Single:
Six Months in a Leaky Boat entered the Australian singles chart* on 31 May 1982 and peaked at #2. The song was #22 on the Top 100 of 1982.
Album:
The song is on Time and Tide which entered the Australian albums chart* on 26 April 1982 and peaked at #1.
Songwriters:
Tim Finn, Split Enz
Producers:
Hugh Padgham, Split Enz
Record label of Australian release:
Mushroom
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
This song is about the roughly six-month sea voyage explorers like Captain Cook made from Britain to colonise Australia and New Zealand. It was written by Tim Finn, who was inspired by a book called The Tyranny Of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia’s History, written by Geoffrey Blainey and published in 1966. He lifted part of the book title for the line:
The tyranny of distance
Didn’t stop the cavalier
So why should it stop me
I’ll conquer and stay free
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/split-enz/six-months-in-a-leaky-boat
Lyrics:
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
Click for full lyrics
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