Songs To Sail By

[Blue Stocking]

If you can find the soundtrack from the 1958 movie "Windjammer", the film about the Atlantic circuit training cruise of the Christian Radich, IMHO you will hear the romance of the ocean at it's best.

[stevensc]

Southern Cross by Crosby
Kingston Trio
Harry Belafonte
Bob Marley
Kassav
Buena Vista Social Club
Dire Straits
Most but not all of Jimmy Buffet's music
Keola and Kapono Beamer and other Hawaiian
Many many more

Steve

[Mikromidas]

"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison.

[bvimatelot]

Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner - for Force 8 and above.
Alleluia Chorus - Handel - for arrival at safe water mark.
Sailing - Rod Stewart - Transatlantic but especially from Azores towards UK.

Tony

[Reality Check]

Any one else discover Jim Morris's Island Rock music such as the Seafood Platter CD? Great words and music.. voice is OK

[Vic de Beer]

The best sailor song ever.... Stan Rogers - the lock keeper.

[Vic de Beer]

When sailing accross the atlantic, I found that, when whales showed up, "Cannon in D" kept them around for a long while...

[anjinsan]

In the 1980's I was working for an older guy who asked me to teach him to sail on his 40+ something sail boat. I warned him a smaller boat would be better for learning. So off we go, he, his young girlfriend, (who was the receptionist for his company), to the Channel Islands with Santa Anna Winds, yet. Anchor at Yellow banks. The next day, he decides to sail his dingy for practice. Well he sails down wind and does not return for hours. His girlfriend and I found common ground and spent nearly the entire time wrapped in each others arms listing to Enya, Watermark. (boy did I clean that up!!) Now..when I hear any songs from that album..I think of two things...Sailing being one of them. Oh, and he never found out.

[bobfnbw]

Go on itunes and search for sailing songs. They have a ton, all ready to download.
Many are mentioned here. Some are pretty great some... so so.
Download what you want leave the rest..... make a cd. your off.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Dick Pluta

Even though I'm an East Coast guy, I spent a lot of time sailing on the Great Lakes and there I learned to love Stan Rogers. NORTHWEST PASSAGE is one of the Great sea songs of all time. At one time, in a survey, Canadians voted it as their next best choice for their National Anthem. My personal favorites are "The Mary Ellen Carter" and "White Squall". His death at a young age was a major loss. The maritime traditions of the Lakes and the Maritimes are a much under-appreciated part of the lore of the sea. I'm a confirmed PArrothead, but for sheer quantity and quality of sea songs, give me Stan every time.

Dick Pluta
AEGEA

May I add "Barrett's Privateers" to the list. I saw Stan and the boys 3 or 4 times at the Calgary Folk Club. Powerful stuff.

Jack

[gr8trn]

The Wind, Cat Stevens
Cool Change, Little River Band
Sail Away, David Gray
Watching the river run, Loggins and Messina
Vahevala, Loggins and Messina
He's a Pirate, Klaus Badelt
Drunken Sailor, Great Big Sea
Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darrin
Missed The Boat, Modest Mouse
Into The Ocean, Blue October
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley (cause we all are)
and at least 80 more on the sailing mix.

[Dick Pluta]

Originally Posted by Vic de Beer

The best sailor song ever.... Stan Rogers - the lock keeper.

This is a truly profound choice. Very deep!

It's east to find a song that describes those wonderful moments sailing. That great sensation when you're coming out of the harbor, when the sails start to draw and you turn off the iron wind. The feeling of running at or a bit above hull speed on a broad reach with fair winds and calm seas. The beauty of a moonless night, where the Milky Way spreads a white band across the sky and you watch the waves rush by in the little circle of light cast by the cabin lights. There are a hundred songs that capture those moments.

It's also easy to find a song that describes those Parrothead moments. Sitting in a Tiki bar on the beach in Belize or St. Maarten, sucking up the beverage of your choice. Pick half the Buffett songs and about 10.000 others.

I think what I like about Stan Rogers best is that he makes entries on the other side of the ledger, the unromantic side. "White Squall" about the kid who, in spite of advice from the old shellback, treats the lake lightly and goes overboard. "Mary Ellen Carter" about the crew that may, or may not, raise their beloved boat, sunk and abandoned by the owners. And "The Lock Keeper". What a tale! The story, not of the wide ranging mariner or the circumnavigator or the romantic, storm tossed sea. It's the story of the man who loves the sea, but loves his woman more and settles for what he can get, tending the locks so he can be close to the ships he loves. It's a compelling metaphor for those of us who love boats but, for whatever reason, do not go down to the sea in ships. We go out, for a day or a week or a month or not at all, but do not make our lives on the sea. In our hearts we would like to go to sea but settle for what we can get. Our other lives keep us close to shore. Family, children, jobs, all the things we are not willing to sacrifice. Just like the lock keeper.

I like to think I could have made my life at sea. I'm a pretty good seaman and I can see myself as the skipper of a tramp steamer, gazing from the bridge at the wide expanse of the ocean. Don't get me wrong. I've put many thousands of miles under my keel and been to lots of places, from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic to the Caribbean. I had a family and a career and a life ashore that I couldn't give up. Like the lock keeper, I stayed as close as I could to the sea I love, closer than some, not as close as many. But I never went to sea. Still, I have a boat and I spend as much time as I can with her. I think of those among us who are on the hard, without a boat. In their way, they stay as close as they can by spending time on sites like this. Like the lock keeper, we all pay the price for not going to sea.

Great choice.

Dick Pluta
AEGEA

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by bvimatelot

Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner - for Force 8 and above.
Tony

OooooooH Yeh on that one.

Orinoco Flow by Enya, River Lady by Sailor


SabreKai

[s/v 'Faith']

Did I not post this yesterday>?

What did I do, did I post this to the wrong thread? I still have it on my notepad so I must not have dreampt posting it...

(On edit... Just found it in another, related thread.. ) :biggrin

[URL="http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/anyone-else-out-there-like-eric-stone-29029.html"]]Anyone Else Out There Like Eric Stone?

Jimmy is ok, but I have really come more to associate his music with tourist traps and cruise ship type 'adventures'.



The best I know of is Eileen Quinn Her music makes much more sense to cruisers, and has much less to do with chain restaurants.

You can preview her music here.

Some lyrics;

Cruising Too Long

(from Miss Inclined)

early in our cruising
we feared we'd run aground
we never did
we took such care with each little knew thing
over time we grew less timid
confidence we found
now we run aground a lot
'cause we know what we're doing

these are the signs we've been cruising too long...
nothing like experience to help you get it wrong
we've been cruising far too long

The Anchoring Dance (from No Significant Features)


...the perfect little parking place is easy to find
all you really gotta do is read his mind
if what your honey wants is hard to tell
when the hand signals fail you can always yell
grind your teeth, shout till you're hoarse
there's always one more step, you can file for divorce
no better way to test a true romance
than to do, do, do, do, do
do the anchoring dance ease to starboard, then hard to port
throttle down but you come up short
up on the foredeck, see them prance
when they do, do, do, do, do
do the anchoring dance...

[Dune]

Here is a twist on this thread. I wake early and like it LOUD. How rude is that in a crowded anchorage or marina?