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] It 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 Victor
Songwriter(s)	John Denver
Producer(s)	Milt Okun
John Denver singles chronology
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (1975) "Calypso" / "I'm Sorry" (1975) "Fly Away" (1975)

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 October 11, 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 promoting 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]

This song was generally used prior to the start of the whale shows at Marineland of The Pacific in Palos Verdes, California during the 1970s and 80s.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1975–1976) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 7 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[9] 36 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 2 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 5 US Billboard Hot 100[13] I'm Sorry / Calypso 2

Year-end charts Chart (1975) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 60 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 65 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 76 Chart (1976) Position Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 74 All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100[17] 242

References

1. Bronson, Fred (November 1, 1997). "'Candle' Finds Itself B-Side 'Something'". Billboard. p. 110. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
2. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). Random House Digital. p. 417. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.
3. However, on the November 1, 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.
4. 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.
5. "Tom Smith Online - Lyrics: Callisto". Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
6. "Singing Calypso on Mike & Molly". YouTube.
7. "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. December 29, 1975. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Imgur.
8. "John Denver – Calypso" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
9. "John Denver – Calypso" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
10. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 51, 1975" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
11. "John Denver – Calypso" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
12. "John Denver – Calypso". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
13. "John Denver Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
14. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2019". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
15. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2019". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
16. "Jaaroverzichten 1976". Ultratop. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
17. "Hot 100 60th Anniversary – Billboard". Billboard.