What does Ride Captain Ride mean?

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Blues Image: Ride Captain Ride Meaning

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Ride Captain Ride Lyrics

Seventy-three men sailed up from the San Francisco Bay
Rolled off of their ship, and here's what they had to say
"We're callin' everyone to ride along to another shore
We can laugh our lives away and be free once more"

But no one heard them...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    anonymous
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     Oct 30th, 2007 10:02am report


    Neither is correct. Here's the text of an interview by the song's writer.

    "The producer came in and said, "Do you have any more songs, because if you don't, this is your last day in the studio,"' Pinera says. "So I said, "Oh, I have a song,' which I didn't. So I went into the bathroom, and I shut the door, and I just meditated. I calmed my mind, and I started hearing music. I went out and sat at the piano, which was a Rhodes Model No. 73, which had 73 keys. So I say, "Okay, I need a first word.' And what came into my head was 73. I liked the rhythm, and I went, "73 men sailed in, from the San Francisco Bay. ... The song sort of just wrote itself."

    The keyboard player clinked out a melody for the chorus, and Pinera added the lyrics, "Ride, captain, ride, upon your mystery ship. ..." and the rest is rock history. The song reached No. 1 in 1968.



  2.  

    anonymous
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     Aug 22nd, 8:27pm report


    I was on the Pueblo. We left Japan with a crew of 82. However we left San Francisco with a different number. Some were left in Japan and a few were added. Don't remember exactly number but it was in low seventies. But the song has nothing to do with us.



  3.  

    anonymous
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     Jul 3rd, 7:14pm report


    The song was done during the hippy age peace flower power. Remember how cars were decorated and all that stuff like the mamas and the papas? Just a song about peace. Remember the war in vietnam, all groups where trying to make music with optimism instead of thinking about people were getting killed. The 60s had its share of political and problems in the world.



  4.  

    anonymous
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     Apr 30th, 4:04pm report


    This song was about myself and my 72 crewmen that sailed out of SF to find another shore. We found the island Lost where we live our lives away and are free once more.



  5.  

    anonymous
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     Nov 5th, 2015 11:25pm report


    Spur of the moment song. Everything else is pure speculation and coincidence. I was a CT and although its nice to think its about the Pueblo, its not accurate.



  6.  

    anonymous
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     Sep 28th, 2015 9:52pm report


    To me, that song sounds very much like people kept as slaves, escaping to freedom. I have read a few true stories about Africans escaping to freedom by boat. Every time I hear that song, it makes me think about that issue, and it gives me joy to think of all the people who have escaped to freedom in the past, and those who are still doing it today. The line, "We're calling everyone to ride along to another shore, we can laugh our lives away and be free once more", makes me feel that way.



  7.  

    anonymous
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     Jun 9th, 2015 6:10am report


    I am also a former CT (U.S. Naval Communications Technician 1969-1973)who served with former USS Pueblo crew members in Japan. We thought it was referring to the Pueblo. Read the book by former Captain Lloyd Bucher.



  8.  

    kooljohn176
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     Mar 2nd, 2015 3:41am report


    A great song that reminds me of the free spirited thinking of the 60's and 70's with the Star Trek fans in all of the imagination of the dreams of the past to come to the present in the Thought of Leonard Nimoy [with god speed may you always r.i.p], who played SPOCK the true captain of the ship that was guided by his knowledge for the captain 2 ''Ride captain Ride'' in this song by the band ''BLUES IMAGE'' who were great.



  9.  

    anonymous
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     Sep 29th, 2014 9:31pm report


    It's a song from the writer's imagination, like the story says. Reminds me of when I wrote a poem about JFK's assassination & funeral, and in it was the line "Rose with the sun to watch cartoons" and my teacher said, very smart "Rose and her son JFK" and I said Nooo, got out of bed when the SUN came up. Not everything has double meanings. Take this for the simple song it is and, as pointed out earlier, get over yourselves.



  10.  

    anonymous
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     Aug 18th, 2014 8:38pm report


    What a "trippiness" this song had - when on an acid trip the music had an ethereal spacey rhythmic sound that made me feel like I was being guided in a snake charmer kind of a trance. The singer was offering to be the captain of my "trip" and represented a guiding figure who could help me avoid the dangers of running aground into the rocky shoals of a bad acid trip. Mike Pinera was like a captain for my trip and his voice like the lapping of his ship gave me succor and I had the impression I was floating near his imaginary ship on a dark and foggy night. Hearing the lyrics to the song again I have no doubt this song was written for acid heads like me. The trip on a magic ship had to be an acid trip and who but somebody on an acid trip would watch raindrops fall. While tripping I could get involved for hours watching a faucet drip or staring at the patterns on a wall. The person who wrote this song had to be talking from the experience of being on an acid trip.



  11.  

    anonymous
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     Feb 21st, 2014 2:08pm report


    To Mike653, and with respect to your assertion that you were "close to" Mike, even if the "top secret," Pueblo incident hadn't been "released," to the press "before the song was written--;" consider the possibility that the inspiration may have occurred through a "leak."
    Mynameisien is disturbingly condescending.
    May 10, 2012 at 5:15PM is convolutedly Dogmatic beyond-description.
    To the both of the last-two, a very-serious, "GET-OVER YOURSELVES--!!!"



  12.  

    anonymous
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     Feb 3rd, 2014 2:23pm report


    Just let me say Christianity was one of the many things we were revolting AGAINST back in the Sixties and anyone who tries to put a Christian interpretation on this is nuts. There is no freedom in the tyranny of religion whether it is Christian, Muslim, Jewish. Down with religion- Be Free! Be Free! Be Free! There is no hidden meaning!



  13.  

    oracle
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     Oct 6th, 2013 10:04am report


    Ok here are some concepts to help you understand how to interpret any given song.

    First, There are different levels of meanings.
    What the song writer was thinking and trying to convey is one level.
    People over estimate this level.

    The spiritual level is worth considering.
    The ultimate artist is something like a conduit to let the Spirit (check the meaning of inspiration) convey a special divine message. This is the level that often calls attention to Jesus...regardless of how unpalatable this may be for some of you.

    That is why the songwriter has no idea he's talking about Jesus sending out 72 as in Luke chapter 10.
    That is why this song can best be understood as a metaphor for some of the main concepts in Luke chapter 10.
    Jesus + 72 = 73
    Jesus is the captain.
    The level of difficulty in interpreting this song is no where near that of other songs.
    Again I say that many songs are difficult to interpret. This is piece of cake.
    Enjoy it.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway


  14.  

    anonymous
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     Oct 8th, 2012 10:32pm report


    I believe the writer wrote the song spur of the moment.
    The key is he meditated. Then he tapped into something and just wrote it and it 'flowed'. What he tapped into was the Pueblo, the mutiny, the counterculture, maybe even someones future burritos (lol), all those things, expressed the Spirit of the Times. I remember the Spirit of the Times when I hear the song and ALWAYS remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it! Back in The Day!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway


  15.  

    anonymous
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     Aug 26th, 2012 8:52am report


    I'm a former CT also. The song has nothing whatsoever to do with the USS Pueblo, and there isn't a shred of proof to back up that claim. The ship didn't leave SFO with 73 men. It left Sasebo, JP with 82 Navy crewmembers and two civilians.

    Like the Drake voyage, it's highly unlikely that the songwriter knew anything about the Pueblo.

    The songwriter has very clearly stated that the number 73 came from the number of keys on his Fender electric piano.



  16.  

    anonymous
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     Jul 23rd, 2012 7:30pm report


    USS Pueblo. Timing is everything. 1968 and everyone was worried about the hostages. It was the top national story for months. Everyone knew it was a spy ship. The contention was whether or not it was in international waters.



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