Mirthful Monday Music: "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" by Split Enz

Here, apropos of nothing, is a jaunty sea chantey from Split Enz, an eclectic band from New Zealand. The band featured the Finn brothers, Tim and Neil, who went on to form the band Crowded House. Interestingly, the band had trouble getting the song played in England. For some strange reason, they thought it was a veiled criticism of the Falkland War, even though it was written and recorded months before the conflict actually started. Prescient, no?

When I was a young boy,
I wanted to sail 'round 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 tyrany of distance
Didn't stop the cavalier
So why should it stop me?
I'll conquer and stay free

Ah, come on 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

Shipwrecked 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 a leaky boat