When was sitting on the dock of the bay released
![when was sitting on the dock of the bay released when was sitting on the dock of the bay released](https://www.billboard.com/wp-content/uploads/media/02-Otis-Redding-1967-portrait-billboard-1548.jpg)
A spectre stalks Redding across the continental United States, displacing him from his “home in Georgia.” Again, any argument that this song is uplifting or mere melancholy fails to account for the following bleak prescriptions. It is in the second stanza that we find out how Redding came to sit on the dock of the bay.
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Looks like nothin's gonna come my way, so Instead, he feels that he is “wastin’ time.” Although an overworked populace often fantasizes about wasting time, the rest of the song makes clear that the dock of the bay is not a paradise but a prison. Redding does not prescribe sitting as joyful or relaxing or rejuvenating. Yet, the chorus also provides the first hint of resentment. Much like the ships, here the tide rolls in and out. A world where the ships come and go, the sun rises and sets, and Redding, moored to the dock, sits and watches the world circle around.įirst, the chorus continues the description of the cyclical nature of Redding’s dock life. In embracing repetition, Redding juxtaposes the cyclical nature of the surrounding world with his own stagnation and lack of momentum. I have taken the liberty of bolding all phrases and words that Redding repeats in the song. It is striking how often Redding repeats his words, particularly when describing his own actions. Through repetitiveness and minute adjustments to common verses, the song conveys a spiralling into oblivion. And although highlighting a few choice lines would get that point across, there is a more subtle lyricism at play.
![when was sitting on the dock of the bay released when was sitting on the dock of the bay released](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e-9rYTB4ezQ/UE3GeoiZufI/AAAAAAAAD0c/7e-EM2-diyU/s1600/Otis-Redding-Dock-Of-The-Bay.jpg)
Despite its simple, poppy melody, the lyrics betray a moroseness so deep. Rather, the song chronicles a broken man mired in loneliness and depression. It is an amazing song but also one that is often interpreted as an ode to relaxation, to melancholy. A work in progress, the song nonetheless became the first posthumous single to reach #1 on the Billboard Charts. In the days before a fatal plane crash, Redding was still in studio recording (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay. The most famous song recorded by Redding is also the most tragic. Otis touched a lot of us.Otis Redding, the king of soul. The Playing for Change version features people singing the timeless song all over the world. One can understand how an organization like Playing for Change, dedicated to inspiring and connecting the world through music, would make the following video. The song’s universal appeal is one of Redding’s final gifts to us. And it was the first posthumous single to chart that high in the U.S. But Redding was happy with the somewhat different sound.Īfter Redding’s death in December 1967, the song was released on January 8, 1968. Surprisingly, some were concerned that “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was too different from Redding’s catalog to be successful. Cropper also explains how Redding never got to hear the electric guitar part in the song too. Redding died in an airplane crash on Decembefore he could see the song become a hit. Cropper tells how Redding approached him with the opening, and then Cropper added information from Redding’s own life (“I left my home in Georgia.”). In this segment from The Ronnie Wood Show, songwriter Steve Cropper discusses co-writing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of the Bay” with Otis Redding.