Saltwater (Julian Lennon song)
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| "Saltwater" | ||||
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| Single by Julian Lennon | ||||
| from the album Help Yourself | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 12 August 1991 | |||
| Length | 3:46 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Bob Ezrin | |||
| Julian Lennon singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
"Saltwater" is a song by English singer-songwriter Julian Lennon. It was written by Lennon, Mark Spiro, and Leslie Spiro. Originally released on Lennon's fourth album, Help Yourself (1991), the single was released in August 1991 by Virgin Records. It peaked at number six in the United Kingdom in October 1991 and topped the Australian ARIA Singles Chart for four weeks in March 1992. "Saltwater" was the 14th-highest-selling single of 1992 in Australia, where it is certified platinum.
In 2016, Lennon rerecorded the song as "Saltwater 25" on 14 December 2016 saying that a proportion of the proceeds would go to The White Feather Foundation.[1]
Unlike most of Lennon's previous songs, "Saltwater" combines subtle melodies with gentle vocals to bring forward the issues of environmental conservation and world poverty. The lyrics juxtapose many hypothetical aspects of the cosmos and alleged feats of human civilisation with the death of the natural world, constantly emphasising the passing of time — "Time is not a friend, 'cos friends we're out of time".
The recording features a lead guitar solo in the style of George Harrison. Lennon originally wrote a guitar solo for the song. At the suggestion of his producer Bob Ezrin, he then contacted Harrison to play the solo instead. Harrison was busy at the time consoling Eric Clapton whose son had recently died. He recorded a couple of riffs and sent them back to Lennon. Guitar player Steve Hunter then played the actual solo on the song, combining elements of both Lennon's and Harrison's solos. In the liner notes for the Help Yourself album, Harrison is given special thanks.
Track listings
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Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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| Australia (ARIA)[23] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
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^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
