In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to the questions unknown
To be part of the movement, part of the growing
Part of beginning to understand
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way
For though we are strangers in your silent world
To live on the land we must learn from the sea
To be true as the tide and free as a wind swell
Joyful and loving in letting it be
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to the questions unknown
To be part of the movement, part of the growing
Part of beginning to understand
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way
For though we are strangers in your silent world
To live on the land we must learn from the sea
To be true as the tide and free as a wind swell
Joyful and loving in letting it be
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
Aye, Calypso the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well
Lyrics submitted by woodcock92627
Calypso Lyrics as written by John Denver
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this song is actually dedicated to Jacques Cousteau, from john denver
Love this song, really does give you the feeling of being on the ocean, watching Costeau's adventures on tv is a nice memory of years ago.
this song is about a boat that sailed around the world study the sea and every thing that is in it
nothing bro
*Please disregard the previous comment. I didn't make it.
This was my favourite song growing up. Which CD is it on? I want to hear it again.
I have it on The Best of John Denver: Live, which is a beautiful and brilliant rendition of the song. I'm quite certain it's also on John Denver Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits. If all else fails, if you have an iTunes account, you can purchase it there. Good luck!
this is one of those songs i'm still completely puzzled over. it sounds good though and it just keeps getting stuck in my head
Some here have said that the meaning of Calypso was for the USSR, and some make it about a simple boat.
Well, the latter is partially true, it was about the Calypso, a mid sized research vessel that for many years had brought breakthroughs and discoveries on the high seas. Unfortunately, the ship sank in a California Harbor if I remember. The song has a much larger meaning though. It is about not only the ship, but about how we can learn to live better by looking at our aquatic counterparts:
"To light up the darkness and show us the way For though we are strangers in your silent world To live on the land we must learn from the sea."
The Calypso's purpose was to find out about the sea's life, and apply it to our lives on land. In the song, John gives reference to being free, showing others the way to life, to be in the service of life and the living, and to find answers to questions that haven't been asked yet.
The lyrics have a very deep meaning in them, just like many John Denver songs. And he wasn't a communist sympathizer like some here have posted, John Denver only wanted peace between the two superpowers, as did most people by that time.
You tend to miss the point with this song. It's generally tended to be referred to as a song about Jacques Cousteau and his boat Calypso, but in reality it's a homage to the USSR and it's expansion. There are many Communist references in the song: for example: 'like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you' is a reference to Lenin (the dolphin) and the international revolution that Lenin hoped would come after Russia capitulated to the Bolsheviks in 1918.
I really don't think so.