"Paloma Blanca", often called "Una Paloma Blanca", is a song written by Dutch musician George Baker and first recorded and released by his band, George Baker Selection. The single — the title track of the group's fifth album — 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 BillboardEasy Listening Singles chart on 14 February 1976, peaked at No. 26 on the BillboardHot 100, and reached No. 33 on the BillboardHot 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.
Meaning
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."
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Chart
Rank
Australia
94
Canada Top Singles
110
US Easy Listening
1
US
157
Cover versions
Following the George Baker Selection's success with it, the song was widely covered. In the UK, where the group took "Paloma Blanca" to a No. 10 chart peak, the recording by Jonathan King achieved No. 5. King's version was also a hit in Ireland, although its No. 15 Irish chart peak was topped there by a cover from the Dixies, who took the song to No. 11. In South Africa, an Afrikaans rendering of "Paloma Blanca" entitled "My klein wit duifie" was a hit for a studio group credited as Tameletjie, its chart peak being No. 9. A German-language rendering of "Paloma Blanca" was a hit for Nina & Mike in both Germany and Austria. In Scandinavia, translated renderings of "Paloma Blanca" were hits for Siw Malmkvist and Hans Petter Hansen , an alternate Swedish rendering being recorded by Säwes. A Danish version was recorded by Bjørn Tidmand. In Finland, a localized translation of "Paloma Blanca" was a No. 2 hit for Katri Helena, besting a rival version by Kisu at No. 18. Finland also afforded chart status to the Jonathan King version "Una Paloma Blanca" which peaked at No. 27 there. The Finnish-language rendering of "Paloma Blanca" has been recorded by Aaron, Jukka Kuoppamäki, and Matti ja Teppo. Patricia Lavila recorded both French and Italian renderings of "Paloma Blanca", the former reaching No. 39 on the French chart. French singerGeorgie Dann recorded a version in Spanish of the song, released in 1975 in Spain as the B-side of "Campesino". Other versions were by Demis Roussos and Slim Whitman. Bobby Vinton recorded a version that appeared on his 1976 album Serenades of Love. The song is often parodied, given its popularity and middle-of-the-road quality. In 1976, the British Scrumpy and Western group The Wurzels had a No. 3 UK hit with their parody of the song, "I Am a Cider Drinker", which was covered in 2011 by Scottish pirate metal bandAlestorm as a bonus track for their album Back Through Time. A similarly titled parody, "We Are the Shumba Drinkers", by Mike Westcott and Leprechaun, gained popularity in Afrikaaner and White Zimbabwean communities. George Baker re-recorded a solo version of the song in 2005, for the film Too Fat Too Furious; the song had earlier been used in the 1982 filmThe Executioner's Song. In 2011, it was given a rap make-over on the song-exchange-programme Ali B op volle toeren; George Baker returned the favour by performing a rewritten version of rapper Dio's "Tijdmachine".
