1001 Songs Challenge #548: I Got You (1980)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenging of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post everyday (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be…

 

Split Enz – I Got You (1980)

From Venezuela across the Pacific Ocean and down to New Zealand we are heading today, dear reader. It’s the end of 1980 for us so a privilege it is to be in a beautiful place. We are venturing into post punk and rock circles with our latest guests. You may not have heard of Split Enz, I hadn’t, but they were formed in 1973 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and enjoyed a lot of success in their homeland and in Australia for that matter as well. Following a difficult tour in the US in 1977 Phil Judd quit the band with Tim bringing in his younger brother, Neil Finn, to replace him. When we join the group in 1980 they are in the UK having relocated there a couple of years earlier. This year would mark the release of their fifth album – True Colours – and from that album came their biggest hit – I Got You.

I Got You was written by Neil Finn and follows the story of a guy who is in a relationship with a girl he really loves and she seems to love him too. So far so good. However, our narrator is very insecure and jealous when it comes to his girlfriend. He tells her that now they are together he stays home and has no need to go out. There is a suggestion he wants her to do the same thing but she doesn’t want to. Instead, said girlfriend likes being with her boyfriend but also wants to go out with her friends as well. The narrator’s jealousy is threatening to ruin the relationship but he insists such feelings are born of love. 

I Got You would be Split Enz’s biggest hit, topping the charts back in New Zealand and narrowly missing out on the Top 10 in the UK. Although the song wouldn’t lead to continued success for the band in Europe and America, their legacy remained strong back home. Differences between Tim and Neil would lead to the group disbanding in 1984. That wasn’t the end of the story though as Neil would form a new band by the name of Crowded House and, as you will probably know, they did rather well in the years that followed.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Doors – The End (1967)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (1978)

The Police – Message in a Bottle (1979)

Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980)

Ultravox – Vienna (1980)