# Stranger to blue water? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105 "2023-06-26T01:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/1 "2023-06-26T01:38:25Z")
As I said in another thread, we’re watching _Kingsman: The Golden Circle_. ‘Merlin’ likes John Denver’s _Take Me Home, Country Roads_. I’ve noticed that that song seems to be popular and known worldwide. Like, in addition to this movie, I think it was Anthony Bourdain who found himself in a carful of strangers somewhere in Asia, everyone’s been drinking, and suddenly everyone started singing it. (‘You haven’t lived until you’ve found yourself drunk in a car in [Cambodia/Vietnam/Wherever] with a bunch of drunk strangers singing _Take Me Home, Country Roads_’, or something like that.) But that’s a topic for another thread, which someone can start if they want to. _This_ thread, is about being a ‘stranger to blue water’. I was born in L.A. County, near the Long Beach Naval Station. I lived inYokosuka, JP, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Birch Bay (on the Salish Sea). Even Lancaster, in the Mojave Desert, was only a couple of hours from the ocean. Basically, I’ve lived near salt water all of my life. Are you a ‘stranger to blue water’? Do the Great Lakes count? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/2 "2023-06-26T01:46:19Z")
Right now I am 55.58 miles from Capistrano City beach, which is the furthest I have ever lived from salt water. The places I’ve lived not in California have been cities on the shore. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/3 "2023-06-26T01:49:07Z")
If it’s just a matter of being out of sight of the shore, then the Great Lakes should count. If it’s a matter of water conditions, then probably not: We don’t get tides, and our waves only match ocean waves in extreme storms. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/4 "2023-06-26T02:07:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If it’s a matter of water conditions, then probably not: We don’t get tides, and our waves only match ocean waves in extreme storms. The song doesn’t specify, but I’ve always taken it to mean that the ‘Miner’s lady’ lived too far away from salt water to have ‘known’ it. When I think of my kayak, I’ve never had it in fresh water. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/5 "2023-06-26T02:22:55Z")
Really awful joke: What time was it when Denver finished writing _Country Roads_? Almost seven. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve always taken it to mean that the ‘Miner’s lady’ lived too far away from salt water to have ‘known’ it. Same here, but recently I started thinking maybe it was also because she lived in one of those “mining towns” (like _Sixteen Tons_ – “I owe my soul to the company store.”) where you never make enough money to clear your debts and/or save enough to leave. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/6 "2023-06-26T03:18:50Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Really awful joke: > > What time was it when Denver finished writing _Country Roads_? Almost seven.…. I don’t get it. I grew up in a little town just across the muddy Ohio River from West Virginia, as it happens, but my family often vacationed on the beaches of the Outer Banks, so I don’t think I was ever a “stranger to blue waters.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/7 "2023-06-26T03:31:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > What time was it when Denver finished writing _Country Roads_? Almost seven. Very good! @Elendil_s_Heir, “Almost seven” sounds like “almost heaven” ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/8 "2023-06-26T05:26:28Z")
My family lived on Sumatra for three years when I was little, but even there, we were in the mountains. We traveled to the beach a few times, but it was a long drive and this was during 1965 - 1968, when there was a coup and a lot of unrest, so it wasn’t always safe to be on the roads. I’ve lived in the desert Southwest most of my life, and I’m a bit leery of the ocean. I can swim very competently in a pool, but you get the sense that the ocean is really willing to kill you. No thanks (but it is pretty to look at). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/9 "2023-06-26T12:08:57Z")
I grew up on Long Island, so no. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/10 "2023-06-26T12:43:14Z")
Grew up in western South Dakota, have lived in northeast Wyoming now for 20+ years… At this point, I’m practically a stranger to “water”. I have at least visited both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at some point in my life! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/11 "2023-06-26T12:47:17Z")
To answer the OP, I’ve lived most of my life within a mile of the Great Lakes (Erie, specifically), but I’ve also visited and swam in both the Atlantic and Pacific. So I’m not a complete stranger to the oceans, but I’m closer acquainted with their little brother. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/12 "2023-06-26T12:55:03Z")
I’ve heard more than enough (possibly inebriated) solo guitarists with bad diction “sing” it just that way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/13 "2023-06-26T13:09:51Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > there was a coup and a lot of unrest, Not to mention the rat monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/14 "2023-06-26T13:29:14Z")
In US Navy parlance “blue water” is a couple hundred miles offshore where you’re beyond the continental shelf. The “brown water” navy is riverine, and the “green water” navy operates in the comparative near-shore shallows. By those standards, most of us are green water folks unless you’re a serious offshore sailor or deep sea fisherman. I lived my first 18 years in SoCal within two miles of the beach, and my college residence was 11 miles inland. I ended up living mid-continent about 22 years total of my almost 65. All the other 43 are coastal. I’m now a whopping 2500 _feet_ inland from the Atlantic, and I’ve lived closer than that in the recent past. Around here the water is more turquoise than any other color. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/15 "2023-06-26T13:35:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In US Navy parlance “blue water” is a couple hundred miles offshore where you’re beyond the continental shelf… and the “green water” navy operates in the comparative near-shore shallows. That is true, and I thought about it when I posted the OP; but in the context of the song, I’m sure Mr. Deutschendorf meant ‘the ocean’ in general and didn’t make a distinction. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/16 "2023-06-26T14:14:05Z")
I’ve lived near the edge of the Atlantic my whole long life, other than going to college 100 miles or so inland, but since the family vacationed at Lake Winnipesaukee, I’ve always been a lake swimmer, never liked ocean water sports. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/17 "2023-06-26T14:27:17Z")
I grew up in Iowa so about as far from an ocean you can get. Before moving to the UK I lived in Houston, about 50 miles from Galveston. Now I’m 35 miles from the English Channel. My GF lives just over 300 yards from the Irish Sea. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/18 "2023-06-26T14:45:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > In US Navy parlance “blue water” is a couple hundred miles offshore where you’re beyond the continental shelf… and the “green water” navy operates in the comparative near-shore shallows. > > That is true, and I thought about it when I posted the OP; but in the context of the song, I’m sure Mr. Deutschendorf meant ‘the ocean’ in general and didn’t make a distinction. Agreed. [/pedant mode] My 22 years of mid-continent time was ~500 or 550 mi from the ocean, but only 250-300 mi from the Great Lakes. And I spend 12 of those years living on a small lake with a dock & boat in the backyard. That was definitely brown water; greenish brown. But could appear blue on a sunny day viewed at a shallow angle. I guess I can say “I’m a water man, Jack.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/19 "2023-06-26T15:23:11Z")
I grew up about 300 yards from the Chesapeake Bay. For the last 20 years I’ve lived about 10 feet from Puget Sound. When I lived in Chicago I was 2 blocks from the lake. I have lived for short periods away from big bodies of water. At those times, I didn’t actively “miss” the water, but I certainly prefer to be near it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105/20 "2023-06-26T15:33:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That is true, and I thought about it when I posted the OP; but in the context of the song, I’m sure Mr. Deutschendorf meant ‘the ocean’ in general and didn’t make a distinction. The song was primarily written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, though Denver helped the two of them to finish it, and then became the first to record it. As far as I can tell from Wikipedia, none of them had any particularly military or naval experience (though Denver’s father was an Air Force pilot). My suspicion is that they picked “blue” for how it fit in the lyric, and maybe in reference to the ocean, but that’s it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-to-blue-water/986105.md?page=2)