
Orinoco Flow

"Orinoco Flow", also released as "Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)", is a song by the Irish singer songwriter Enya, released on 15 October 1988 on WEA Records in Europe and 10 January 1989 by Geffen Records in the United States. It was released as the lead single from the musician's second studio album, "Watermark" (1988). It topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks and received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Music Video and Best New Age Performance at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2020, "The Guardian" ranked "Orinoco Flow" at number 77 in its list of the 100 greatest UK number-one singles of all time.
Background.
The song was released as the lead single from Enya's fittingly named studio album "Watermark" in October 1988. It became a global success, reaching number-one in several countries, including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. In the United States, the song peaked at number 24 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in April 1989.
Part of its name is derived from Orinoco Studios (now Miloco Studios, where it was recorded) partly from the river of the same name. Its pizzicato chords (generated by altering the Roland D-50 synthesizer's "Pizzagogo" patch) are highly recognizable as a new age sound. Signed to WEA by Rob Dickins, who served as executive producer of "Watermark," and it pays homage to Dickins in the line "with Rob Dickins at the wheel." Co-producer, Ross Cullum was also referenced in the song, with a pun on Ross Dependency; "We can sigh, say goodbye/Ross and his dependencies".
In 1994, the song was licensed to Virgin Records for the best-selling new-age music compilation album "Pure Moods", which contributed to further exposure and "helped provide a multi-platinum bonanza" to the record company.
In 1998 a special-edition 10th anniversary remix single was released.
Lyrics.
The lyrics have been likened to "an itinerary for the most expensive gap year of all time," name-dropping an array of locations like a "global geography lesson". Some of the real locations mentioned in the song include Fiji, Tiree, Peru, Bali, and Cebu.
Critical reception.
Ned Raggett from AllMusic described the song as "distinct" and "downright catchy". He noted "its implicit dramatics, [that] gently charges instead of piling things on".
Music video.
A music video was made to accompany the song. It was directed by Michael Geoghegan.
Track listings.
1988
1998
In popular culture.
After a significant wave of popularity, including a regular rotation on MTV, the song became "a punch line", representing a New Age cliché of "generic “bubble bath” music". The song was used in scenes depicting relaxation, and used to highlight this in a joking manner. In the 1997 "South Park" episode "Death", Stan's grandfather locks Stan in a room and plays a parody of the song performed by Toddy Walters to illustrate what it feels like to be old. In the "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" episode "Crime and Punishment", character Jake Peralta mentions Enya as one of his favorite musical artists. Later on, "Orinoco Flow" plays as he walks, in slow-motion, into a courtroom. 
In the 2002 "I'm Alan Partridge" episode "The Talented Mr. Alan," Alan is caught singing the song to himself. The song is in "Funeral", the sixth episode of the first series of "Peep Show;" the music video is shown during the episode and the song plays over the end credits. The song is played during Rumpelstiltskin's announcement scene in the 2010 film "Shrek Forever After". It is also in the first season of "Cougar Town"
Alternatively, the song is also used in media to create a dissonance between the calmness of the song and starkly contrasting visuals. The song is featured during a sequence in David Fincher's 2011 adaptation of the novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in which the secondary protagonist is tortured while the song plays. In the "Black Mirror" episode "Hated in the Nation", one of the characters listens to the song to relax, "shortly before she’s torn apart by murderous drones" and effectively returned Orinoco Flow to the top of the New Age charts after the episode was released. 
Similarly, Enya's song Only Time was used in Deadpool 2 during a scene of "scene of violent, slow-motion teabagging"
An exception to this is the use of the song in the 2018 Bo Burnham film "Eighth Grade". Burnham wrote to Enya directly for permission to use the song, and recognized it as a serious choice for the film; "in "Eighth Grade", “Orinoco Flow” finally gets to be itself" rather than "fodder for ironic laughs."
In regards to using Orinoco Flow in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, producer Dan Goor remarked that “We weren’t trying to attach ourselves to a history of making fun of it. The joke was just that it’s 100 percent the wrong music to play. It’s supposed to be this triumphant, badass moment, and instead we’re playing that song.”
In a 2015 interview with "The Irish Times," Enya said “Longevity is all any artist dreams of” rather than to dwell on how her songs are remembered. She credits Orinoco Flow for some of her cross-generational appeal, saying "people who used to like Orinoco Flow are now playing my music to their children." In another interview, when asked if people bring up Orinoco Flow, she responded "people say “sail away” to me or whistle bits of it back to me. I think it’s wonderful – I never tire of it."
Other references.
Orinoco Flow has also been used in reference to various object names including an iris cultivar Orinoco Flow by iris breeder Cy Bartlett in 1989, and Leporinus enyae, a species of fish from the Orinoco drainage basin named for the artist herself.
In the 2017 ITV tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy", while Prince Harry recalls his mother listening to Enya driving in her BMW with the top down.