33: I Think of Childhood Friends

33. "Come Sail Away" by Styx {#8; 9/77} [Video: Come Sail Away.]

There's a certain kind of song that I like that I really haven't mentioned yet. It's a song that contains like two or three (or more) different songs within one song. We've had a few on the list so far, like "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go," and "Need You Tonight/Mediate." Heck, "Hey Jude" probably falls under this classification, too.

"Come Sail Away" definitely fits this description. There's the "I'm Sailing Away" piano ballad and the "Come Sail Away" guitar rocker. It's two songs in one! (Looking ahead, there are going to be several more songs in the same vein coming up on the list.)

This song, and the album it came from, The Grand Illusion, were the first to really get me to notice the group Styx. It was the first of a great five album run from them, as it was followed up by Pieces of Eight, Cornerstone, Paradise Theater, and Kilroy Was Here. Some great albums with some great songs. I feel bad there aren't more songs by Styx on the HondoJoe Top 200,

One of the best ever uses of a song in television or the movies used this song.  The pilot episode of the great cult classic television show Freaks and Geeks ends with this song being played at a school dance. Sam Weir, the lead geek, has actually asked his dream girl to dance. He walks her out to the dance floor, but just as he's reaching in for a nice slow-dance embrace, the song switches from "I'm Sailing Away" slow dance song to "Come Sail Away" fast dance rocker. It's a great moment. (Here's a link to the scene: Freaks and Geeks Come Sail Away.)

I should also point out here that there is a chopped up version of this song that cuts out one of the verses of the "I'm Sailing Away" portion in order to make the song shorter for radio. Needless to say, that version is dead to me.

COMING UP NEXT: If it's not Scottish, it's crap!