Music Blog

Finding Tranquility

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

This week Jim Adams has asked his readers
in his post “Sprouting and Thriving” to write about
a song that won a Grammy award for Best New Artist.
Written for Song Lyric Sunday, here is my choice.


Of all the categories that are currently handed out at the Grammy Awards, the Best New Artist honor is one that truly stands out from all the others. One of the reasons for this is that it’s the only category that is awarded for an artist’s cumulative work and doesn’t cite a specific album, composition, or performance. The other is because, theoretically, an artist should only be eligible in this category once.

 Many different kinds of acts have won Best New Artist since it was first awarded during the second Grammy ceremony but the most common winners have been solo female singers, who have claimed the prize 28 times. Groups or collaborative acts have won the honor 18 times over the years and solo male performers have only won 12 times. The category is sometimes thought to have a bit of a curse on it: a number of acts that have won have either not gone on to any more success or have had great difficulty in trying to achieve the same level of success with subsequent work. Not so the case for my featured performer.

The Best New Artist I have chosen to showcase today is one of the 12 solo male performers who won that coveted prize. He is Christopher Cross, 1981 Grammy winner for his song “Sailing”.

Cross burst onto the music scene with his 1980 self-titled debut album, winning five Grammy awards, including — for the first time in Grammy history — the “Big Four” most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also “Sailing”), and Best New Artist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Cross has sold over 10 million albums. In addition to his Grammy awards, his music has garnered an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination and five Top 10 singles.

When life gets hard, “Sailing” could be the tune to deliver some peace. Cross has said in interviews that the song’s inspiration was his friendship with an older student from his high school, Al Glasscock, who would take him sailing as a teen just to get away from the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. Al served as a surrogate older brother during a tough emotional time for Christopher Cross. Although Cross lost touch with his boating partner, they were reunited in 1995 after 28 years. Cross acknowledged that his sailing trips with Al Glasscock had been the inspiration for the song. After that reunion, Cross sent his friend a copy of the platinum record he earned for selling more than five million copies of “Sailing”. The meaning behind the hit track is about finding solace as it relates directly to the songwriter’s literal experience with sailing.

In recent years, Cross needed the song as much as anyone else. In 2020, the singer was scheduled to go on a national tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his self-titled debut album, which features the #1 Billboard hit “Sailing”, but instead of playing his music on stages all across the US, Cross came down with covid and shortly after found himself suddenly paralyzed. He was unable to walk, let alone play the guitar.

 “It was certainly the darkest of times for me,” Christopher Cross said in an interview with CBS. His doctor diagnosed him with Guillain-Barré Syndrome; he was admitted to an intensive care unit, not sure whether he would survive. 

These days Christopher Cross is performing “Sailing” again, along with other Top 20 Billboard songs from his debut album. After ten days in the hospital and a long recovery, he was able to walk and play the guitar again. Cross told CBS he considers himself a long-haul covid survivor.

All in all, it’s been quite a ride, one that has taken Christopher Cross from his early days in Texas where he once served as a drum tech for Ginger Baker, bought gear from Jimmy Page, and played lead guitar for Deep Purple on a night when Ritchie Blackmore fell ill, to this place as a respected singer/songwriter/guitar player who continues to share his original music with the world.

This is “Sailing” by Christopher Cross

LYRICS

Well, it’s not far down to paradise
At least it’s not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, believe me

It’s not far to never never land
No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy
Of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, believe me

Sailing
Takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
Soon I will be free

Fantasy
It gets the best of me
When I’m sailing

All caught up in the reverie
Every word is a symphony
Won’t you believe me?

Sailing
Takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

Well, it’s not far back to sanity
At least it’s not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, really, believe me

Sailing
Takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Christopher C. Cross
Sailing lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Sprouting and Thriving

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

36 thoughts on “Finding Tranquility”

  10. And if the wind is right, you can sail away on the open sea, leaving all of your troubles on the shore. This song became the epitome of what defined “Yacht Rock,” a term used to define a form of easy listening music favored by the rich.

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      1. Oooh! But you know that I’m a Virgoan so being picky is in my DNA 🤣

        I looked him up. Yes, he has lasted the course, but his successes were mostly early. But at least he didn’t just disappear like many other winners of this award, and I’ll give him due credit for that.

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  14. A great Texas artist. That song takes me back to my sailing days in the Gulf of Mexico, just me and my Hobie Cat. One of the better beach day tunes from those times and now it means even more knowing the inspiration behind the tune.

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