Hope. loss. redemption. And a super catchy riff.

Bernard Fanning’s Tea and Sympathy and Ben Lee’s Awake Is The New Sleep were both published 20 years ago and share profound elements.

Relive the 2005 Hot 100 this Sunday!

Their respective barnstorming songs, “Wish You Well” and “Catch My Disease,” were inevitable.

Infectious, warm and open-hearted, they rightly topped the Hot 100 in 2005 and remain an Australian classic that soundtracks events, sings live and finds new life in remixes.

But it’s more than that.

bounce when it hits the bottom

Even though they are two very different people, the similarities in their deeply hopeful albums are striking, expressing tenderness and peaceful strength.

They were, and remain, templates of hope in difficult times.

Fanning’s older brother, John, died of cancer, ending a longtime relationship, and his country’s most famous band, Powderfinger, was forced to take a year off, exhausted by relentless touring and recording.

Lee was experiencing a “mental crisis” during the implosion of his breakup with Claire Danes, the Gen X icon who stole hearts in Baz Luhrmann’s emotional 1996 film Romeo + Juliet.

It was a fairy tale end to Bondi to Hollywood.

The actress began a new relationship with Billy Crudup, which led to actress Mary-Louise Parker also being pregnant with Crudup at the time.

two completely different men

Ben Lee and Bernard Fanning are two very different men in the narrow field of Australia’s most famous male musicians.

Fanning, the frontman of one of America’s most enduring bands, Powderfinger, had previously completed his first album, but it failed. The group exploded in popularity with their next work “Double Allergic”1996.

Lee, by contrast, broke out in 1995 when he was just 16 with the punk band Noise Addict, and had a hit solo record, Breathing Tornados, in 1998.

Exciting, ambitious and full of praise, he proclaimed himself the savior of Australian music.

Fanning called him a “precocious son of a bitch.”

Their most famous clash is indicative of the fundamentally easygoing atmosphere of our music industry. We can talk about this as one of the great feuds in Australian music. Even though it was only three words, Fanning later apologized.

Lee was precocious and was literally a child actor in a punk band in his early teens.

A better description would be that Lee can be belligerent, along with light and love.

Awake Is The New Sleep was heavily influenced by his time in the United States.

“I’m walking down Broadway / Each footstep is a new love letter,” he croons on “Begin,” before name-checking Beyoncé and her pals Good Charlotte on the album.

In America, greatness is celebrated and brashness is just show business. When Lee describes the gig as hand-to-hand combat, he’s not actually punching the punter.

But he doesn’t seem to mind the tension.

“There’s no airplay about me on the radio,” he sings. “And that’s the way I like it.”

Fanning, by contrast, is something of a Mr Australia (although he is not actually related to surfing champion Mick, as many believe).

He self-deprecatingly describes the album as “West End porch music”, and you can imagine him and his friends strumming it under the balcony of a rambling Queenslander’s house, holding an album that still resonates 20 years later.

where were they and where are they

I saw both of them perform live shortly after the album was released.

During the sweaty show at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel, Lee’s small stage was decorated with flowers inspired by the album’s artwork. For someone who has been through so much, Lee seemed to be in a Zen-like state of calm throughout.

The song begins with Apple Candy, a slow-burning song with a soft guitar and keyboard intro that depicts a romantic love triangle situation.

Someone in the crowd broke the silence.

“Fuck you, Billy!” they spat venom.

Lee didn’t even tremble. He kept strumming, shaking his head slowly and quietly.

He smiled and continued playing the song.

Fanning performed at Melbourne’s Festival Hall in what he called “the final night of the world tour.”

I was lucky enough to see everyone from Soundgarden, INXS and Oasis to Kanye West and the Sugababes in that huge venue. But the roar when Wish You Well begins is right there.

Singers Sime Nugent and Claire Bowditch also joined Watch Over Me, capping off a night that will be remembered with great fondness by thousands of Melburnians.

far from over

Last year, Lee participated in a tour to commemorate the album’s release. The response was enthusiastic.

At a gig in Melbourne, he added reverb at the end of each song, causing the sound to shake as applause rang out.

For those who loved these albums, and for those who discovered them years later, many have experienced similar repercussions in their own lives.

Fanning played a one-off gig in Queensland that sold out within minutes and is touring this year.

Powderfinger ended up squeezing out two more albums before calling it a day. “Dream Days at the Hotel Existence” and “Golden Rule.” The band disbanded in 2010.

Both Fanning and Lee continued to create.

Lee continues to tour relentlessly. He and his wife, actress Ione Skye, produce the podcast “Weirder Together,” which combines big questions, domestic challenges, and top-notch recognition from America’s cultural icons of the late ’90s and early 2000s. He continues to release new singles.

Fanning releases our better solo album, Teaming up with Something for Kate frontman Paul Dempsey in 2024 Produced the supergroup’s self-titled album “Fanning Dempsey National Park.”

Powderfinger wasn’t finished either.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country needed them most, they reunited for the online concert “One Night Lonely.”

And no one thinks it’s really over.

Can you imagine the roar at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Opening Ceremony when The Veronicas fade out from Untouched and Powderfinger drop the guitar growl of (Baby, I’ve Got You) On My Mind?

It would be nice to listen to it in Perth.

Double J will recreate the 2005 Hot 100 on Sunday at noon. Click here for details.