Tim Finn, OBE (born Brian Timothy Finn on 25 June 1952 in Te Awamutu, New Z… Read Full Bio ↴Tim Finn, OBE (born Brian Timothy Finn on 25 June 1952 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career began as a member of New Zealand's art-rock pioneers, Split Enz, and he eventually emerged as one of the band's chief songwriters and most recognizable voices. Since that time Finn has released a number of solo albums, and was for a time a member of brother Neil Finn's band Crowded House. He and Neil Finn have also released albums as the Finn Brothers.

Finn started a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Auckland in 1971. There he jammed in music practice room 129 (later the name of a Split Enz song) with friends and future Split Enz bandmembers Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies, Philip Judd and Noel Crombie. Music soon became more important to him than his studies; in mid-1972 he quit university. A few months later, Judd and Finn (the band's members used their middle names as stage names) formed group Split Ends (renamed Split Enz, shortly before their first move to Melbourne in 1975). The bands' music style is best described as eclectic, incorporating influences from art rock, vaudeville, swing, punk, glam rock, rock and pop. Between 1972 and 1977, Finn and Judd alternated as frontman for the band. Once Judd permanently left the band, Tim Finn's younger brother Neil Finn took his place.

In 1983 Finn recorded his debut solo album, Escapade, while still a member of Split Enz. This met with major commercial success both in Australia and New Zealand, and yielded hit song Fraction Too Much Friction. After contributing four songs to the Split Enz album Conflicting Emotions, Finn left the band permanently in June 1984, to focus on a solo career. The following year he moved to London. 1986 saw the release of his second solo album Big Canoe.

In late 1989, Finn was back living in Melbourne, recording his eponymous third album, Tim Finn, for Capitol Records. In early 1990, he began playing music with younger brother Neil, for an intended Finn brothers record. After working together on some songs, Neil Finn proposed incorporating the tracks onto the latest album of Crowded House, the group he had formed after Split Enz dissolved. Tim Finn performed with the band to promote the band's album Woodface, and co-wrote eight songs, including the hit Weather with You. Yet some time during the tour which followed the album's American release, all concerned realised that the combination was not a good fit. Tim Finn returned to pursue his solo career.

In 2004, the Finn brothers released their second album together, Everyone Is Here. Since then Finn has continued to release solo albums.

Salt To The Sea
Tim Finn Lyrics

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Moving in darkness to the place I saw him last
Crying for the friendship that's forever in the past
We're going home to mourn him
On a jet place crossing date-lines
We are going nowhere fast

There's a river running through our town
Carrying salt to the sea

And our tears will merge with the flowing water
Carrying salt to the sea

Sharing our sadness with the ones you left behind
Staring at the photographs of long forgotten times
Look through any window
See we all came from a different place
But now we're all of a kind
The blind leading the blind

There's a river running through our town
Carrying salt to the sea
And our tears will merge with the flowing water
Carrying salt to the sea

Somewhere in time
He was a friend of mine
Now his story gets told
An event unfolds
The ebb and flow
The letting go
It's hard to know why

And our tears will merge with the flowing water
Carrying salt to the sea
To the sea

There's a river running through our town
Carrying salt to the sea

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Tim Finn's "Salt To The Sea" evoke a strong sense of loss and grief. The singer is moving in darkness, searching for someone they have lost. They cry for the friendship they once had, but know that it is forever in the past. The lines "We're going home to mourn him / On a jet plane crossing date-lines / We are going nowhere fast" suggest that the person they are mourning may have been far away, and that the journey home is a lonely and painful one.

The image of the river running through their town and carrying salt to the sea becomes a powerful metaphor for their grief. The tears they shed will merge with the flowing water, a symbol of the inevitability of time and the passing of all things. The phrase "the blind leading the blind" perhaps points to the confusion and disorientation that can come with loss, as they struggle to find their way without the person they have lost.

Throughout the song, there is a sense of trying to make sense of the loss and find some kind of closure. They stare at photographs of happier times, and know that all of us "came from a different place" but now find ourselves united by grief. The final lines - "Somewhere in time / He was a friend of mine / Now his story gets told / An event unfolds / The ebb and flow / The letting go / It's hard to know why" - suggest that the pain of loss is something that we all experience, and that it is a universal human struggle to try to understand and accept it.

Line by Line Meaning

Moving in darkness to the place I saw him last
Traveling in obscurity to the spot where I last saw him

Crying for the friendship that's forever in the past
Weeping for the companionship that can never be regained

We're going home to mourn him
We are returning home to grieve for him

On a jet place crossing date-lines
On a plane advancing through time zones

We are going nowhere fast
We're making no progress and moving aimlessly

There's a river running through our town
A river meanders through our city

Carrying salt to the sea
Transporting salt to the ocean

And our tears will merge with the flowing water
Our tears will blend with the coursing river

Sharing our sadness with the ones you left behind
Sharing our sorrow with those who remain after you

Staring at the photographs of long forgotten times
Gazing fixedly at the pictures of far-off memories

Look through any window
Peek through any portal