Overplayed Classic Rock Songs I'm Not Sick of (Yet): I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home (#4)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (62164)
United States
March 21, 2018 8:04pm CST
What an interesting day. "A couple of inches" of snow turned into nine inches (with "locally higher amounts," as they say). I saw the conditions of the road, sent my boss a text, and went back to bed. Once I got up, things were better and I went to work. Love my job. Anyway, here's another one of those songs from the world of classic FM rock that gets played a lot, but I'm not tired of it.
#4: I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home - Grand Funk Railroad
I'll go a step further: this is one of those ten-minute "bathroom break" songs that they just don't play enough. Seriously, they could eliminate three plays of stairway to freebird and play this once.
And no, this isn't the "hyphen/slash" countdown (yesterday's song was another combo, "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" by the Guess Who). 
Maybe it's my time in the Navy that makes me like this song; but then, what sailor likes a song about mutiny? This ain't no Humphrey Bogart film (The Caine Mutiny), though it's just about as long as one. The premise is a captain who's being forcibly removed from his command of a ship ("listen to me and return me my ship"), probably even to the point of death ("I can feel the hand of a stranger and it's tightening 'round my throat"). If you accept the latter interpretation, then the closing half of the song ("I'm getting closer to my home" repeated over and over) can be seen as his dying words.
However you wish to interpret it, I love this song, and I'd take it over the other bathroom break songs any time...and over "We're an American Band," too.
I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home
Written by Mark Farner
Recorded by Grand Funk Railroad
From Closer to Home, 1970
Return me my ship:
Maybe it's my time in the Navy that makes me like this song; but then, what sailor likes a song about mutiny? This ain't no Humphrey Bogart film (The Caine Mutiny), though it's just about as long as one. The premise is a captain who's being forcibly removed from his command of a ship ("listen to me and return me my ship"), probably even to the point of death ("I can feel the hand of a stranger and it's tightening 'round my throat"). If you accept the latter interpretation, then the closing half of the song ("I'm getting closer to my home" repeated over and over) can be seen as his dying words.
However you wish to interpret it, I love this song, and I'd take it over the other bathroom break songs any time...and over "We're an American Band," too.
I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home
Written by Mark Farner
Recorded by Grand Funk Railroad
From Closer to Home, 1970
Return me my ship:
Album Closer to Home Lyrics: Everybody, listen to me, And return me, my ship. I'm your captain, I'm your captain, Though I'm feeling mighty sick. I've been l...
6 people like this
7 responses
@LeaPea2417 (36442)
• Toccoa, Georgia
22 Mar 18
I am not tired of them either. Great songs. I just wrote an article here about those songs.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (62164)
• United States
22 Mar 18
You did, indeed, and a fine discussion it was!!
These next 2 sons are other gems from my past. They spoke to me then and still do. Grand Funk Railroad's 'I'm Your Captain' and 'Closer To Home'. The songs go...
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
22 Mar 18
i used to chat often with the radio guys up here in the 80's about that topic-bathroom break songs..the one day they threw on 2112 without interruption out of the blue and i called them up-"so you getting pizza,or you got stuff to do?"
2 people like this
@FourWalls (62164)
• United States
22 Mar 18
It was always funny when the bathroom break song would skip or hang due to a defect in the needle. So for four minutes you'd hear, "The roses in the window box, the roses in the window box, the roses in the window box...." Or worse, they'd forget to clean the needle, and the 12-minute "Loan Me a Dime" would be reduced to 1:47 because the needle was sliding across the grooves instead of playing in them.
Or worse, they'd forget to clean the needle, and the 12-minute "Loan Me a Dime" would be reduced to 1:47 because the needle was sliding across the grooves instead of playing in them.2 people like this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
23 Mar 18
You always have some great songs to relate too
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
22 Mar 18
I don't consider these overplayed like We're an American Band.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
5 May 18
I've always had a soft spot for these guys. I love this song.
Finally got a chance to start trying to catch up again!
1 person likes this
