The Resourceful Sailor: “Is That Sailor Rock? Turn It Up!”

From time to time we share some tales about sailing tunes. We’ve even kicked around the idea of creating a Latitude 38 playlist on YouTube (someone dropped the ball on that one). But we have a new option. Our favorite Sailboat MacGyver, The Resourceful Sailor, wrote to say that he’s been busy curating a sailor-song playlist. “I’ve been helping refit a Hans Christian,” TRS wrote. “The lead bought me headphones and a Spotify subscription to help endure the tedium involved (sanding and filling, more sanding and filling, even more sanding and filling, taping, more taping …). Check it out!

A professor of mine in college would say that there wasn’t music that sucked, only music we didn’t like.  Same thing. With that, I present a list of my top sailor songs. I would be amazed if anyone had the same list as I. Equally so, if anyone liked every song. I don’t present myself as an authority, or this as a definitive list. Rather, I’ve decided to take a risk and share my personal list to inspire the reader to wonder about theirs.

My sailor-song list stems mostly from my younger years, long before boats were even on my radar. Therefore, I came to realize while debating this list (with myself), boat bias wasn’t why I liked most of these songs. It was because they were catchy, popular, and accessible to an audience beyond sailors. They play literally or metaphorically on a long-standing historical and communal nautical mystique and psyche that even a landlubber with little boating experience could recognize and appreciate.

I consider these sailor songs, not sailing songs. They have some personal meaning or experience tied to them. Since my relationship to music was more prominent earlier in life, my list centers on that era and is genre-specific, which coincided with my rock-and-roll lifestyle.

Without further ado:
1. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot — A haunting dirge accompanying highly descriptive verse of a heart-wrenching event.
“When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck, sayin’, ‘Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya’s.’ At 7 p.m., a main hatchway caved in. He said, ‘Fellas, it’s been good to know ya’s.'”
2. “Southern Cross” – Crosby, Stills and Nash — Yacht rock? Absolutely. This song very much came to mind when I saw the constellation on my way to the South Seas on Sampaguita, a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. “…19 feet of waterline, nicely making way.”
3. “Home at Last” – Steely Dan — At the time, the Odyssey reference (“I remain tied to the mast.”) was lost on me, but the imagery wasn’t. For a young, budding drummer of the ’80s, this track demonstrates the legendary Purdie Shuffle by drummer Bernard Purdie. Smooth.
4. “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” – Looking Glass — Descriptive harbor bar imagery, sailor mystique, beauty and double meaning to highlight one’s yearning for something one can’t (or shouldn’t) have.
5. “Beyond the Sea” – Bobby Darin — The driving, prevalent drum track of Don Lamond is legendary and has stood the test of time. The two bombastic drum fills setting up the ensemble sections are textbook examples for a young drummer to “make the band want to play!”
6. “Sail On” – Commodores — For one, the group’s name. It is a sappy song to start, but when it finally kicks into the bridge, it releases the tension like lines from the dock. “Good times never felt so good.” And what about those bongo rolls??!
7. “Sail Away” – David Gray — More sap, more metaphor, more mystique. This crooner captures a vibe of desire and yearning accessible to everyone. Keep It Simple, Stupid. No rocket or boat science, just very catchy.
8. “Sailor’s Tale” – King Crimson — What? Who? Why? An instrumental off the album Islands. This band redefined what a rock band could be to me as a young musician.
9. “I’m on a Boat” – The Lonely Island — Let’s not take ourselves too seriously. This song is hilarious on many different fronts if you let it be. Poking fun at classes, stereotypes, race, language and perceptions. I suppose you either love it or you hate it. (You might pass on listening to this if you are sensitive to salty language.)
10. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” – Iron Maiden — A bold and ambitious endeavor by an influential ’80s metal band, celebrating the prose of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The classic Maiden gallop, Bruce Dickinson’s operatic-esque vocals of Cook- and Nelson-era-inspired lyrics, remind us that the Age of Sail was not so romantic.

Honorable Mentions:
1. “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” – Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle — I watched reruns of this show while eating after-school snacks before I had ever been on a boat or an island.
2. “The Irish Rover” – Traditional — This is as close to an old-timey sea chantey as I get.
3. “Into the Mystic” – Van Morrison — A crooner who somehow gets away with inserting five synth foghorns into one song. (The fifth is on the final note.)
4. “Tahitian Moon” – Porno for Pyros — Sailing and boating themes were rare in ’90s alternative rock.
5. “Cool Change” – Little River Band — This direct message requires no imagination. If you know, you know.
6. “Firefly Main Title” – Sonny Rhodes — For those who can imagine what sailing could mean in a far-distant future.

Boats and music are very personal things. Remember, keep your listening prudent and safe, and turn it up.

For those with a Spotify account: The Resourceful Sailor – My Favorite Sailor Songs