Day #11 – Take It Back
Day #11 – Take It Back
I don’t know when exactly my love affair with the America’s Cup started, but it was long before these foiling speed demons that are part of the circuit today. I don’t even dislike them so much as I miss the boats of the eighties and nineties, the sleek monohull’s that tacked and jibed across the course. It was actually the pre-cup series from 1995 that I started watching, up late one night, in college, being unable to sleep because I have always been a night owl, and ESPN 2 was showing these amazing match races. I was hooked. I didn’t know the lingo at all, but I loved what I was seeing. Honestly, I am from a land locked state and know nothing about sailing, but I love the beauty and idea of it.
Anyway, this song came out before I started watching America’s Cup racing (by complete accident, as I mentioned above), but I had finally saved up enough money to buy the Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads box set. I was a poor college student, but I had been eye balling it at the Hastings on 24th Street in Billings, Montana. I finally saved up and bought it, and when I was listening to the Boat’s CD, I was like “wait a minute!” Is that song about the racing matches I just started watching? Life is weird like that sometimes. So, both the song Take It Back and The America’s Cup racing came into my life about the same time, in a very strange coincidence.
As I have gotten older, I have started to realize there really are no coincidences, but I have yet to figure this one out. Anyway, that’s for me to ponder at a later time. Here is my post on Take It Back, which is a fabulous, fun song.
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-Original post from 9/12/2023-
Day #11 – Take It Back
This song has an interesting back story. The America’s Cup is a yacht racing tournament that was first held in 1851 hosted by the British Royal Yacht Squadron. It was a race won by the New York Yacht Club with the schooner America. The trophy was named after the schooner and has been called that ever since. The trophy is also held by the club who wins each tourney. The New York Yacht Club held it for 132 years and didn’t lose a challenge race until 1983, and they lost it to Australia. And then the cup went “down under”.
This was a major black eye for American sailors, although the rest of the country didn’t really notice. But sailing teams in the US wanted that cup back! It a long, complicated process to set up tournaments and challenge for the cup, but in 1986, the San Diego Yacht Club with the Stars and Stripes won the right to challenge for the America’s Cup.
Sometime in 1986, Jimmy was approached about writing a song about reclaiming the cup. He co-wrote with Matt Betton (who I know nothing about) and Take It Back was born, and always a savvy business man, Jimmy turned this into his first tour to Australia.
Jimmy had just released the album Floridays, so this song was too late for that, but he did throw it on the B-side of single Floridays in January of 1987 and it did manage to bring some hype and attention to this yacht race. The song wasn’t officially released until 1992’s 4-record anthology Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads.
“We don’t want a bucket of blood, just a cup is all we could use”.
I love this song so much. With witty double meanings, a pirate vibe and the Popeye theme played on the steel drums, what’s not to love?
And yes, in 1987, the Stars and Stripes won the challenge, and they brought the cup back stateside, to the “up above” as Jimmy said in the song.
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I think this is such an enjoyable song. The lyrics are so fun! It perhaps made me fall a little more in love with yacht sailing than I already had. America’s Cup racing coming again in 2024, this time from Spain. Should be fun!
Stacy
Please enjoy Take It Back. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
