Big Ship

Album: The Singles Collection (1969)
Charted: 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Not to be confused with that other big ship of the traditional children's rhyme, this was written by Raymond Froggatt, and was a hit for Cliff Richard when he was still relatively young. It is constructed almost entirely from clichés: "Love is a big ship, following me," etc.

    Alas, that ship sailed leaving Cliff on the shore, and he remained a bachelor boy. In spite of the usual scurrilous rumors that surround a famous unmarried man of a certain age, Cliff was always emphatically heterosexual, but realized there were more important things in life than sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll, though it remains to be seen if he had to record "Millennium Prayer."
  • "Big Ship" was released in May 1969 backed by "She's Leaving You." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

Comments: 2

  • WilliamI've just heard Cliff Richard's "Big Ship": it's a rubbish song, but what a great trombone!
  • Zabadak from London, EnglandThis reached #8 in the UK chart in 1969.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.