"Calypso" is a song written by John Denver

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

 in 1975 as a tribute to Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...

 and his research ship Calypso

Calypso (ship)

RV Calypso is a former British Royal Navy Minesweeper converted into a research vessel for the oceanographic researcher Jacques-Yves Cousteau, equipped with a mobile laboratory for underwater field research. She was severely damaged in 1996, and is undergoing a complete refurbishment in 2009-2011...

. The song was featured on Denver's 1975 album Windsong

Windsong

Windsong is the ninth album by American singer-songwriter John Denver released in September 1975. Denver's popularity was at its peak by this time....

.

Released as the B-side of "I'm Sorry

I'm Sorry (John Denver song)

"I'm Sorry" is a song written and recorded by American country-folk singer-songwriter John Denver. Released in 1975, it was his final number-one pop hit released during his career.-Chart performance:...

", "Calypso" received substantial airplay, enabling it to chart on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. After "I'm Sorry" fell out of the #1 position, "Calypso" began receiving more airplay than "I'm Sorry," thus causing Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

to list "Calypso" as the new A-side. Hence, "Calypso" is itself considered a #2 hit on the Hot 100.

John Denver was a close friend of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Calypso was the name of Jacques Cousteau's research boat that sailed around the world for oceanic conservation.

Cultural references

A filk song exists in Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

fandom (and has been quoted in Chapter 8 of Diane Duane

Diane Duane

Diane Duane is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.-Biography :...

's Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky

The Wounded Sky

The Wounded Sky is a 1983 Star Trek novel by Diane Duane, featuring James T. Kirk as captain of the USS Enterprise. The author would four years later adapt the novel's plot for the teleplay of the first season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where No One Has Gone Before".-Plot:The...

), based on John Denver's Calypso, but adapted to the voyages of the Enterprise

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...

: "To sail on a dream in the sun-fretted darkness, to soar through the starlight unfrightened alone...."

Additionally, Tom Smith

Tom Smith (filker)

Tom Smith is a singer-songwriter from , who got his start in the filk music community. He is a fourteen-time winner of the Pegasus Award for excellence in filking, including awards for his "A Boy and His Frog", "307 Ale", and "The Return of the King ", and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in...

 wrote parody lyrics for the song, which he titled Callisto, referring to a sexual desire for Callisto

Callisto (Xena)

Callisto is a fictional character in the fantasy TV series Xena: Warrior Princess. She features as the most frequently recurring villainess on that show. She also makes appearances on three episodes of the parent show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...

, a villainess in the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....

and one of Xena

Xena

Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name...

's enemies.

Chart performance

Chart (1975)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
Dutch Top 40	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	5
Canadian RPM Top Singles	29