Christopher Cross - Sailing (lyrics)

8th track from "Christopher Cross" (1979). All hail the skipper of Yacht Rock! He wasn’t the first, and his style isn’t rooted in jazz, but Christopher Cross created the quintessential Yacht Rock album, which culminates in the angelic "Sailing."

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Cross found little support in his home state of Texas, so he took his talent to LA where he somehow bottled the lifestyle and let it pour slowly, all over the radio waves. His pristine voice was one of the first to be immortalized in ones and zeros, which is to say his self-titled album was among the first to be digitally recorded. In 1981 he sent soft rock sailing to new heights by becoming the only artist to win all of the Big Four Grammy awards: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, famously beating out Frank Sinatra and Pink Floyd. All hail the skipper of Yacht Rock!

He wasn’t the first, and his style isn’t rooted in jazz, but Christopher Cross created the quintessential Yacht Rock album. It’s got all the criteria: Michael McDonald on backup vocals, A major nautical motif that culminates in the angelic, “Sailing,” and he’s got a sound that out-smooths the smoothest in the biz, like honey flowing down a flamingo’s throat. Compared to Cross, McDonald sounds like a shopping cart tumbling down a giant cheese grater. We also have this record to thank for a sketch on SCTV starring Rick Moranis as Michael McDonald.

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...That night he would take home five Grammys in total. Three of the awards that night were for his introspective hit, "Sailing," which (according to Cross) isn't actually about sailing.

"I picked sailing as a metaphor because I used to do some sailing with an older kind of 'Big Brother' person in my life," he said. "It was sort of an escape for me as far as the chaos of my home.

"For me the song is really about transition through art. So when I say, 'The canvas can do miracles,' to me the canvas is a painter's canvas. So it's about the transition that you experience through art, whether it be dance, painting, music—it's that interaction with art that we experience.

"But I always joke to people that if Al had taken me bowling, then it would've been, like, 'Bowling,'" he laughed. "Fortunately he took me to do something that was kind of fun."

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VH1 named this the greatest "softsational soft rock" song of all time.

It was a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, reaching that position on August 30, 1980, for one week. Since its debut, it has been covered by many artists, including Avant, Barry Manilow, Greenskeepers, N'Sync, Phajja, Patrick Yandall and, as a duo, Moya Brennan & Cormac de Barra. Recorded in 1979, the song was one of the first digitally recorded songs to chart, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System. In his Grammy acceptance speech, Cross acknowledged "Sailing" as his favorite song on the album and that originally it was not meant to be a single.

The song is also played frequently at Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts.

~Wikipedia

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Album Personnel
Larry Carlton – guitar
Valerie Carter – background vocals
Lenny Castro – percussion
Christopher Cross – guitar, vocals
Assa Drori – concertmaster
Victor Feldman – percussion
Chuck Findley – trumpet
Jay Graydon – guitar
Don Henley – background vocals
Jim Horn – saxophone
Eric Johnson – guitar
Jackie Kelso – saxophone
Nicolette Larson – background vocals
Myrna Matthews – background vocals
Marty McCall – background vocals
Lew McCreary – trombone
Michael McDonald – background vocals
Rob Meurer – synthesizer, keyboards
Michael Omartian – synthesizer, keyboards, background vocals
Stormie Omartian – background vocals
Tomás Ramírez – saxophone
Don Roberts – saxophone
Andy Salmon – bass
J.D. Souther – background vocals
Tommy Taylor – drums

Production
Producer: Michael Omartian
Engineer: Chet Himes
Arrangers: Christopher Cross, Michael Omartian

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Image Credits (other than album art, in order of appearance): PhotoExplorer / Ingo Meironke / ctr Sally / Theopholis Papadopoulos / GPS / Mitja Mavsar / Jose Estrella / Miroslav Vajdic / Powderruns / Flavio Vetus Chettefrega / Flavio Vetus Chettefrega / Thomas Hawk / Steve Hall / Club Med UK / Indigo Skies Photography / Keith Robinson / Venture Minimalists / Venture Minimalists / Benjamin Chun

[thatMimosaGrove]

Btw, did you know the hit "Sailing, " according to Cross, isn't actually about sailing?

"I picked sailing as a metaphor because I used to do some sailing with an older kind of 'Big Brother' person in my life, " he said. "It was sort of an escape for me as far as the chaos of my home.
"For me the song is really about transition through art. So when I say, 'The canvas can do miracles, ' to me the canvas is a painter's canvas. So it's about the transition that you experience through art, whether it be dance, painting, music—it's that interaction with art that we experience.

"But I always joke to people that if Al had taken me bowling instead, then it would've been, like, 'Bowling, '" he laughed.

[latonyapaul-williams]

Brings back so many childhood memories!! 😍

[ms.annthrope]

1980. In Fort Knox, Kentucky, doing my army officers ROTC basic camp in the hot steaming summer. Met this sweet gal, and we became an item. Warm summer nights walking hand in hand sharing our dreams and where we came from. This song was everywhere. I was floating on cloud 9 like the song. We went out seperate ways after camp. Still think about her every so often.

[patricedhanis]

Yep...know exactly what he is singing about. The most incredible place on earth...42 foot sailboat!

[norbertojoselima]

Beautiful song, reminds me of the past...

[INFJ]

This song came put on 8 track when I was like 7 or 8. My first exposure to music. Thought it was magical

[schusk]

Song takes me back to when I was a kid...always heard my momma sing this. Unfortunately she passed due to covid Sept 24, 2020 and then my father Feb 8, 2021...Just 5 months apart. I've been so lost 😭

[Phoenix]

Beautiful video. Thank you for posting this.

[wotwot]

Beautiful. Don't you want to go sailing?

[musicollection]

Muito lindo. Awesome!! This song brings Peace. So Peace!!!

[markkalfahs]

all the videos posted of this song, this is in my top three...

[ronditchen]

Sitting on the Straits of Mackinac with the Mackinac Bridge in the background with sailboats Sailing In The Straits of Mackinac what an appropriate song to be listening to how beautiful

[yvonnemendez]

beautiful luv this soothing makes u feel there's a better place. there is heaven.😇

[hsuanlively]

Does anyone know if other artists have also done this songs’s cover? Was it Seal?

[Eedelia]

Thumbs up if Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II brought you here.