Sail Away
Dave Van Ronk * Track #9 On Songs for Ageing Children
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Album Songs for Ageing Children
Sail Away by Dave Van Ronk
Performed by
Dave Van RonkAbout
A cover of an early Randy Newman song from the album of the same name. Like many of Newman’s songs, “Sail Away” has a bite: it’s a sharp, unforgiving satire of America’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, sung by a slave trader luring a would-be victim in with racially-coded promises of f...
Sail Away Lyrics
In America, you'll get food to eat
Won't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet
You'll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It's great to be an American
Ain't no lions, no tigers, ain't no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Everybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog, sail away with me
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You're all gonna be an American
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail Away Q&A
Who wrote Sail Away's ?
Sail Away was written by Randy Newman.