Get out of my dreams, get into my blog – A few thoughts on the magic of Billy Ocean

When people today discuss the great oceans of the world, too often they fail to mention the most majestic of them all, Billy.

Sure, the Pacific Ocean may cover 63 millions square miles and sustain life, but how many Top 5 hits has it had?

I grew up a fan of cheesy 80s music and have always loved Billy Ocean. Not enough people seem to recognize his greatness, though, so I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about the magic of this fun and amazing artist.

He always stuck with the name Billy Ocean – He never went to Bill Ocean or Mr. Ocean or even Billy Cougar Ocean. He stayed true to his stage name.

Caribbean Queen is a great song, even if I don’t know what he is saying – The song has stuck with me all of these years and I always sing along, despite not understanding what he is saying in the melody. Here is how I sing it: “Caribbean Queen, now she eats nuts and greens” or “Caribbean Queen now that she has nose and knees, and our hearts can beat as one, no more love on the run.”  To be honest, I’m also not really sure what “love on the run” means. Is it like love to go? Love on a road trip? Either way, I’m pleased that he does not have to have love on the run any longer. It sounds exhausting.

He even whistles in Caribbean Queen! – Part of the song includes, “All heads turned because she was the queen (whistle).” How many other musicians have whistles as part of their hit songs! Billy is the man! Or perhaps I should say, Billy is the body of water!

They changed the name of Caribbean Queen when they released it in other parts of the world – It was also released as “African Queen” and “European Queen,” depending on the locations. What other artist can say that? It’s like if they had released “Born in the USA” as “Born in Canada” up north or “Frosty the Snowman” as “Sweaty the Sandman” in warm climates.

His songs were in some big movies – I had forgotten all about this, but “When The Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going,” was the theme song for the movie, “The Jewel of the Nile,” which was a huge movie back in the day. Movie stars Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito even appeared in the music video. I don’t recall what they did in the video, but it’s safe to assume that it involved getting going.

When The Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going is just a fun song – It starts out trying to sound all tough and then pretty much just talks about being tough. At one point it says, “I’m gonna make you stand and deliver, and give me love in the old-fashioned way.” I’m not really sure what that means. What would old-fashioned love be? Courting? I’m guessing it’s definitely not on the run.

I’m confused about Love Zone – I like the song, but is the Love Zone just being in love, or is it an actual place where they never have to be alone? Either way, I prefer to be alone at least sometimes, so I’m nervous about the Love Zone. Frankly, I’m concerned that it might be a cult.

Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car is just a crazy song – This song was featured in the movie, “License to Drive” and was another smash hit, despite it’s apparent calling for kidnapping. It starts “Hey (hey) you (you) get into my car. Who me? Yes you. Get into my car!” It is literally about dreaming about someone and then asking this stranger to get into your car (“get in the back seat baby!”)

He wants to be your Loverboy – Or more accurately he wants to be your “Lover, lover, want to be your lover, lover, lover boy, lover, lover, want to be your lover, lover, lover boy.” How could anyone turn that down?

He released Loverboy at a time when the band Loverboy was extremely popular – It’s like if he wanted to be your “Bruce, Bruce, want to be your Bruce, Bruce, Bruce Springsteen.” That takes courage, and he had a huge hit with that song.

He is one of the few artists to write a popular song that is about other songs – “There’ll be Sad Songs” was a hit, much like Elton John’s “Sad Songs” and a few other songs about sad songs. Someday, I hope someone writes a hit song about songs that are about sad songs.

You don’t see the contraction “There’ll” very often – I give Billy credit for using it in a song title.

Songs like “The Colour of Love” and “Suddenly” are awesome – First of all, the color of love is definitely red. I don’t understand why Billy is questioning that in his lyrics. More importantly, though, I want to point out that while I like the silliness of Billy Ocean, I honestly love these two hits and many other of his songs. I am a Billy Ocean fan (an Oceanographer perhaps?) and I hope that you become one as well. I’d guess, in fact, that if you start listening to his tunes in your car and in your dreams, there’ll be a day when you wake up, and suddenly you’re in love with Billy Ocean’s music, too.