![]() Be sure to put on your headphones and turn it up! Then take a listen to the two contenders below and let me know which cover version you prefer.Ĭontender #1: HELLOWEEN – Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg, Northern Germany. ![]() However, don’t vote on this one it’s here for your reference and enjoyment only. This song one of my favorites of all time. ![]() As you could imagine, it was really hard for me to sing ‘I’m Your Captain’ because there was a softball stuck in my throat and I couldn’t swallow it!” In 2010, Farner sang the song accompanying himself on acoustic guitar at the Vietnam Veterans of America’s National Leadership Conference, where he received the organization’s President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. The ‘Nam vets I had the privilege to speak to were so gracious and personal with me, as if we were relatives getting back together after a long time apart. He later said, “The gig was a great spiritual and emotional experience. Farner visited and performed at The Wall in November 2007, on the 25th anniversary of the memorial’s dedication. It remains quite popular among Vietnam veterans and Farner has played it at several veterans’ benefits. It resonated with them as they tried to stay alive while waiting for the time when they could get closer to home, and then when they were finally returning from the war. The song also found a following among American personnel in Vietnam, in part because the band’s working-class Flint origins were similar to those of many Americans serving in the war. Fellow Flint native Michael Moore remembers hearing it on the radio the day he went to his draft board (where he would file as a conscientious objector), and hoping the I’m getting closer to my home refrains would never end, as he felt America was his home and not Vietnam. The VH1 program Behind the Music said the song “became a subtle anti-war anthem.” Lee Andresen, author of Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War, sees it as portraying President Richard Nixon as “captain” of the United States, losing popular support for continuing the war. Nor did the other band members have any real idea of what Farner was getting at Brewer has said, “I think it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people.”īut the most common interpretations and resonances of “I’m Your Captain” revolve around the Vietnam War. Comparisons have been made to Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!” in its use of the rank to mean Abraham Lincoln.įarner himself does not explicitly state what the song is about, and indeed prefers that listeners be able to use their own imaginations when listening to songs in general. It has been used as the subtitle for a chapter of a novel dealing with war and addictions. Authors have seen the song as an “epic of paranoia and disease” and as a tale of a man who had lost control of his life in a fashion strong enough to invoke childhood nightmares. THEMES & INTERPRETATIONS: Over the years many interpretations have been posed by listeners of “I’m Your Captain”, including the literal one of mutiny on a voyage, but also ones involving drug addiction and ones by those who see resonance in Homer’s Odyssey and themes of returning home, such as college students returning from a long semester. And with its melodic strengths and dramatic feel it is often considered one of the best rock songs of all time. It is considered to be the standout track on the Closer to Home album, and considered by both Farner and others to be his best work as a songwriter. Decades later, “I’m Your Captain” remains a staple of many classic rock radio stations. ![]() Several interpretations of the song have been given most revolve around the Vietnam War, and “I’m Your Captain” is popular among veterans of that conflict.Ī truncated version of the song was a modest hit single when first released, but the track achieved greater airplay on progressive rock radio stations. Its use of an orchestra during the long repeated refrains of the closing movement served to differentiate it from much of Grand Funk’s work. The song conveys the pleas of a captain on a troubled sea voyage and facing a mutiny from his crew. Its title has been rendered in various ways across many different Grand Funk albums, including “I’m Your Captain”, “I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home”, “Closer to Home/I’m Your Captain”, “Closer to Home (I’m Your Captain)”, and “Closer to Home”. One of the group’s best-known songs, it is composed as two distinct but closely related movements. ![]() Ten minutes in duration, it is the band’s longest studio recording. “ I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” is a 1970 song written by American musician Mark Farner and recorded by Grand Funk Railroad as the closing track to their album Closer to Home. ![]()
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