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Split Enz — I Got You
Album: True Colours
Avg rating:
7.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2189









Released: 1980
Length: 3:23
Plays (last 30 days): 2
I got you
That's all I want
I won't forget
That's a whole lot
I don't go out
Not now that you're in
Sometimes we shout
But that's no problem

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying

Look at you
You're a pageant
You're everything
That I've imagined
But something's wrong
I feel uneasy
You show me
Tell me you're not teasing

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell me you're not lying

There's no doubt
Not when I'm with you
When I'm without
I stay in my room
Where do you go
I get no answer
You're always out
It gets on my nerves

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying
But I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell me you're not lying
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying
Comments (184)add comment
With history in our rear view I remember at the time Split Enz versus The Swingers .. both putting NZ on the music map in the early 80s. Even Tim Finn had a hit which I confess I bought the 7" of. Fast forward and there's more than a fraction too much friction in the world... and more than a "typical male" and "typical woman". Ah, the 80s.
Even in the '80s, I'd always think this was the Cars when it came on.
Fantastic. Crowded House in it's infancy.
It's odd that I can't recall hearing this on the radio at all in 1980-1981.  It seemed it was finally played a couple of years later when British new wave got going.
are we sure this is not the cars?
 DW4554 wrote:

Epic early 80's power pop.  Finn Bros can do no wrong.  

Pairs really well with the Difford and Tilbrook classic, Another Nail In My Heart.



yes, please!
Wail !!

Great to hear the 'Enz' on RP - nice one, Bill.
 bialia wrote:

I too have one of the copies of this with the holograph etched vinyl. It's unique in my collection- I've never seen another disc like it!

This song is pretty cool too.



I also have one of these! 
To this day (and this minute) I think, the Cars! Then I remember...
The song is 42 years old.  I guess to today's kids, this song is like when Glenn Miller Orchestra or Benny Goodman came on TV back then and we'd be thinking "oh the grandparents must be loving this". {#Sad}
Epic early 80's power pop.  Finn Bros can do no wrong.  

Pairs really well with the Difford and Tilbrook classic, Another Nail In My Heart.
 hells_bells wrote:

Pearl Jam played this song at a concert in Melbourne in the late 90's.  I liked the song beforehand but loved it afterwards.  PJ did an amazing cover, every time I hear it I have a flashback to that concert.



Online anywhere? I'd really like to hear that...
 hells_bells wrote:

Pearl Jam played this song at a concert in Melbourne in the late 90's.  I liked the song beforehand but loved it afterwards.  PJ did an amazing cover, every time I hear it I have a flashback to that concert.



I love pearl jam but not their cover, sounds really luke warm to me in comparison and doesn't catch the energy of the original in any way.
GREAT TUNE!  I haven't heard this in a long time. I brings back memories.  Thanx RP!   
So reminiscent of the Hollies, Dave Clark 5, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and others of this time
Memories of the design 'laser cut' on that vinyl album.
I too have one of the copies of this with the holograph etched vinyl. It's unique in my collection- I've never seen another disc like it!

This song is pretty cool too.
The definition of Pop. This one here has it all. Great hook, great vocals & stylish instrumentation.
Simply the world's most perfect pop song.
I saw Neil at a not-very-large place (The Neptune in Seattle) several years ago. Great show. Eddie Vedder came out & joined in on this song! Totally amazing & absolutely surreal -- one of those "what is HAPPENING?!?" moments.
Thanks Bill, you can never play Split Enz too much!!! 
Went to  see them in Napier NZ in Jan 1980 ,packed that album around the South Pacific for months .A week after getting home they played in on CKLG FMs import album hour 
 jbuhl wrote:
I get frightened when a reality TV star gets control of my country.{#Cry}


and he's still around. 
more Finn Bros pls. Decades of pure quality
There was trash in the 80's, but there were also diamonds like this disk. This song was overplayed, but it still holds up, 40 years later.
 drmike wrote:
but your ok with a biden, LOL- takes all kinds. 

Two non sequiturs do not make a right.
 jbuhl wrote:
I get frightened when a reality TV star gets control of my country.{#Cry}



but your ok with a biden, LOL- takes all kinds. 
Always loved the keyboard solo on this song.
 vandal wrote:


So here it is, some 13 years later and my copy turns out to be worth between $30-$40 USD. According to the price tag still on it, I paid $6.44 for it in 1980.  That's a return on investment of 521.12%. 



I was intrigued by this, so just Googled the inflation on $6.44 from 1980... Roughly $20 now. Still a good return though...
 themotion wrote:
vandal wrote:
This is a great song! I have a laser etched black vinyl copy of this album - in its day that was the shiznit. It's in mint condition, I wonder what its worth?
shiznit
 

So here it is, some 13 years later and my copy turns out to be worth between $30-$40 USD. According to the price tag still on it, I paid $6.44 for it in 1980.  That's a return on investment of 521.12%. 
 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:
I'm amazed this song ever made it outside of NZ. I mean, it's a nice tune, Finn vocals are always great and so on.. but there are some weak points in the lyrics in the verses and the main line in the chorus doesn't really grab me either. At least the song is pretty honest and not phoney. And it was Neil's first big hit and he really evolved into a master songsmith. .so. yeah. guess I have mixed feelings about this song.
 
Was a big hit here in Cleveland at the time.  Lot's of airplay.  Still have the vinyl.
The chorus "I don't know why sometimes I get frightened" really reminds me of one of those  songs from that Tom Hanks movie That Thing You Do!
We heard it quite often in the early 80s on KROQ FM.  I liked playing it at parties   coloradojohn wrote:
It came out in '80, but this didn't get much airtime here until '86...then, when "Don't Dream It's Over" was such a smash hit, there was suddenly a lot of talk about Split Enz; we didn't have time to be disappointed they were done; we embraced the whole Crowded House.
 

Power Pop template for the ages. The gold standard. Finn brothers rule.

Right up there with the Difford & Tilbrook masterpiece: Another Nail in My Heart.
What a hook. I am Hooked...How 'bout you?
I went to see Mr Finn and family play at the Akaroa Gaiety Theatre (capacity maybe 200) a couple of years back. Everyone there knew all the words to all the songs.
We lifted the roof off!
I was in Auckland recently, and caught Neil fronting Fleetwood Mac, and they did this. 

Hometown boy does GOOD. And the crowd, at the chorus, all jumping and singing along. What a fantastic moment for me - but certainly for him. I was so fortunate to have things align so that I was able to go.

I must be peanut butter, because now you're jelly, right?
 the_jake wrote:

Star?!?
 
Monstar?
Moscow's Man

LMAO
 jbuhl wrote:
I get frightened when a reality TV star gets control of my country.{#Cry}
 
How's it working out?

Sounds like a high school band. 3.
When I saw young Neil Finn singing this I chuckled. God we were all young then!
not a bad song from a pretty good Kiwi band. Saw them in christchurch about 1975.  not many bands have a guy playing the spoons I can tell ya
One of my first vinyl albums. I was 10 or 11. Holographic colour press on Side A. Played the crud out of this.  
 df1489 wrote:
this is  still good Finn bros stuff...

 

Yes! You'd have a hard time back in '80 connecting this to their current work, but it's a greatgreat pop song even today.
Pearl Jam played this song at a concert in Melbourne in the late 90's.  I liked the song beforehand but loved it afterwards.  PJ did an amazing cover, every time I hear it I have a flashback to that concert.
Thanks for the play just now of this, Mr. Bill/Mrs. Rebecca. If anyone ever needed it, it'd have been me today. Took the entire 3:23 to dance like nobody's watching (no one was). And it was good. All of it. (RIP to a personal icon, a lion of inspiration & imagination & glorious beauties, Karl Lagerfeld.) 
Awwwww. Now gotta go look up the adorbs video too. 
"It gets on my nerves"   One of the best & well placed lyric lines.
whenever I hear this tune I need to go and watch this
Think I'm moving this song to a 10. It's just constant perfection. 
 kingart wrote:
35 years gone. Holy shit! omg. wtf? ayfk? 
Some of my theme music for my first year living in Brooklyn.  
Practically antedeluvian.
The tune is still catchy and fun. 

 
What he said. 3 years later. 
If you can just forget it's 2017, this song sounds a whole lot better.
I was living in Australia in 1980 and Split Enz, INXS and Midnight Oil were all around back then - good times.
HA! music from the right Hemisphere. Listening to ya from New Zealand
 the_jake wrote:

Star?!?

 
"reality TV" is a pretty low bar.
 kingart wrote:
35 years gone. Holy shit! omg. wtf? ayfk? 
Some of my theme music for my first year living in Brooklyn.  
Practically antedeluvian.
The tune is still catchy and fun. 

 
Antediluvian from the antipodes!


 jbuhl wrote:
I get frightened when a reality TV star gets control of my country.{#Cry}

 
Star?!?
I get frightened when a reality TV star gets control of my country.{#Cry}
It came out in '80, but this didn't get much airtime here until '86...then, when "Don't Dream It's Over" was such a smash hit, there was suddenly a lot of talk about Split Enz; we didn't have time to be disappointed they were done; we embraced the whole Crowded House.
If I had a time machine,,,,, this is where I would go for a few minutes..
I remember how unique/fresh this sounded here in the states in 1980. Still great.
This pop song = my 80's. Always reaching for that one perfect feeling. 
great pop song I always liked it,
pop is a music genre too
{#Cowboy} great stuff ! allways been a big fan of the enz / the enz have been sampled hundreds of times over the years / right on
 Sweet_Virginia wrote:
THis was their first BIG album in Australia, I remember seeing them doing this in a small country town hall (Bathurst). Before this they were a college band, after this they really hit the big time. Tim Finn was the big draw at this time and Neil was very much in the background. I hung out with Tim at a local pub afterwards for a while. The term 'on himself git' came to mind. Neil came across as a nice guy.

 
Tim's the big brother, and they, being one meself, like to be in front. IMHO, he couldn't get past the idea that his little brother, like mine, is the more musically gifted, talented. Then again, Neil never speaks ill of Tim, and the two of them have made a couple of sublime albums. My brother and I play together whenever we can to our mutual satisfaction and affection.
I always thought this song was called "Sometimes I Get Frightened"...

Like I paid attention to anything in the 80s... 
 Steely_D wrote:

I always felt Tim, when he joined Crowded House, was basically a latter day Yoko. The band was never the same afterward.

 
"A latter day Yoko" ...ouch! Now there's an insult.
 Sweet_Virginia wrote:
Tim Finn was the big draw at this time and Neil was very much in the background. I hung out with Tim at a local pub afterwards for a while. The term 'on himself git' came to mind. Neil came across as a nice guy.
 
I always felt Tim, when he joined Crowded House, was basically a latter day Yoko. The band was never the same afterward.
7.1? Who are you old cranky fools who don't love this? Great early 80's pop-rock smart nugget of fun. Silly English Ka-niggits.
LOVE ME SOME ENZ{#Bananajam}{#Bananapiano}{#Drummer}{#Dancingbanana}{#Bananasplit}{#Dancingbanana_2}{#Bounce}
I'm amazed this song ever made it outside of NZ. I mean, it's a nice tune, Finn vocals are always great and so on.. but there are some weak points in the lyrics in the verses and the main line in the chorus doesn't really grab me either. At least the song is pretty honest and not phoney. And it was Neil's first big hit and he really evolved into a master songsmith. .so. yeah. guess I have mixed feelings about this song.

Yay! Kiwi music.

Saw them in Dunedin around '74 and was absolutely blown away by the music, the suits, the craziness, the SPOONS ...
pop is a genre too
i always liked this song 
It was this song that turned me on to the Finns for the first time. Bought the Split Enz album in 1980 just for this song. But I had no idea what their name was till I put together sometime after Crowded House.
Feel good song of the day! {#Jump}
Classic flashback to high school.  Love it!
 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, 35 years; scary isn't it?  Some of the theme music from my first year at SVA - pretty sure it was on the jukebox in the 'lounge'.  It is still a cool tune.

 
I suspected you were a SVA product (exceptional wit and keen eye)!
ick, that "lounge" was sticky and gross, really didn't spend much time in the 23rd St building (fine arts major '83 - '87 : )
fun tune 
wow, RP working overtime, keep up the good work
7 was made for this one. Good 60s-ish fun.
 kingart wrote:
35 years gone. Holy shit! omg. wtf? ayfk? 
Some of my theme music for my first year living in Brooklyn.  
Practically antedeluvian.
The tune is still catchy and fun. 

 
Yeah, 35 years; scary isn't it?  Some of the theme music from my first year at SVA - pretty sure it was on the jukebox in the 'lounge'.  It is still a cool tune.
 ick wrote:

If I remember correctly this cover came in all different kinds of color schemes... so you could pick your "true colors" so to speak.

 
True. This one did and the next one (which I liked better) called "Waiata" in the States and "Corroboree" elsewhere

.
Getting more and more interested in this band thanks to RP. Sounds smart, not trying to make a mere pastiche of the eighties with no cultural background, in fact that sounds quite sixties to my ears, too. Hardworking songwriters and clean production. 8+.
35 years gone. Holy shit! omg. wtf? ayfk? 
Some of my theme music for my first year living in Brooklyn.  
Practically antedeluvian.
The tune is still catchy and fun. 

This scores points for rarity and nostalgia (and it was happily never overplayed, even when new - Up Where We Belong comes to mind, but I don't know why), as well as the aimlessly wandering synthesiser during the verses - this part is more interesting than the repetitiveness of, say Gary Numan or The Stranglers, or the clinical precision of Blondie or The Human League, but only this part...

Looking forward to hearing it again after another 34 years!


Shark attack is best song from this album, IMHO
 
Classic 80's.  Love it.
 
Sweet_Virginia wrote:
THis was their first BIG album in Australia, I remember seeing them doing this in a small country town hall (Bathurst). Before this they were a college band, after this they really hit the big time. Tim Finn was the big draw at this time and Neil was very much in the background. I hung out with Tim at a local pub afterwards for a while. The term 'on himself git' came to mind. Neil came across as a nice guy.

 
Of course you know they're Kiwis, not Aussies - but the git bit is still fairly accurate for Tim having seen him be v arrogant at a great Maori-Celtic-Island fusion music event in Aukland in 2008.  Good pop though.
 
Saw this tour in Winnipeg at the Native Club, quirky but so original. Easily in my top 10 concerts that blew me away and delivered way more than expected.
Gotta luv the Finn brothers....great song!!
Hey Bill, don't mean to sound like I'm nitpicking here...but the correct spelling for the album title is "True Colours".
Two comments below sum it up nicely: Hooks and riffs from the 60's matched with 80''s lyrics make for utterly enjoyable crap.
 DaveInVA wrote:


Here is the correct artwork for this LP

I still have the laser etched picture disc LP of this around here somewhere..

 
If I remember correctly this cover came in all different kinds of color schemes... so you could pick your "true colors" so to speak.
THis was their first BIG album in Australia, I remember seeing them doing this in a small country town hall (Bathurst). Before this they were a college band, after this they really hit the big time. Tim Finn was the big draw at this time and Neil was very much in the background. I hung out with Tim at a local pub afterwards for a while. The term 'on himself git' came to mind. Neil came across as a nice guy.
my very first song I down loaded from kazara file sharing days!
 stackarukk wrote:
this song brings back so many memories from the 80's
 
It actually goes all the way back to back to 60's garage rock, like "Needles and Pins", and "Pretty Things-o".
this song brings back so many memories from the 80's
 tutakea wrote:

utterly enjoyable crap
 
What a great comment!  Absolutely nails this. 


The interesting thing is that the hook is 100% 60s British Invasion.  The verses are pure 80s, but the hook ...
 DaveInVA wrote:


Here is the correct artwork for this LP

I still have the laser etched picture disc LP of this around here somewhere..

  Yep. I have one too. My cover is a different color scheme. It's blue background with orange inside shapes. Great memories from a great album. Pure 80s pop genius.

Crowded Enz - funny!

Picture the Aussies dancing...., hihihihi!




Laser etched hologram on the vinyl version ...

Wow ! I haven't heard this since the 80's.It's very strange how well I remember the tune.
Like it's been stuck in the back of my brain for all this time..
Ah...sweet memories of MTV during the good years...
Why? Explanation please!
 
finoufk wrote:
muzak .....{#Yell}
 


muzak .....{#Yell}
in the beginning I thought he sounded like George Harrison, anyone else?

 krysthal wrote:
Anything Neil Finn is awesome to my ears!

 


I agree!!
Anything Neil Finn is awesome to my ears!

Like, this music, like, totally, like takes me back.

Oh, Pastel...


stop it, now
I WANT MY MONEY BACK
Brings back too many memories to rate it any lower than an 8.
I've got this on vinyl too (true colors).  I don't like any of the other songs on the album though.

great early Finn effort - hinting at future greatness... but yes .... stuck squarely in the '80s
this is so ridicilously 80-ish! give this song to an alien visiting earth, and he may not need to hear another song from this decade to understand what the 80s were all about.
and although there is plenty of everything in this song which made the 80s so embarrasing to look at from now, i must admit this song is.... great!
utterly enjoyable crap


Here is the correct artwork for this LP

I still have the laser etched picture disc LP of this around here somewhere..

Heard this again the other day—-what a pure pop pleasure. 

Why does all that other 80's crap ("Livin' on a Prayer", "Separate Ways", "Sister Christian", et al.) get endlessly regurgitated, yet something this good hits my ears only about once a year?




Yea, this is just a great song of any era! Love the chorus{#Clap}