Music and British Identity: Split Enz

Primary members: Tim Finn, Phil Judd, Neil Finn
Band Biography
Albums of focus: Time and Tide (1982)
Songs for study:

 

"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" - from Time and Tide (1982)

Historical Note: This Split Enz song was reportedly banned by the BBC when the song appeared in 1982. The reason for this ban had to do with suspicions regarding the song's relevance to the recent events in the Falkland Islands.

When I was a young boy
I wanted to sail around the world
That's the life for me, living on the sea

Spirit of a sailor, circumnavigates the globe
The lust of a pioneer, will acknowledge no frontier
I remember you by, thunderclap in the sky
Lightning flash, tempers flare,
'round the horn if you dare

I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Lucky just to keep afloat

Aotearoa, rugged individual
Glisten like a pearl, at the bottom of the world
The tyranny of distance, didn't stop the cavalier
So why should it stop me, I'll conquer and stay free
Ah c'mon all you lads, let's forget and forgive
There's a world to explore, tales to tell back on shore
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Six months in a leaky boat

Ship-wrecked love can be cruel
Don't be fooled by her kind
There's a wind in my sails
Will protect and prevail
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Nothing to it leaky boat.