Drops in a bucket: songs titled, “The Ocean”

I visited the Atlantic in 2014 and wrote an article after that trip about my top five “The Ocean” songs.

How many songs are called, “The Ocean”? Not “Ocean” (Sebadoh and Velvet Underground), “Oceans” (Pearl Jam), “I Sat By The Ocean” (Queens of The Stone Age) or “Ocean Man” (Ween). There are quite a few that are just called, “The Ocean”. And why not? The ocean is ample — lots to go around. A quick scan of Spotify yields about 20 results (give or take) and there are some really good ones in the mix. A recent trip to the Atlantic got me looking, listening, and enjoying a few of those tracks. Here’s a top five.

Number Five belongs to Tegan and Sara. The sisters have a different sounding “The Ocean” than any other on the list and it’s not bad. Some might even say it’s good. It is, to be sure, a power pop, 0–60 (Kilometers per hour. They’re Canadian) song that demands (not suggest) that a former lover stop crying into a metaphorical ocean — an ocean of tears. They sing, “Stop crying in the ocean, stop crying over me.” All T&S really want is for this lover to say, “Well I know what I want and what I want’s right here with you” but that doesn’t happen and more tears ensue. That’s a lot of tears. One might think that this sisterly duo would be forgotten about or left off the list…