Sailor

"Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)" (English translation "Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)") is a song originally written in German by Werner Scharfenberger (de) and lyricist Fini Busch (de). A 1959 German-language recording by Lolita became an international hit in 1960–61. The song was covered in a number of languages, most notably by Petula Clark who had her first #1 UK hit with the English-language rendering "Sailor". Clark was also afforded international success with both "Sailor" and the French-language rendering "Marin". A rival version by Anne Shelton was a Top Ten UK hit, concluding her chart career. Other singers for whom "Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)" brought success as rendered in various languages include: Scandinavian singers Thory Bernhards and Towa Carson "Sjöman" (Swedish) and Jan Høiland "Sjömann" (Norwegian); Caterina Valente, who had a Flemish hit with "Zeeman (Je verlangen is de zee)"( Dutch;) a 1981 hit in the Netherlands for Ciska Peters (nl); and Virginia Lee (af) whose "Seeman" (Afrikaans) was a successful local cover in South Africa. A schlager-style number, "Sailor" with its original German lyric, addresses a seafaring love object with an acceptance of his wanderlust: the English-language version inverts this sentiment turning the song into a plea for the sailor to return. The song is sometimes sung by male vocalists from the point of view of the sailor with the lyrics adjusted accordingly. Original German-language version