Calypso (John Denver song)
"Calypso" is a song written by John Denver in 1975 as a tribute to Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his research ship, the Calypso.[1] The song was featured on Denver's 1975 album Windsong.
| "Calypso" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by John Denver | ||||
| from the album Windsong | ||||
| A-side | "I'm Sorry" | |||
| B-side | "Calypso" | |||
| Released | July 1975 | |||
| Genre | Folk, country, soundscape | |||
| Length | 3:36 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | John Denver | |||
| Producer(s) | Milt Okun | |||
| John Denver singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Released as the B-side of "I'm Sorry", "Calypso" received substantial airplay, enabling it to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] After "I'm Sorry" fell out of the #1 position, "Calypso" began receiving more airplay than "I'm Sorry," thus causing Billboard to list "Calypso" as the new A-side,[1] starting the week ending 11 October 1975.[3] Hence, "Calypso" is itself considered a #2 hit on the Hot 100.[4]
John Denver was a close friend of Cousteau. Calypso was the name of Cousteau's research boat that sailed around the world for ocean conservation.
This song features the sounds of ship bells, which is heard in the instrumental introductions before both two verses, in which Milton Okun's orchestral arrangement, featuring strings and winds, are heard impersonating the sounds of the oceans and seas.
In popular culture
A filk song exists in Star Trek fandom (and has been quoted in Chapter 8 of Diane Duane's Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky), based on John Denver's "Calypso," but adapted to the voyages of the Enterprise: "To sail on a dream in the sun-fretted darkness, to soar through the starlight unfrightened alone...."
Additionally, Tom Smith wrote parody lyrics for the song, which he titled "Callisto," referring to a sexual desire for Callisto, originally a villainess in the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess and then one of Xena's enemies.[5] After Callisto was redeemed in the Xena stories, he wrote an extra verse and a variation on the refrain that attacked her for having stopped being evil.
In the episode titled "Molly's Out of Town" of Mike & Molly some of the characters sing "Calypso" while they are on the roof of a house.[6]
Chart performance
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 2 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 5 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 29 |
References
- Bronson, Fred (1997-11-01). "'Candle' Finds Itself B-Side 'Something'". Billboard. p. 110. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). Random House Digital. p. 417. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.
- However, on the 1 November 1975 edition of "American Top 40", Casey Kasem reported that "Calypso" had been at #2 for five weeks, whereas by that week the total weeks at #2 was only four. Apparently Kasem had confused the number of weeks that "Calypso" had been at #2, namely, four weeks, with how long it had been since "I'm Sorry" dropped from #1, namely, five weeks.
- Whitburn, Joel (2010). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (rev. & expanded 9th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8230-8554-5.
- "Tom Smith Online - Lyrics: Callisto". Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- "Singing Calypso on Mike & Molly".
