I See Red (Split Enz song)

"I See Red" is a 1978 song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz. It was released in December 1978 as the lead single from their studio album Frenzy.

Not to be confused with I See Red (Jim Rafferty song).

"I See Red"
Single by Split Enz
from the album Frenzy
B-side
  • "Hermit McDermitt"
  • "Message Boy"
ReleasedDecember 1978
RecordedStarling Studios, England, 1978
GenreNew wave, punk rock, hard rock
Length3:15
LabelMushroom Records
Songwriter(s)Tim Finn
Producer(s)David Tickle
Split Enz singles chronology
"Bold as Brass"
(1977)		 "I See Red"
(1978)		 "Give It A Whirl"
(1979)
Alternative cover
Cover to the 1989 re-release.

"I See Red" was the second Split Enz song to achieve a top 20 chart position, peaking at #15 in Australia and #43 in the band's native New Zealand.[1]

Recording

Tim Finn said, "That's a one-off thing we did at Startling Studios which is Ringo Starr's studio - it used to be John Lennon's place. The engineer out there got to know us and liked us and gave us some free time when the studio wasn't being used."[2] Elsewhere, he said, "We were on the bones of our arse. Somebody suggested this young guy (David Tickle) that they thought would be worth trying. It was an experiment. We ended up at Startling Studios, which was John Lennon's house when he and Yoko were doing Imagine and all that. So, it had acres of legendary pathos and meaning for us to be there."[3]

Music video

The music video for "I See Red" begins with Tim Finn angrily ripping his hair out (the first line of the lyrics indicates "When my baby's walking down the street/I see red, I see red, I see red"). Finn returns to the band and sings the rest of the song with them. All are wearing grey suits with black markings, white shirts and red ties. The studio is low lit with a white or red spotlight on different members of the band, occasionally lighting up a backdrop completely but predominantly keeping to white and red light. At the very end of the song, musically, the song silences very suddenly instead of fading out or being ended at the end of a bar, because of the tape running out during recording. In the music video, the band members disappear from the performance area at the same moment, leaving only their instruments in place.

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Finn.

7" vinyl
Side A
  1. "I See Red" - 3:15
Side B
  1. "Hermit McDermitt" - 3:42
  2. "Message Boy" - 3:51

Coloured 7" vinyl reissue

Reissued in 1989 to coincide with the release of greatest hits album History Never Repeats - The Best Of Split Enz. Released with new artwork to match History Never Repeats. Live version recorded at Festival Hall, Melbourne, November 1984.

  1. "I See Red" - 3:15
  2. "I See Red" (live) - 4:15

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 15
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 43

Year-end charts
Chart (1979) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 90

Cover versions

According to Mike Chunn, former Split Enz member and writer of the biography Stranger Than Fiction: The Life And Times Of Split Enz, Bette Midler approached them backstage at a 1980 concert in Los Angeles and expressed her fondness for the song and discussed with the band the idea of recording her own version, though this never materialized.[7] In 2012, the New Zealand Army Band covered the song as part of their performance for the Arrowtown 150th anniversary celebrations.[8]

Sources
  • Chunn, Mike (1992). Stranger than fiction : the life and times of Split Enz. Wellington, N.Z.: GP Publications. ISBN 1-86956-050-7. OCLC 31240332.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

References
  1. I See Red by Split Enz : Reviews and Ratings. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  2. Milne, Bruce (March 1979). "Split Enz Blood n Guts Romantics". Roadrunner. Parkside, SA: 12–13.
  3. Dan Condon (29 July 2020). "'We wouldn't let the industry defeat us': How True Colours changed Split Enz forever". Double J.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives: Australian Chart Book. p. 288. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
  5. "Split Enz – I See Red". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 3 December 2020 – via Imgur.com.
  7. Chunn 1992
  8. "New Zealand Army band 'See Red' with Split Enz classic". The New Zealand Herald. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
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