February 20: I'm Your Captain

I heard this song on the radio tonight on the way home, and it was glorious. I also heard "Captain Of Her Heart" by Double the other day, and it was also pretty nice, but I felt less inclined to share about that.

I love a good, multi-sectioned epic rock and roll song. This one certainly qualifies. After a clean electric riff, a driving baseline thrusts us into a bad trip. A grandly funky bad trip, though not on a railroad but apparently on an ocean. The narrator seems to be clinging desperately to sanity, pleading with his crew to get him back on steady ground. A formless stranger attempts to strangle him.

Then suddenly, the pleading stops, the danger dissipates, and the narrator is gently sailing towards home. Or is he? Could it be that he's finally broken and all he's left with is the delusion that he's on his way to where he wishes he could be, but can never go? Grand Funk most artistically leaves the interpretation up to the listener, and the result is a most uplifting hymn to optimism. Or delusion. Your mileage may vary.