Message in a Bottle Songs, Stories & Pop Culture

Message in a Bottle Songs and Stories in Pop Culture

Sting. Taylor Swift. Jim Croce. Nicholas Sparks. Edgar Allen Poe. Zac Brown Band. Charles Dickens. Kenny Chesney. These are just a few of the famous artists who have used messages in bottles in their work. In fact, message in a bottle songs and stories have been conspicuously popular for centuries. But why? What is so compelling about a letter in a bottle that it can power one hit song after another? How can this idea serve as the starting point for so many famous stories, songs, and movies? The answer is simple, really: potential. A message in a bottle is pure potential – a bottled note can connect literally any two people in the world, which means the storytelling possibilities are simply endless.

Message in a bottle songs, stories, and movies appeal to us in a way that nothing else can. The blend of romance and whimsy, of science and chance, and connections that are both magical and analog just “clicks” for our human brains. There is something powerful both in sending and finding a message in a bottle, and these works of art thrive on that power.

Sometimes, a message in a bottle is the central image or idea that powers a song or story, as in Nicholas Sparks’s book or Sting’s song. Other times, the message in a bottle simply serves as a starting point for a song, as in “Too Late to be Saved” by Jordan Zevon (son of Warren Zevon). Each song, each story that features a message in a bottle has the power to go anywhere, to take us anywhere, just like a real message in a bottle!

Explore the history of messages in bottles in pop culture and chip in a comment if you have your own ideas!