an overly convincing reason to put this one on here, but it's a personal favourite and gives listeners a glimpse into the angsty rock that kicked off the band's career.

'Waiting for the Sun' (Odyssey Number Five, 2000)

When it comes to album openers, Powderfinger nailed it with 'Waiting for the Sun'.

A powerful intro to Odyssey Number Five, it's a song about keeping relationships alive while on the road, which is funny when you consider the track was first released as a single in America to help with the band's push to break into the international market.

While that didn't eventuate (the September 11 attacks happened just as they began to make ground), Powderfinger focused on the local market, becoming one of the country's biggest bands.

'Burn Your Name Away' (Golden Rule, 2009)

Speaking of upbeat and positive, it doesn't get more joyous than 'Burn Your Name Away'.

Taken from Powderfinger's final album, the underrated Golden Rule, this one is a pure and unadulterated love song that finds Fanning expressing, "I want every single soul to know / That I love you for what you are". How romantic.

The accompanying music video was shot in Thailand during the Yi Ping festival and features the lads walking through the streets and lighting rice paper lanterns that are propelled into the sky.

'The Metre' (Odyssey Number Five, 2000)

Released as part of a double single alongside 'Waiting for the Sun', 'The Metre' captures the melancholy essence that runs through Odyssey Number Five.

It's a melodic soft rocker about coming to terms with the passing of time that finds the sweet spot right in between Powderfinger's rock inclinations and Fanning's love of a good ballad.

'D.A.F.' (Double Allergic, 1996)

Taking its name from the chord progression D, A, F, this rock and roller from Double Allergic came out when Powderfinger were still in their '90s alt-rock stage. And that's not a complaint, as the band's pre-Odyssey Number Five career is full of well-worked guitar songs that are simple but easy on the ear.

'The Day You Come' (Internationalist, 1998)

The first single taken from Powderfinger's third album Internationalist was also the first time the band got political.

While no one person or party is singled out on 'The Day You Come', the song's cryptic lyrics find Fanning expressing his thoughts on the political climate in 1998, which just so happened to be released around the same time as Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party began to make itself known.

Lyrics aside, 'The Day You Come' has a real mody feel that's less Aussie alternative and more art-rock, with Brisbane trio Tiddas adding extra vocals.

'My Kind of Scene' (Odyssey Number Five, 2000)

Written for Powderfinger's Odyssey Number Five, 'My Kind of Scene' first found its way on the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack as 'Not My Kinda Scene'.

While a little out of place next to Limp Bizkit's 'Take a Look Around' and Metallica's 'I Disappear', the song resonated with Aussie audiences, who voted it in at #3 on the triple j Hottest 100 of 2000.

It's another great sing-along track, with Fanning's lyrics addressing feelings of isolation from the point of view of a male.

'Passenger' (Internationalist, 1999)

The perfect prelude to what was to come on follow-up album Odyssey Number Five, 'Passenger' is trademark Powderfinger.

Middleton and Haug's guitar work is on point; Collins' bass slithers beside the horn section as Coghill keeps the pace with his rhythmic drumming. Then there's Fanning, whose warm tone washes over you like the memory of an old friend.

Even the out-of-tune guitars at the start of 'Passenger' feel like a work of genius, with the band showing their flair for big, pop hooks on one of the standout tracks taken from Internationalist.

'These Days' (Odyssey Number Five, 2000)

Although never released as a single, 'These Days' was a huge hit with the music-listening public, going on to top triple j's Hottest 100 of 1999.

Powderfinger wrote the song for director Gregor Jordan's indie crime flick Two Hands, an Aussie cult classic starring Heath Ledger, Rose Byrne and Bryan Brown.

A constant in their setlists, 'These Days' was the last song played at each of Powderfinger's farewell tour shows and their final song performed live, which you can check out below.