THE BEACH BOYS - SAIL ON SAILOR

SAIL ON SAILOR

THE BEACH BOYS

SONGWRITERS: BRIAN WILSON; JACK RIELEY; RAY KENNEDY; TANDYN ALMER & VAN DYKE PARKS

COUNTRY: U. S.A.

ALBUM: HOLLAND

LABEL: BROTHER RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1975

 

        The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies, adolescent themes, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. They drew on the music of older pop vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound, and under Brian's direction, often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.

          One of the first self-contained rock groups, the Beach Boys began as a garage band, managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, and with Brian as composer, arranger, producer, and de facto leader. In 1963, they had their first US and Canadian hit with "Surfin' U.S.A.", beginning a string of top-ten singles that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, dubbed the "California sound". They were one of the few American rock bands to sustain their commercial standing during the British Invasion. "I Get Around" and "Help Me Rhonda" were US and Canada No. 1 hits, while their versions of "Barbara Ann" and "Sloop John B" became their first songs to also go to the top two in the UK, Australia and many parts of Europe. Starting with 1965's The Beach Boys Today!, they abandoned beachgoing themes for more personal lyrics and ambitious orchestrations. In 1966, the Pet Sounds album and "Good Vibrations" single, a US No. 1 and worldwide Top 5 hit, raised the group's prestige as rock innovators. That year they also formed Brother Records, Inc., a corporation that continues to oversee affairs related to the band's legacy. After scrapping the Smile album in 1967, Brian's contributions diminished due to his mental health issues.

     In the late 1960s, the group's commercial momentum faltered in the US, and despite efforts to maintain na experimental sound, they were widely dismissed by the early rock music press. Carl took over as the band's musical leader, with records from this period later enjoying a cult following among fans. Following the mid-1970s, as their concerts drew larger audiences, the band transitioned into na oldies act. Dennis drowned in 1983 and Brian soon became estranged from the group. Following Carl's death from lung cancer in 1998, the band granted Love legal rights to tour under the group's name. As of 2021, Brian and Jardine do not perform with Love's edition of the Beach Boys, but remain official members of the band.

         The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide. They helped legitimize popular music as a recognized art form and influenced the development of music genres and movements such as psychedelia, power pop, progressive rock, punk, alternative, and lo-fi. Between the 1960s and 2010s, the group had 36 songs reach the US Top 40 (the most by an American band), with four topping the Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Beach Boys number 12 on its list of the greatest artists of all time. The founding members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

           "Sail On, Sailor" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1973 album Holland. It was written by Brian Wilson, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, Jack Rieley, and Van Dyke Parks. It was released as a single in 1973, backed with "Only with You", and peaked at number 79 on the American singles charts. A 1975 reissue (also backed with "Only with You") charted higher, at number 49. According to Jon Stebbins, "It is perhaps the only perennial Beach Boys favorite to still thrive in the classic rock and album rock FM radio formats of the present."

I sailed an ocean, unsettled ocean

Through restful waters and deep commotion

Often frightened, unenlightened

Sail on, sail on sailor

 

I wrest the waters, fight neptune's waters

Sail through the sorrows of life's marauders

Unrepenting, often empty

Sail on, sail on sailor

 

Caught like a sewer rat alone but I sail

Bought like a crust of bread, but, oh, do I wail

 

Seldom stumble, never crumble

Try to tumble, life's a rumble

Feel the stinging I've been given

Never ending, unrelenting

Heartbreak searing, always fearing

Never caring, persevering

Sail on, sail on, sailor

 

I work the seaways, the gale-swept seaways

Past shipwrecked daughters of wicked waters

Uninspired, drenched and tired

Wail on, wail on, sailor

 

Always needing, even bleeding

Never feeding all my feelings

Damn the thunder, must I blunder

There's no wonder all I'm under

Stop the crying and the lying

And the sighing and my dying

 

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor

Sail on, sail on sailor.