"Walk on the Ocean" is a song by American alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket from their third studio album, Fear (1991). Two different versions of the song were released: the album version with a cold ending (timed at 2:59) and the single version with the chorus repeated until fade (timed at 3:32). Commercially, "Walk on the Ocean" peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 40 in Canada, New Zealand, and Norway.
"Walk on the Ocean" | ||||
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Single by Toad the Wet Sprocket | ||||
from the album fear | ||||
B-side | "All in All" | |||
Released | October 15, 1992 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock[1][2] | |||
Length |
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Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Glen Phillips, Todd Nichols | |||
Producer(s) | Gavin MacKillop | |||
Toad the Wet Sprocket singles chronology | ||||
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The song was written after singer Glen Phillips and his wife were vacationing on Orcas Island in Washington's San Juan Islands after hanging "out at Doe Bay hot springs with a bunch of hippies." The lyrics were written as placeholders, but Phillips could not come up with anything better. "I wrote down literally the first thing that came across my mind. The lyric and the chorus, I have no idea what it means, unfortunately. Then I tried rewriting it and nothing ever really worked. I tried to make the chorus mean something, and eventually said, 'Well, it sounds like I know what I'm talking about.' So we just left it as is. It was the least-conscious, least-crafted lyric," he said.[3]
US CD and cassette single[4][5]
European CD and cassette single[6][7]
Chart (1992–1993) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] | 22 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[9] | 67 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] | 22 |
Norway (VG-lista)[11] | 10 |
US Billboard Hot 100[12] | 18 |
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[13] | 31 |
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[14] | 27 |
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[15] | 10 |
The song appears on the soundtrack of the 2013 American film Jobs.[16] The song appears on the soundtrack of the 2014 American film Adult Beginners.[17] The song appears on the soundtrack of the 2015 American television series Hindsight.[18]
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