Song for Friday: Styx – Come Sail Away

Styx - Come Sail Away.

Interesting bit of trivia was that this Chicago band was formerly known as "Tradewinds'. Hmmh! Subconsciously these guys were salty dogs.

"Come Sail Away" only got to number 8. According to Wikipedia "...The lyrics use the metaphor of a voyage of discovery and make reference to angels and spaceships." We sailors are a bit of a literal (as well as littoral lot - haha) as it was number 6 in the Top Sailing Songs so I guess we all thought it was about sailing.

Come Sail Away

I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea
I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me
On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore
And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try to carry on

I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We live happily forever, so the story goes
But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can to carry on

A gathering of angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said
They said come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise
They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies
Singing come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

My favorite bit of trivia about this song is that "Come Sail Away" is referenced repeatedly in South Park. A running joke in the series is that every time Cartman hears the beginning of the song he feels compelled to finish it (which he can do in 27 seconds flat under pressure). Cartman sings a full-length version of the song on Chef Aid: The South Park Album, with a notable part near the end where he gets overexcited and descends into rhythmic gibberish. His over-the-top rendition helped make the song an icon of prog-rock kitsch in the late 90s.