"Parihaka" is a song by New Zealand singer/songwriter

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

featuring

Herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, released in June 1989 from the album ''

''. The song reached number 6 on the New Zealand charts.

Background

The song tells the story of the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major camp ...

peaceful protests. Finn was given a book on the topic (Dick Scott's ''Ask That Mountain'') by his sister and told to write a song about it.

Music video

The video was shot by New Zealand director

Fane Flaws Fane Michael Flaws (16 May 1951 – 17 June 2021) was a New Zealand musician, songwriter, and artist. Career Flaws was a member of bands including Blerta, Spats, and The Crocodiles. Until joining Blerta he was known by his second name Michael: ...

and notably shot in Auckland Art Gallery with several paintings by iconic New Zealand painter

Colin McCahon Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston and ...

. Flaws found out later that he had only been given clearance to use one painting in the video.

Alternate versions

The original version of the song features Finn only and was recorded in 1988 in the US during production for the ''Tim Finn'' album. The single version features Herbs as vocalists and was recorded in 1989 on Finn's return to New Zealand.

Charts

References

External links

Music Video (NZ Film Archive)
1989 singles Herbs (band) songs Songs written by Tim Finn 1989 songs EMI Records singles Parihaka {{1980s-pop-song-stub