Otis Redding was an American musician and soul singer who was on tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967. His popularity was growing, and he needed to get away from fans at his hotel in San Francisco. Rock concert promoter Bill Graham offered Redding a respite, a stay at his houseboat at Waldo Point Harbor in Sausalito, Ca. On the houseboat, Redding listened to the Beatles’ recently released album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. From this album, he found inspiration to develop a new sound for himself and began writing his hit (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay. As he continued touring, he continued writing the song, jotting lyrics on napkins and hotel stationary. That November, in collaboration with guitarist Steve Cropper, the song was finished and was recorded in Memphis, TN. The recording was finished three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
The song features a whistled melody, but no credit is given to the whistler. Most believe it was done by Redding.
The song was released in January of 1968. The song shot to #1 on the R&B charts in early 1968 and in early March stayed #1 in the pop charts for four weeks. Dock of the Bay was popular in countries all over the world, becoming Redding’s most popular song, selling more than 4 million copies worldwide.
From Wikipedia:
n 1999, BMI named the song as the sixth-most performed song of the twentieth century, with about six million performances.[44] Rolling Stone ranked The Dock of the Bay number 161 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the third of five Redding albums on the list. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was ranked twenty-sixth on Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the second-highest of four Redding songs on the list, after “Respect” (in this case the version recorded by Aretha Franklin).[45]
Jim Morrison made reference to “Dock of the Bay” in the Doors‘ song “Runnin’ Blue“, written by Robby Krieger, from their 1969 album The Soft Parade.[46] Morrison sings an a capella intro for the song, singing directly about Otis Redding. “Poor Otis dead and gone, left me here to sing his song, pretty little girl with a red dress on, poor Otis dead and gone.” During the verse, the lyrics “Got to find a dock and a bay” are heard more than once, as well as several other references to Redding’s song.
In 2013, Redding’s son Otis Redding III performed the song at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Brannan Street Wharf on the Embarcadero in San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood. The song’s lyrics are emblazoned there on a plaque,[47] leading some to believe Redding wrote the song there (especially as the lyrics reference the “Frisco Bay”). It was actually written ten miles farther north, in Sausalito, as Redding watched “the ships come in” on Richardson Bay.
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
I’ve had nothing to live for
Look like nothin’s gonna come my way
So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes
Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Stephen Lee Cropper / Otis Redding
(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay lyrics © Cotillion Music Inc., East Memphis Music Corp., O R M Inc, Dholla Publishing, Eor Publishing, Jarredotis Publishing
Written for Jim Adam’s Song Lyric Sunday
A Little Bit of Everything, With Love 