Sailor (original title: Seemann ) is a song written by Werner Scharfenberger (de) and Fini Busch (de) which via a 1959 recording by Lolita became an international hit, with its #5 peak on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard making "Sailor" the most successful American hit sung in German until "99 Luftballons" by Nena in 1984.
With English lyrics written by Norman Newell (credited as "David West") the song also provided a comeback vehicle for two veteran UK vocalists: Petula Clark and Anne Shelton whose respective versions of "Sailor" were both musical milestones for each singer marking Clark's first #1 on the UK Singles chart and Shelton's final chart appearance.
A schlager-style number, "Sailor" in its original German lyric addresses a seafaring love object with an acceptance of his wanderlust: the English-language version inverts this sentiment turning the song into a plea for the sailor to return. The song is sometimes sung by male vocalists from the point of view of the sailor with the lyrics adjusted accordingly.
Famous quotes containing the word sailor:
“He is the best sailor who can steer within the fewest points of the wind, and extract a motive power out of the greatest obstacles. Most begin to veer and tack as soon as the wind changes from aft, and as within the tropics it does not blow from all points of the compass, there are some harbors which they can never reach.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)