Songs that feel like gentle swell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7MqKDTUETk

This may not be real ‘gentle swell’ feeling but I think it’s the most beautiful tune Kottke ever did. And Pika… Cool Change has been stuck in my head for a couple of days now. I’m not complaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpnWQV0Vjsw

The lyrics are not nautical but the rhythm fits in this beautiful song I heard this morning.

https://youtu.be/EWLqdAJbu0A

how about Otis
https://youtu.be/rTVjnBo96Ug

@pikabike said:
The lyrics are not nautical but the rhythm fits in this beautiful song I heard this morning.

https://youtu.be/EWLqdAJbu0A

He needs a PFD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QXcNZHPXLw
over a decade ago… moi on guitar/vocals

need headphones on this one!!

A lot of good suggestions above. Castoff, thanks for the introduction to Mean Mary.

Here is a little Bob Weir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVoFniQnYQ4&t=0s&list=WL&index=16

This is a great Eno song from “Before and After Science (1977)” about being adrift at sea, very atmospheric, a precursor to his ambient music…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok5rs1AEzCM

The Moldau, by Smetana, most of it except for the hunting section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6kqu2mk-Kw
Portions of Bue Danube Waltz, Strauss. Following clip includes dancing ballerinas that were so silly I couldn’t resist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6t318FgFdc

Jerry Vandiver’s songs are wonderful paddling songs from a PADDLER himself. “True and Deep” and “Me and Molly” are my favorites, but many great songs from a Nashville writer with a resume of hits from several country artists. Tough to listen to “Me and Molly” if you’ve ever had a 4 legged paddling partner!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccm6U_htzG0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHjNFMVG77k

Word is that Jerry Vandiver will be back at the Quiet Water Symposium this March.

Blue Danube is very ‘gentle swell’. Good pick.

D Bain, “The Old Canoe”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz6j_KXL9pM&list=PL6X_W_9E3Thzus2Docu2laa5Gmj32G9I0&index=2&frags=pl%2Cwn

Not a song, but you still get the feeling nevertheless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9b8iOjXZWE&frags=pl%2Cwn

LAST OF THE MOHICANS THE GAELRoyal Scots Dragoon Guards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR-csWS1bcM&frags=pl%2Cwn

I have always wanted to paddle a northern meandering quiet wilderness river to this music. To me it says “paddle away around the next bend”.
Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack: Promontory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TI1735XRik&frags=pl%2Cwn

Just returned from spending a little time by the ocean where, though I didn’t take a boat, I spent several mornings watching the sun rise over the Atlantic. On the calmer mornings with the long swells rolling in and the world waking up behind me the mood seemed a bit like this… I did wish I was out there riding the swells in the long morning light.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6WTYcFI8S4

Another tune that comes close is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRxOBu8S2Xg
By afternoon though it might change to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQHjsaiMk3w

In a similar vein, I can recall one particular early autumn day at sun rise. I was paddling the deep flat water along the base of a limestone bluff. The ferns had turned brown and had a touch of frost on them. Cliff swallows had departed but the chickadees and nuthatches were stirring and flitting about. The air was cooler than the water so there were tendrils of mist rising and the fog was dense enough so the opposite shore was shrouded and the rising sun gave every thing a pastel tint. This song fits that morning perfectly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYMQ2JOh87s

@PJC said:
Samba Pa-Ti is a long time favorite of mine too! Almost posted it, but tried to stick to an aquatic theme.

@tdaniel said:
how about Otis
I play Dock of the Bay on my flute.

I have really enjoyed the variety and selections on this thread…some favorites and others new to my ear.

Castoff - I bet Samba Pa- ti takes a lot of us back… it also reminds me of cruising with friends and 8 track tape players, But it has always sounded to me like long rolling waves feel, even back then. There just aren’t that many songs that specifically refer to paddling in the lyrics, though there are quite a few posted here, many new to me. Thanks to all!
Had another thought that perhaps should be added:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3jpy1OzWg8
Doesn’t moonlight falling on long ocean swells come to mind when you hear that? Is it just me?

And another oldie that does specifically refer to paddling in the lyrics - by a poetic young Bruce Cockburnwho later did the soundtrack for Bill Mason’s Waterwalker (Viewable online). Perhaps he was still aspiring a bit back then… we were all younger then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Q7nOu8sB8

Being an old dead head and paddler, the songs Broken Down Palace and Cassidy seem to me to resonate with paddling as well. But one can’t post everything.

Another gentlly rolling vintage cut (1976) is the instrumental “Asleep in the Desert” from ZZ Topp’s “Tejas” album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCBYpv8MmtY