"Come Sail Away" is a song by American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

group Styx, written and sung by singer and songwriter

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...

and featured on the band's seventh album ''

The Grand Illusion ''The Grand Illusion'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Styx. Recorded at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, the album was released on July 7, 1977, by A&M Records. (Intentionally choosing the combination 7th on 7-7-77 f ...

'' (1977). Upon its release as the lead single from the album, "Come Sail Away" peaked at #8 in January 1978 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and helped ''The Grand Illusion'' achieve multi-platinum sales in 1978. It is one of the biggest hits of Styx's career.

Background and writing

Lyrically, the song uses sailing as a metaphor to achieve one's dreams. The lyrics touch on nostalgia of "childhood friends," escapism, and a religious thematic symbolized by "a gathering of angels" singing "a song of hope." The ending lyrics explain a transformation from a sailing ship into a starship, by narrating that "they climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies". DeYoung revealed on ''

In the Studio with Redbeard ''In the Studio with Redbeard'' is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill. The show is a weekly hour-long "rockumentary" interview with music program which looks ...

'' (which devoted an entire episode to the making of ''The Grand Illusion''), that he was depressed when he wrote the track after Styx's first two A&M offerings, ''

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

'' and ''

Crystal Ball A crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum or crystal sphere, is a crystal or glass ball and common fortune-telling object. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying in particular. In more recent times, the cry ...

'', sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

". Musically, "Come Sail Away" combines a plaintive, ballad-like opening section (including piano and synthesizer interludes) with a bombastic, guitar-heavy second half. In the middle of the second half of the album version is a minute-long synthesizer-heavy instrumental break. Come Sail Away is in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

Personnel

- lead vocals, piano, synthesizer *

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

- lead guitar, backing vocals * James Young - rhythm guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals *

Chuck Panozzo Charles Salvatore Panozzo (born September 20, 1948) is an American musician best known as a co-founder of the rock band Styx. He is currently a part-time bass player in the band, sharing bass duties with Ricky Phillips. Panozzo suffers from HIV ...

- bass *

John Panozzo John Anthony Panozzo (September 20, 1948 – July 16, 1996) was an American drummer best known for his work with rock band Styx. Early life and career Panozzo grew up in the Roseland neighborhood, the south side of Chicago, Illinois, with his ...

- drums

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "a solitary voice introduces the melody to light piano accompaniment" and that then "the pure fury of the drum, guitar and vocal explosion that follows will pleasantly startle expectations." ''Classic Rock'' critic Malcolm Dome rated "Come Sail Away" as Styx 7th greatest song, calling it "one of the all time great power ballads." In the United States, "Come Sail Away" reached #8 on ''Billboard'' and spent two weeks at #9 on ''Cash Box''. The song also peaked at #9 in Canada. On superstation WLS-AM in their home city of Chicago, the song spent two weeks at #3 and was ranked at #26 for the year.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

Although the song hit its chart peak in 1978, "Come Sail Away" has had tremendous longevity in popular culture. It was arguably as popular in the 1980s (and in subsequent decades) as it was when released in the late 1970s.

Films

The song appears on trailers and TV spots for the films '' Atlantis: The Lost Empire'', ''

The Wild ''The Wild'' is a 2006 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by animator Steve "Spaz" Williams and written by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin. It features the voices of Eddie Izzard, Kiefer Sutherl ...

'', and '' Big Daddy''. In the 2018 Netflix release ''

Like Father ''Like Father'' is a 2018 American dramedy film written and directed by Lauren Miller, in her feature-length directorial debut. The film stars Kristen Bell, Kelsey Grammer, and Seth Rogen, and follows a woman who must bond with her estranged fat ...

'' the song is the choice of the main characters Rachel and Harry for their winning performance in the cruise karaoke championship. In the 2019 film, '' Stuber'', the song is used during an action sequence later on in the film. It is referenced earlier in the film as well. The song was used in the homecoming dance scene of ''

The Virgin Suicides ''The Virgin Suicides'' is a 1993 debut novel by the American author Jeffrey Eugenides. The fictional story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the lives of five doomed sisters, the Lisbon girls. The novel is w ...

''.

Television

The song appears as a plot point to the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' episode "

Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut" is the second episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 15th episode of the series overall, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on April 22, ...

." If Eric Cartman hears any portion of the song, he feels a compulsion to sing the rest of it. On '' Chef Aid: The South Park Album'', he does a cover of the song. The song scored the end of the pilot episode of ''

Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...

'', in which Sam Weir summons the courage to ask a popular girl to slow dance. Though she agrees, the guitar-heavy second half kicks in before they can start slow dancing as originally intended. A version of the song performed by

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

is used in the TV show ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'' in the

Season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

episode "Geothermal Escapism" for the nautical departure of

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...

's Troy Barnes. In the first season, he'd confessed to crying upon hearing the original version of the song. The song also appears in '' ERs season 7, episode 19 ("Sailing Away"), where Dr. Greene sings along. In ''

Generation Kill ''Generation Kill'' is a 2004 book written by ''Rolling Stone'' journalist Evan Wright chronicling his experience as an embedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

'' several of the Marines sing the chorus as they travel. The song is parodied as "Please Say You'll Stay" in the ''

Fish Hooks ''Fish Hooks'' is an American animated television series created by Noah Z. Jones for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The show ran for three seasons from September 3, 2010 to April 4, 2014, airing a total of 59 episodes. Plot The series revolves ...

'' episode "Labor of Love". The song was featured in '' The Goldbergs'' season 1, episode 2 (" Daddy Daughter Day"). The song again appears in season 5, episode 4 (" Revenge o' the Nerds"), sung by Erica Goldberg at a ''

Revenge of the Nerds ''Revenge of the Nerds'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey. The film's plot chronicles a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College trying ...

''-style musical finale. The song is performed by the New Directions on an episode of the television show ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' (Season 6, Episode 11). The song is performed as part of a Broadway musical in ''

Mozart in the Jungle ''Mozart in the Jungle'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz for the video-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video. It received a production order in M ...

s first episode. Hailey plays the oboe section of the piece along with Cynthia at the cello. (Season 1, Episode 1) In the ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of thr ...

'' episode " Spring-a-Ding-Fling," a parody of the song is sung by realtor

Phil Dunphy ''Modern Family'' is an American TV comedy series revolving around three families interrelated through Jay Pritchett, his son Mitchell Pritchett, and his daughter Claire Dunphy. The families meet for family functions (usually around their three ...

, played by

Ty Burrell Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor i ...

. The song is performed by actress

Olivia Holt Olivia Hastings Holt (born August 5, 1997) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney XD series ''Kickin' It'', Disney Channel Original Movie '' Girl vs. Monster'', and the Disney Channel Original Series '' I Didn't Do It''. Fr ...

in the season-one finale of '' Cloak & Dagger'' (episode 10). The song was featured in the end credits of the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode " Carny Knowledge".

Other

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

released a cover on their album ''

Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah ''Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah'' is a live album by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, released on October 19, 2004, on Fat Wreck Chords. It was recorded live at an actual bar mitzvah party, and its runtime lasts their entire performance, including a ...

'', which was featured in commercials for season 3 of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's '' Deadliest Catch'' in 2005.

Patty Pravo Patty Pravo (born Nicoletta Strambelli on 9 April 1948) is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in popularity in the followin ...

covered it as "Dai Sali Su" on her 1978 album ''Miss Italia''.

References

External links

Song Review A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* {{authority control 1977 singles 1978 singles Rock ballads Songs written by Dennis DeYoung Styx (band) songs A&M Records singles 1977 songs 1970s ballads