Famous explorers mentioned in popular songs
Immigration remains one of the hottest political issues of the year, despite the irony of the founding of the country. The very men who made our Constitution were immigrants, since we are all different from the Native Americans who inhabited the earth before the explorers arrived.
The most famous of the immigrants is, of course, Christopher Columbus, an Italian who stumbled upon the New World while sailing under the command of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He has gained such renown that he has numerous cities named after him, as well as his own vacations.
Columbus has also been mentioned in dozens of songs, including Bob Dylan’s 115 Sleep and Loudon Wainwright Kings and Queens. British New Wave artist Graham Parker, a contemporary of Elvis Costello and the Police, even named an entire album after the explorer, called Goodbye Columbus.
Here are ten other famous explorers who have been referenced in popular songs by well-known artists.
Ponce DeLeon by Hall and Oates
This Spanish Voyager appears in Boredom in the mountains from the duo’s debut album.
Cortez the killer by Neil Young
The man who conquered the Aztecs is the subject of this song by Zuma, a very underrated record from the early seventies.
Doctor Livingstone, I guess by Moody Blues
Famously associated with Henry Clark to examine Africa, this European is the subject of a song by the British band In search of the lost chord.
Swing Lo Magellan by Dirty Projectors
The First Man to Sail Around the World provides the title character on a track from the alternative group’s 2012 album of the same name.
Francis drake by Sammy Hagar
Browsing‘is the track that alludes to the British explorer, and the album Light roast is the seventeenth effort of the veteran rocker.
Lewis and Clark by CW McCall
Two of the first boys to explore the Mississippi region have the same last names as the two men Convoy singer writes in this melody.
Henry hudson by Nico
Dream of exile makes a fitting title for an album that mentions a scout, which serves as the title for this song.
By Soto De Son by Animal Collective
The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto is the reference to the title of this track from Campfire songs.
Sir Walter Raleigh by The Beatles
“I’m so tired,” moans John Lennon in this classic from White album, after which he curses the main character for having discovered tobacco.
Marco Polo by Bow Wow
The most famous Asian explorer serves as the title of a song by the Japanese rock band of the eighties, who in this song speak more about the game than about the man.