1975Released
3:36

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Calypso. By Songfacts®.

This song is about the ship Calypso, which was bought by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and converted to an oceanographic ship. Cousteau wanted to understand "The silent world" better, in order to protect it. "To live on the land we must learn from the sea" - Cousteau was the first to do research on pollution and its effects on the sea and received many honors for his accomplishments. John Denver cared deeply about nature and this song was a tribute to both Calypso and her captain and their valuable work.

Denver wrote the chorus to this song when he was on board the Calypso. He struggled to complete the song, spending months trying to write classical-sounding verses to a sea shanty chorus. He was about to abandon the song when he got the idea for the words when he was skiing. Denver got off the slopes quick and jumped in his Jeep, where he drove home to get his ideas on paper and complete the song.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Calypso.
AKey
MajorMode
3/4Time Signature
180BPM

Album

The album Calypso is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Calypso.
RCA/Legacy
(P) 1975 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

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