“Paloma Blanca” (Spanish for “white dove”), often called “Una Paloma Blanca”, is a song written by Dutch musician George Baker (under his real name, Johannes Bouwens) and first recorded and released by his band, George Baker Selection. The single—the title track of the group’s fifth album—was released in 1975 with “Dreamboat” (or “Dream Boat”) as its B-side. The song was a hit throughout Europe, reaching No. 1 in Austria, Finland, Flanders, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, and it also topped the charts of New Zealand and South Africa.
In the United States, the song became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Easy Listening Singles chart on 14 February 1976 (becoming that chart’s overall No. 1 song for 1976), peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In Canada and the United Kingdom, “Paloma Blanca” peaked at No. 10, and in Australia, it reached No. 2. The song sold over two million copies worldwide.
Baker has been quoted as saying the song is about “a poor South American farmer who works hard all day and then sits by a tree and dreams of being a white bird with its freedom.”
Paloma Blanca Lyrics (1975)
When the sun shines on the mountain
And the night is on the run
It’s a new day
It’s a new way
And I fly up to the sun
I can feel the morning sunlight
I can smell the new-mown hay
I can hear God’s voice is calling
For my golden sky light way
Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountains I fly
No one can take my freedom away
Once I had my share of losing
For they locked me on a chain
Yes they tried to break my power
Oh I still can feel the pain
Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountains I fly
No one can take my freedom away
Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountains I fly
No one can take my freedom away
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