Song · David Gray
“Sail Away” by David Gray
From the album White Ladder (1998)
“Sail Away” by David Gray appears on 13 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 2001 and 2022. It was first released in 1998 on the album White Ladder. Its best result is #200 on the WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,746 alternative song of all time.
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"Sail Away" comes off White Ladder, David Gray's fourth album, the record from 1998 that kept on paying out singles long after it came out; this one, the fourth, arrived in July 2001. Gray wrote it and plays guitar, keyboards and piano, with Clune on bass, drums and keyboards and singing alongside him.
It's a wistful, rolling song of escape, strummed guitar and soft programmed pulses behind Gray's cracked, yearning voice, the kind of thing that sounds best with the windows down. It reached 26 in the UK, 31 in Ireland and 11 on the American Triple-A chart. The single came with remixes by Rae and Christian and Biffco, and the DVD version carried live footage from David Gray: Live.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1735 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2001 | 469 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 500 |
| 2004 | 365 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 500 |
| 2004 | 708 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2005 | 252 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 273 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) | 500 |
| 2009 | 626 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2009 | 200 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2016 | 782 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2019 | 922 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 922 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2022 | 628 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2022 | 1343 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
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