My five songs for summer boating. How about you? send us your playlists!

“Tell you what, you who are a musician,” they say to me one morning in the newsroom, “why don’t you reveal to us the five songs to recommend to our readers this summer? I confess, I have been waiting for such a request for a long time: when I go boating, I always try to equip myself with a good soundtrack. Some people prefer to hear only the sound of the wind, but I believe that some good music, depending on the type of sailing, can amplify the feelings on board. So here are my musical suggestions for summer boating. Of course there are hundreds, what I say, thousands, that I would have liked to have included. Take care of filling in the gaps: send us your “must-have” boat songs, remembering that they do not have to be “nautical” themed. Send an email to speciali@panamaeditore.it with the subject line “Music on the Boat,” we will post your best playlists!

TO GAS MYSELF WITH “WIND” – SAIL (AWOLNATION)
Awolnation is an American indie rock band, led by the charismatic Aaron Bruno. Sail, a 2011 track, is a real adrenaline rush. When I’m at the helm with 20 knots of air, if I can I’ll play it on my iPod headphones.

WHEN I LEAVE THE COAST BEHIND – ORINOCO FLOW (ENYA)
One piece that has always communicated to me a feeling of freedom (I also listen to it at home to “escape the wear and tear of modern life”) is Orinoco Flow by the brilliant Irish musician Enya. A wonderful song released in 1988 as the launch single for the Watermark album, where the refrain “Sail Away” glues together a list of dreamy places, from Peru to Bali, from the Yellow Sea to Libyan beaches. When I cast off my moorings and set a course for the open sea, I love to be lulled by the Celtic notes of this song.

WHEN I PULL UP THE SAILS – SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE (QUEEN)
A 1973 classic. You have all heard it, since it is included in Queen‘s Greatest Hits I: I am talking about Seven Seas of Rhye. A rock piece with “fantasy” overtones that ends with a cross-fade, that is, with the instruments mingling with a sung version of I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside (“I Like to Be Beside the Seaside”), an old British song from 1907. I love to listen to him when I’m pulling up the sails. Freddie Mercury is still Freddie Mercury.

WITH SUNSHINE AND BONANZA – MADNESS (PRINCE BUSTER)
It’s hot as hell, there’s no air. What a bore, what a beast. Then you know what I do? I imagine myself in Jamaica, in the 1960s, on the beach dancing to original early ska (for the record, I play drums in a ska band). And Madness by Prince Buster, one of the progenitors of the genre, always puts me in a good mood.

IN THE ROADSTEAD WHEN I DO THE DIVING COMPETITION – SUMMER CAT (BILLIE THE VISION & THE DANCERS)
They are in the roadstead. The diving competition with friends is a must. Those who jump from the boom, the most daring, from the spreaders (do this only if you are experienced!). As a soundtrack I choose Summer Cat by Billie The Vision & The Dancers. Maybe it’s because I’m influenced by his video (which is actually a commercial for a Spanish beer), which is about as cruise-vacationary as you can get.

Eugenio Ruocco (editor of the Sailing Newspaper and…drummer)

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