Happy We’ll Be Beyond the Sea (original) (raw)

Picture by Alejandro Garcia
I came across the song “Beyond the Sea” in two quite unrelated places as of late. One was in the third book of The Royal Explorers of Oz, in which the mermaid Chrysalissium (Sally for short) becomes obsessed with it, and it relates to her situation at the end of the story. The other was in a commercial for fish sandwiches at Hardee’s. I guess that’s not too surprising, as I think the song qualifies as a standard. It shows up in a lot of sea-related media, like the closing credits of Finding Nemo. Interestingly, the song was originally in French, and its lyrics related to a different theme. Simply called “La Mer,” it was, according to Wikipedia, “a homage and ode to the changing moods of the sea.”

Legend has it that Charles Trenet wrote the lyrics on toilet paper while on a train from Paris to Narbonne in 1943, then recorded it three years later, with Léo Chauliac helping with the music. The tune was apparently inspired by “Heart and Soul,” not something I ever considered on my own, but I guess I can hear it now. It apparently wasn’t too much later that Jack Lawrence wrote English lyrics, keeping the sea but making the mood a wistful one of pining for a lover who’s far away. Thinking of the song in connection with Oz, I guess there’s actually kind of a similarity to “Over the Rainbow.” That isn’t a love song, but it has the “somewhere far away” motif. I suppose it’s easier to get across the sea than the rainbow, but at least neither one is east of the Sun and west of the Moon. The most famous recording of the English version is Bobby Darin’s from 1958.

And to tie this into my own musical universe, there’s a brief musical quote from it at the end of the Minus 5’s “Over the Sea.”

This entry was posted in Advertising, Characters, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, Marcus Mebes, Music, Oz, Oz Authors and tagged beyond the sea, bobby darin, charles trenet, chrysalissium, finding nemo, heart and soul, Jack Lawrence, la mer, leo chauliac, mermaids, minus 5, over the rainbow, terra obscura, the royal explorers of oz. Bookmark the permalink.