The votes are in. I was blown away by the contributions. It’s a big day for my blog if I get 2 comments but thanks to a plug by Scuttlebutt, my request for submissions and votes for the Top 10 Sailing Songs got a whopping 110 entries. Woah!
Apologies for the delay in tallying up the entries but it’s taken me a while to plough through it. This post will part 1 of 3. The winners. The other posts will focus on the honorable mentions and the full list off one-offs. I will be posting these over the next week or so, so come back and check ’em out. The full list is amazing. There are nearly 200 songs on the list, including some real surprises.
Now for the hits. No big surprise that “Son of Son of A Sailor” had the most votes, winning hands-down. Parrothead has a big following. “Southern Cross” came second closely followed by “Sloop John B” and the “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. Parrothead gets in again with “Changes in Latitude “.
Then it gets interesting. Whodathunk country boy, Lyle Lovett would make the list with if “I had a boat”. Styx has a surprising number of fans and “Come Sail Away” makes the top 10. Followed by Looking Glass’s cheesy 70s classic, “Brandy”.
Now I am embarrassed to say I had not heard Stan Rogers but he has a big fan base and two songs in the Top 10. My favorite on the list of David Gray who snuck in at number 10 with Sail Away.
Top 10 Sailing Songs
1. “Son of a Son of a Sailor” – Jimmy Buffet
2. “Southern Cross” – Crosby Still & Nash
3. “Sloop John B” – Beach Boys
4. “Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot
5. “Changes in latitudes” – Jimmy Buffet
5. “If I had a boat” – Lyle Lovett
6. “Come Sail Away” – Styx
7. “Brandy ” – Looking Glass
8.”The Mary Ellen Carter” – Stan Rogers
9. “Barrett’s Privateers” – Stan Rogers
10. ‘Sail Away’ – David Gray
The full list is in the continuation
4 Preps – 26 miles
“Aaliyah – “”Rock The Boat”” ”
Al Stewart – Life In Dark Water
Arlo Guthrie – Sailor’s Bonnet
Avalon – Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music
Basil Poledouris- The Dinghy Race (Senta) .
Beach Boys – Kokomo
Beach Boys – Sail On Sailor
Beach Boys – Sloop John B
Beach Boys- Kokomo
Beca Boys – Sail on Sailor
Billie Holiday – A Sailboat in the Moonlight
Blondie – The Tide Is High
Blue4s Image Ride Captain Ride
Bob Dylan- Shelter from the Storm
Bobbie Darin – Beyond the Sea
Burl Ives – Away Rio
Burl Ives- Leave her Johnny leave her
Burl Ives- What do you do with a drunken sailor
Buster Poindexter- Hot hot hot
Carbon Leaf – Home
Cat Steven – Longer Boats
Cat Stevens – Angel Sea
Cat Stevens- The Wind by
Cecilio and Kapono (from Hawaii) – Sailing
Chris De Burgh – Sailing Away
Christie Moore – The Voyage
Christopher Cross – Chris Cross
Chubawumba -Tubthumping
Come Sail Away – Styx
Commodores – Sail On
Cowboy Junkies- White Sail
Craig Toungate-Yo Ho, Ho (and A Bottle of Rum)
Crash Test Dummies -Swimming in your Ocean
Cream—Tales of Brave Ulysses
CSN – Shadow Captain
CSN – Southern Cross
CSN&Y – Lee Shore
CSNY – Wooden Ships
David Gray – Sail Away
Dire Straits – Down To The Waterline
Dire Straits – Singlehanded Sailor
Doors – Land Ho
Doors—Crystal Ship
Double – Capt. of Her Heart
Duran Duran – Rio
Ella Fitzgerald- Smooth Sailing by
Elvis Costello – Shipbuilding
Enya – Caribbean Blue
Enya – Orinoco Flow
Enya – Sail Away
Eric Bogel’ – Safe in the Harbor
Eric carmen – Boats Against The Current
Eric Wakely – Sailing Solo
Every Mother Son -Come on Down to my Boat Baby
Frank Sinatra – Summer Wind
Freddy McGregor – Big Ship Sailing
Garth Brooks – The River
Glenn Yarborough – Chanteyman
Glenn Yarborough – I Could Have Been A Sailor
Goldfinger – 99 red balloons
Gordon Bok – Isle a Haut
Gordon Lightfoot – Ghosts of Cape Horn
Gordon Lightfoot – In the Lee of Christian Island
Gordon Lightfoot—Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald
Grand Funk Railroad – I’m Your Captain / Closer To Home
Grand Funk Railroad -Closer to my Home
Grateful Dead – Ship of Fools
Grateful Dead- Franklins Tower
Grateful Dead- Lost Sailor
Great Big Sea – A Boat like Gideon Brown’s
Great Big Sea – Boston & St Johns, Great Big Sea – Wave over Wave
Great Big Sea – Captain Kidd
Great Big Sea – Lukey
Harry Belefonte- Day Oh (Banana Boat song)
Harry Belefonte- Jamaca Farewell
Ian Matthews- keep on sailing –
Jack Johnson- A Pirate Looks at Forty
Jack Johnson- The Horizon has been defeated
James White -Splendid Adventure
Jeff Beck -Blue Wind
Jefferson Starship—Santiago, Wooden Ships
Jerry Jeff Walker – Pissn’ in the Wind
Jim Morris – Key Wasted
Jim Morris – Laid Back
Jim Morris -The Sailor Race
Jimi Hendrix – Drifting
Jimmy Buffet – Lovely Cruise
Jimmy Buffet – Take It Back
Jimmy Buffet – changes in latitudes
Jimmy Buffet – Fins
Jimmy Buffet – Landfall
Jimmy Buffet – Margaritaville
Jimmy Buffet – mother ocean
Jimmy Buffet – one particular harbor
Jimmy Buffet – Pirate
Jimmy Buffet – Sea of heartbreak
Jimmy Buffet – Landfall
Jimmy Buffet -Boats to Build
Jimmy Buffet Sea of Heartbreak
Jimmy Buffet- Son of a Son of a Sailor
Jimmy Buffett – Boats To Build (with Alan Jackson)
Jimmy Buffett – One Particular Harbor
Jimmy Buffett – The Captain and the Kid
Jimmy Buffett- Lovely Cruise
Jimmy Buffett- Mother Ocean
Joan Baez—Spanish Boots
Joe Cocker- Sail Away
Kalapana – Midnight Sailing
Kenny Chesney – French Kissin’ Life
Kenny Chesney -Be as you are
KT Tunstall – Silent Sea
Leadbelly-Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On
Lindisfarne – Fog on the Tyne
Little Feat – Sailin’ Shoes
Little River Band – Cool Change
Loggins and Messina – Vahevala
Looking Glass-Brandy
Loudan Wainwright’s III – Good Ship Venus
Luka Bloom – Sunny Sailor Boy
Lyle Lovett – If I had a boat
Maggie reilly- Silver on the tree / angel tears
Mark Knoppfler and James Taylor – Sailing to Philadelphia
Mary Black – Columbus
Men at Work – Down Under
Michelle Shocked – It must be Luff
Moon Mulican – I’LL SAIL MY SHIP ALONE
Morcheeba – The Sea
Mountain – ‘Nantucket Sleighride’
“Nick Cave -“”The Ship Song
Otis Redding – Dock of the Bay
Paul Simon – American Tune
Peter Frampton – sail away
Peter, Paul & Mary – Big Boat
Phil Ochs—Scorpion Departs, Thresher
Queen – Sail Away Sweet Sister
Randy Newman’ – Sail away
Rod Stewart – Sailing 4x
Roger & the Goosebumps – ‘Gilligan’s Island’ to the tune of ‘Stairway to Heaven’
Roger Whittaker – The Last Farewell
Ry Cooder/Chieftains- Coast of Malabar
Salty Dick – A Matlow Told Me
Salty Dick – Christopher Columbo
Salty Dick North Atlantic Squadron
Salty Dick – Priests and Nuns
Salty Dick -The Whores of Sailortown
Sandy denny and the strawbs – sail away to the sea
Sonia Dada- Sail Away
Split Enz – Six months in a leaky boat
Stan Rogers – Flowers of Bermuda
Stan Rogers – Fogarty’s Cove
Stan Rogers – The Bluenose
Stan Rogers – The wreck of the jeanie c
Stan Rogers – White Squall
Stan Rogers -Barrett’s Privateers
Stan Rogers -Make and Break Harbor
Stan Rogers -The Mary Ellen Carter
Stan Rogers,- Sailing Down to Ol’ Maui
Sting – Valaparaiso
Sting – Why Should I Cry for You?
Sting The Wild Wild Sea
Styx – Come Sail Away
Styx Come Sail Away
Taj Mahal – Fishin Blues
The beautiful South – I sail this ship alone
The Doors – Land Ho!
The King Singers – The Skye Boat Song
The Muppets (from Muppet Treasure Island) – Sailing for Adventure
Toni Childs – Where the Ocean
Van Halen – Feels So Good
Van Morrison – Into the Mystic
Wagner -Ride of the Valkyries Wagner
Bravo on a superb competition/ audience participation event.
Damn you. Wish I had thought of this first. (Only joking.)
Thanks very much for starting this project. My sweetheart and I love music as much as we do sailing, and the two together are great!
Our sailing music collection is better for having participated in this list!
Hey Guys/Gals,
Sorry, I’m new at this anad I got my songs onto some other topic, Gone Sailing, so go there to find a few more good sailing songs.
You know, you’re mentioning of, and it’s inclusion in the top ten of “Brandy” brings up another salient point about sailing songs. In ’71 and ’72 Iwas living in the West Indies on charter boats and first heard “Brandy” down there on one of those local way behind the times radio stations and to this day every time I hear that song it brings me right back to the Caribbean, cheezy or not. Elton John’s “Rocket Man” of all songs was another one I heard for the first time down there and it always, without fail, brings me back to the drive along the waterfront of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas which is where, riding in a cab to pick up charter guests or something, I first heard it. It’s a sailing song to me!
How in the heck did “Sailin’ Around” by John Prine not even make the “complete” list, much less the top ten?
It’s an outrage.
And for that matter, where is “What do we do with a drunken sailor?”
Everybody – Sailing Song
I just found this site yesterday. Sorry to see that nobody seemed to know about Bob Seger’s “Ship Of Fools”, one great sailing song.
Anyone heard of Billy Joel? The guy is all about boats and fishing and sailing – Named The Downeaster Alexa after his daughter, right?. It’s in my top 5.
Some other good ones are
“Tahitian Moon” by Porno For Pyros
“Sail on Sailor” by Mustard Seed Faith
Good list, but what about John Denver’s Calypso!
Peter, Paul and Mary Puff the Magic Dragon, great sing-a-long
Brand New – Play Crack the Sky
cool song about sailing
Let’s go highbrow…Strauss, opera theme from “Fliegende Hollander” (The Flying Dutchman), and then for the kids, Jimmy Buffett, Jolly Mon.
You should also check out Angela Bofill’s The Voyage, a super sailing song with amazing vocals.
Try the traditional ballad “Lord Franklin” by Pentangle about attempting the Northwest Passage in the age of sail. Wonderfully atmospheric.
add Dreamboat Annie by Heart to your great list of songs!
It’s amazing how “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is not in this list…
Crosstalk performers try to use funny conversations to make the audience laugh.
And what about Bob Segar’s In Your Time… ‘Feel the wind and set yourself a bolder course’
Anyone remember Sea of Love?
Enya- Sail away makes me push the acceleration real hard.
Well, the winners are decent. My personal preference would be Sailing by Christopher Cross. I feel a bit nostalgic as the wind blows the sails with this song.
If God created the world, and set nature into motion, and in what way is God responsible or irresponsible. This is suspect.
Try the traditional ballad “Lord Franklin” by Pentangle attempt the Northwest Passage in the age of sail. Wonderfully atmospheric.
The Bilge Pumps have an original song that might fit on the list. It’s called Pirating the Seas and you can get it free on our welcome page. http://welcome.thebilgepumps.com
For those pirates looking up to and down to 40. 🙂
Hi, I remember jimmy buffet while sailing ag 2011 pr-bahamas it was killing teh captain, cat stevens oh i loved it… till He suddendly got a anger attack and tru the cat stevens away (in the water) anyway and he did played like one million times this song i cant get to remember the singer album son name but this line why why why kill my love, something like that i was like indu music i would love to know whats the lyrics and name of the song! Merry christmas
Great list! My fiancee is planning to surprise me by taking me out on his new boat one night (I ruined the surprise I know). I will have to compile a CD of some of these songs to take with us. It help-s that I already own a majority of the artists listed, so maybe I’ll have to download the ones I don’t know. Thanks again for this list.
Orinocco flow and sail away by enya are the same song.
thanks, just what i’ve been looking for :). Was writing an email about ships and cant think of a good subject line so i searched for songs about sea and sailing hehe.
I’m super late to the party, but these are on my sailing list –
* Heart “Mistral Wind”
* Broken Bells “Sailing To Nowhere”
* VAST “The Blue”
* Republic Tigers “Buildings and Mountains”
The last one to me, is about sailors who find more peace on the sea than they do amongst the ‘landlubbers’. I live in New England and the melody alone conjures images of the tempestuous North Atlantic and the old sea dogs who love her.
The VAST song for some reason reminds me of “Edmund Fitzgerald”. Similar melodies, perhaps?
Happy sailing 🙂
Procol Harum
A Salty Dog
Too Much Sea Between Us
Wreck of the Hesperus
The cutest was when Cartman from South Park sings I’m sailing away.
I hope you guys will still support my cd project. I’m not dead. I’m just aspergered.
I hadn’t realized there were so many songs. If you like the idea send money to my paypal.com substance and content will someday be packaged and sold. I’m taking donation for 100’s of ideas that will help the world.