Come Sail Away

 

Come Sail Away
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung

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

Interpretation

Come Sail Away is about reaching for your dreams (not about UFOs and alien encounters). The angels and the aliens are figurative voices encouraging you to "come sail away" to wherever your dreams would take you. Some people would love to be taken to Heaven by angels, while others dream of being taken into space.

Dennis DeYoung has talked about the songs many times. Here he is in a 2017 interview:

We made our first trip to Hawaii in the winter of 1977, and we were struck by its beauty. Then we came home. Chicago had just experienced one of the worst snowstorms of all time—I came back to my house and the snow was everywhere. Then I sat down at the piano, and remember, [Styx] hadn’t broken through yet.

John (Panozzo) and I would stand behind stage sometimes, because we were always the bridesmaid and never the bride. We backed up every ‘70s classic rock act imaginable—you name it, we were always the guys that went on first. And we would stand backstage sometimes, and look at all the equipment [the headliners] had and the nice buses and everything. We were thinking…were we ever going to participate (and become headliners)? So “Come Sail Away” is the marrying of yearning, with the metaphor of sailing away onto beautiful waters, which I got from Hawaii. Those two things came together. “Come Sail Away” is really a song about wanting to be in a better place. I want to go someplace and be the captain. Come Sail Away…sail away to wherever you want to go.