Sail Away/Lonely At The Top/He Gives Us All Our Love/Last Night I Had A Dream/Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear/Old Man/Political Science/Burn On/Memo To My Son/Dayton Ohio 1903/You Can Leave Your Hat On/God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)
Sail Away is considered the best album release from the sardonic American songwriter Randy Newman. Always more popular with the critics than the public he addresses controversial subjects like slavery and nuclear war. The quirky Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear was a hit in the UK five years earlier for Alan Price. (US:163)
“When Sail Away is good, it's very good. Political Science and Sail Away are both hilarious vignettes of American history that make you wonder why nobody writes these kinds of songs any more.”
“Sail Away is Randy Newman at the top of his game, writing and performing from the perspective of characters that it is almost impossible to sympathise with, yet you can't help but sing along with, thus leading you to question your own moral standards, which is something that very few songwriters ever manage to do. There's also lightness and frivolity as well, with Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear.”
“Some writers are funny. But Randy Newman isn't quite. He's sardonic and sarcastic with a pen dipped in bile. Yet you'll find yourself chuckling before you stop and realise the joke is on you. That's the genius of the man. On this, his best album, he gently tortures the world. Who else would couple such beautiful music to a song sung by a trader conning slaves onto his ship, as in Sail Away? Who else can have you singing lustily along to a ditty about nuclear annihilation?
“He is a master satirist with a gentle, but penetrating style that is shown to good advantage here in perhaps his most characteristic album. In the title tune, Newman subtly assumes the character of a black slave trader to satirize and at the same time slyly celebrate the American experience.”
“Randy Newman's simple songwriting, yet full of character and thematically very bold, is great. Sometimes, classicist music like Sail Away is really needed. That's why I love this album as it is filled with highly enjoyable melodies that explore traditional styles like ragtime and cabaret music. Newman's weary and whiny voice is very charming and surprisingly soulful and the way he represents the song's characters is really captivating.”
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