Sail On Sailor Lyrics

Lyric discussion by nic1037310 

Cover art for Sail On Sailor lyrics by Beach Boys, The

While the second line always appears in writing and is sung as "restful" conceptually or semantically that doesn't make sense. A word that does make sense there is "restive" which means restless or 'difficult to control'. Restive is probably harder to sing, and many people misunderstand the word's meaning, not realizing a near synonym is restless. But, clearly, the water being described is tumultuous and even dangerous not calm and quiet.

Song Fact

@nic1037310 Thanks, indeed you must be right :)

@nic1037310 'Restive' makes more sense than 'restful'. Interesting that in the next verse he says 'I wrest the waters', confirming that he is struggling against the sea. A fitting tribute to Brian Wilson.