Ode To Big Blue

Album: Don Quixote (1972)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song tells the legend of a great whale who lost his whole family to hunters, but died a natural death. It also makes a statement about whaling: "They've been taken by the men for the money they can spend; and the killing never ends, it just goes on." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France

Comments: 2

  • Seventhmist from 7th HeavenLightfoot's comments about this song: "A lot of people were killing whales at that time, so I thought it was time to write a sort of protest song. Environmental activism was kind of swelling in the early '70s, and then it subsided. Singers like John Denver got involved in the movement back then, but I didn't really step into the fray on that front until about 1989."
  • Guy from Woodinville, WaI think this is one of the best songs Gordon Lightfoot ever wrote, but it was never released as a singal. Brilliant lyrics. I particularly appreciate how the melody evokes the sound and feel of hearing those mammoth beasts underwater.
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