"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 George Baker Selection was a pop-rock band from Assendelft, the Netherlands. The band is best-known for the 1969 song " Little Green Bag"; the 1975 world-wide hit " Paloma Blanca" (one of the most played songs in history), and the 1985 Pan Eur ...

. 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 A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. The song was a hit throughout Europe, reaching 1 in Austria, Finland,

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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 Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

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

Cover versions

Following the George Baker Selection's success, the song was widely

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

. In the UK, where the group took "Paloma Blanca" to a number 10 chart peak, the recording by

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

achieved number five. In 1976, English

Scrumpy and Western 200px, Fred Wedlock Scrumpy and Western refers humorously to music from England's West Country that fuses comical folk-style songs, often full of double entendre, with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, all delivered in ...

band

the Wurzels The Wurzels are an English Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, best known for their number one hit " The Combine Harvester" and number three hit " I Am a Cider Drinker" in 1976. Name The name of the band was dreamt up by founder Adge C ...

created a cover version titled "I Am a Cider Drinker" that contains a number of references to rural

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

life, including

scrumpy Scrumpy is a type of cider originating in the West of England, particularly the West Country. Traditionally, the dialect term "scrumpy" was used to refer to what was otherwise called "rough", a harsh cider made from unselected apples.Leeds, W. '' ...

rabbit stew Rabbit stew, also referred to as hare stew when hare is used, is a stew prepared using rabbit meat as a main ingredient. Stuffat tal-Fenek, a variation of rabbit stew, is the national dish of Malta. Other traditional regional preparations of th ...

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

s and evenings at the local

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

. The single was a number-three hit on the UK singles chart. A remastered version was produced in 2007, with an accompanying video which featured veteran disk jockey

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and television presenter, whose career spans over 60 years. Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio Londo ...