Christopher Cross is an
American singer-songwriter from
San Antonio, Texas. His debut
album earned him five
Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "
Sailing", "
Ride Like the Wind", and "
Arthur's Theme (
Best That You Can Do)", the last of which he performed for the film
Arthur starring
Dudley Moore."Sailing" earned three
Grammy Awards in
1981, while "Arthur's Theme" won the
Oscar for
Best Original Song in 1981 (with co-composers
Burt Bacharach,
Carole Bayer Sager and
Peter Allen).
Christopher Cross filled in for guitarist
Richie Blackmore of
Deep Purple (who had fallen ill) by performing with the band in
San Antonio, Texas in
1970
also contributed backing vocals (along with
The Beach Boys'
Carl Wilson) to
David Lee Roth's
1985 hit "
California Girls"
Christopher Cross performed the song "Sailing" alongside the pop band '
N Sync at the
Fifth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in
1999.
He also performed lead vocals on "
So Far Away", a song from
Alan Parsons' album
On Air. When
Parsons was touring in support of that album,
Cross would sometimes join the band onstage to sing the song if he was available.
A small snippet of Cross's early hit "Sailing" was played in the DreamWorks film "
Flushed Away"
"Sailing" is a number-one single, released in July
1980, The song was a phenomenal success, winning Grammy Awards for
Record of the Year,
Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, and helping Cross win the
Best New Artist award.
VH1 named this the greatest "softsational soft rock" music song of all time.
It was a number-one rated single in the
United States. Since its debut, it has been covered by many artists, including
Avant,
Barry Manilow,
Big Bub, 'N Sync,
Phajja, and
Patrick Yandall.
The Mexican airline AeroMéxico used the theme during the middle
1980s as a jingle for its advertisements; it was also used for the cigarette brand
Winston.
Lyrics:
Well, it's not far down to paradise,At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right,You can sail away and find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles,
Just you wait and see,
Believe me
It's not far to never-never land, No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right,You can find the joy of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, Just you wait and see,Believe me
Sailing takes me away,To where
I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me,And soon I will be free
Fantasy, it gets the best of me,When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie,Every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me,Sailing takes me away
To where I've always heard it could be,Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free,Well it's not far back to sanity
At least it's not for me,And if the wind is right
you can sail away and find serenity,Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see,Believe me, Sailing takes me away
To where I've always heard it could be, Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
- published: 01 Apr 2011
- views: 2597895