I Hope I Never

"I Hope I Never"
Single by Split Enz
from the album True Colours
B-side	"Hypnotised" "Carried Away"
Released	May 1980
Recorded	Armstrongs, Melbourne, 1979
Genre	Rock
Length	3:56
Label	Mushroom Records
Songwriter(s)	Tim Finn
Producer(s)	David Tickle
Split Enz singles chronology
"I Got You" (1980) "I Hope I Never" (1980) "Nobody Takes Me Seriously" (1980)
Alternative covers
US cover
Alternative cover
Dutch cover

"I Hope I Never" is a 1980 song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz from their studio album True Colours. The album version of the song runs for 4:36, forty seconds longer than the single version.

Track listings

Australian release

Side A

1. "I Hope I Never" - 3:56 (Tim Finn)

Side B

1. "Hypnotised" (Tim Finn)
2. "Carried Away" (Neil Finn)

International release

Released in the US and in the Netherlands with the same track listing, but different artwork.

1. "I Hope I Never" - 3:56 (Tim Finn)
2. "The Choral Sea" - 4:38 (Eddie Rayner)

Personnel

• Tim Finn — vocals, piano
• Noel Crombie — vocals, percussion
• Eddie Rayner — vocals, keyboards
• Malcolm Green — vocals, drums
• Nigel Griggs — vocals, bass

Chart history

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA Singles Chart)	18
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	30
New Zealand (RIANZ)	33

Cover Versions

• Colleen Hewett from her album, Colleen (1983)
• ENZSO (1995), a collaboration between Split Enz's Eddie Rayner and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The cover featured New Zealand singer Annie Crummer on vocals, changing only the lyrics to refer to herself as an "optimistic woman" rather than a man.
• Australia's Tina Arena recorded the song in 2008 with the London Studio Orchestra for her album Songs of Love & Loss 2, and similarly changed the lyrics to reflect her gender.
• Lisa Miller covered the song on the 2011 tribute album They Will Have Their Way.