The passing of yet another birthday left me a bit nostalgic, so I checked the TV listings for an old show to take me back to yesteryear. On the channel called MeTV, I found a stellar oldie but goodie I had nearly forgotten about.
The hour-long drama was titled Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. I set the DVR for Saturday at midnight, and watched the show the following morning. For the entire hour, I was ten years old again.
I then turned to my usual outlet for nostalgia, which is music. I scanned my memory for song titles which contained the word “sea.” Here are fifteen that I came up with.
“Sea of Love” by the Honeydrippers: Between his long stint with rock group Led Zeppelin and his bluegrass duet with Allison Krause, Robert Plant sang this pop band’s biggest hit.
“Seven Seas of Rhye” by Queen: The legendary quartet followed up their astonishing debut album with Queen II , from which this single emerged as the highlight.
“Dead Sea” by the Lumineers: Though not as popular as “Hey Ho,” this acoustic gem is the folk-pop group’s best tune.
“Sea Lion” by Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson and his rock troupe topped the charts with Warchild , a concept album featuring animals songs like this one and the smash hit “Bungle in the Jungle.”
“I am the Sea” by the Who: This track introduces the quartet’s second rock opera, Quadrophenia . The album also features “Sea and Sand,” which should be included on this list.
“On the Sea” by Beach House: The folk-rock band has begun to amass quite a following, primarily because of catchy pop gems like this one.
“By the Sea” Suede: The 90s alternative rock band released a string of excellent albums, and this tune is a highlight from the Coming Up set.
“Across the Sea” by Weezer: Singer Rivers Cuomo allegedly wrote this number from Pinkerton after reading a letter by a lonely Japanese girl. A lovely intro piano riff foreshadows the heart-wrenching lyrics that follow.
“Swallowed in the Sea” by Coldplay: Some fans were disappointed with the indie group’s third album X&Y , but tracks like this one and “Speed of Sound” proved that the band still had the magic of its first two records.
“Like the Sea” by Alicia Keys: The crux of the song is a worthy simile, “Love if like the sea,” and the pop idol delivers it beautifully.
“Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin: The legendary singer took this romantic classic to the top ten in 1959, right along with “mack the Knife.”
“In the Sea” by America: This tune from one of the band’s final albums was the soundtrack to The Last Unicorn , featuring all songs written by jimmy Webb and performed by America.
“Seaside” by the Kooks: This short track introduces the band’s debut album, Inside/Out , foretelling of the catchy Britpop that would fill their first three discs.
“Down by the Seaside” by Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant sounds like Neil Young on this Physical Graffiti track, whose alternating mellow and rock parts mirror Young’s music as well.