Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTake Two: “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” (Enya Vs. Olivia Jean)

The Original (from the 1988 album Watermark)

This song is a centerpiece of arguably the most successful album from the 1980s-90s “New Age” marketing category. Enya started out creating mood music for BBC documentaries, and the cinematic quality of her work is on full display here.

The core of the song features pizzicato violins and synth washes and arpeggiated runs. Percussion is provided by a spare bassline and strategically placed timpani dramatically leaning on the one of the measure, a pattern well known in Funk music, BTW.

Lopping two chord patterns and impressionistic nautical lyrics make the music hypnotic in its way. You don’t need to be anywhere near water to get to dreaming of adventures on the high seas.

The Cover (from the 2023 album Raving Ghost)

Turns out the looping chords and steady rhythmic pattern lends itself well to a Rock format. Oliva Jean, from Nashville, TN, ups the beats-per-minute and swaps out the electronics for guitars, giving the melody line an earthy charge that turns an ambient-lite meditation into a salty Pop confection. The sense of motion remains in this version; Listening to this song, one might imagine crashing over the Indiana sand dunes in an all-terrain vehicle rather than the waves of a crystal blue sea in a sturdy boat. Other than the instrument and tempo change, not much is different about the version, nor does it need to be. It’s a great example of how to re-interpret a classic song in a new way.