What does Come Sail Away mean?

Styx: Come Sail Away Meaning

Album cover for Come Sail Away album cover

Song Released: 1977


Come Sail Away Lyrics

I'm sailing away,

Set an open course for the virgin sea,

'Cause 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,...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 6th 2013 !⃝

    Definitely about sailing away from this earth aboard a starship...the beings appeared to be angels...he is thinking reflectively back on his life on earth. This is what I hear, anyway.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 6th 2014 !⃝

    There doesn't have to be a right interpretation, It can mean something different to everyone :)

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jun 24th 2013 !⃝

    I used this song my boyfriend's funeral 9 years ago. He was 35 and was killed in a car accident. We were from chicago so is styx so i thought it was appropriate. I took it as when he died At the scene of the accident. He was heading to heaven. We were living in florida so he look down at the sea to reflect his childhood memories. He had so much more life to live but we need to care on. All of sudden he was being guided by angels to heaven.

  4. anonymous
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    Jul 19th 2017 !⃝

    I see it as the evolution of mankind. We start out thinking we're the top of the food chain. We see something we can't understand, and call it God (the gathering of Angels). As we learn we see it for what it is, a scientific explanation for the wonders of the world.

  5. anonymous
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    Jun 25th 2017 !⃝

    You NOOBS. Why does everyone try to read so damn deep into crap.... It is about wanting to find something better, hope, journey of life, good bad, moving on. Trying and failing (angels weren't angels) but up into the sky he goes. Just keep moving forward.

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 16th 2017 !⃝

    Clearly the song is about tripping out on drugs. "I'm sailing away" as the drug is first introduced into them, then the rock n' roll, faster tempo and "gathering of angels" as the effect of the drug gets them to the high they were seeking.

  7. anonymous
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    May 25th 2016 !⃝

    This song to me is about high school kids graduating from school and heading out into the real world, hence forth the virgin sea. The angles or the thought of angels is reference to the people in the job fields or colleges taking the kids away to their new life away from home, to new levels.the reflections in the waves is his memory of him growing up with his friends and classmates.

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 24th 2013 !⃝

    Wow people. This song has little to do with inspiration and living the life you want. It's about aliens, pure and simple. Not just with the obvious references, like I thought they were angels, and climbed on the ship yada yads, but if you do any research into it, a lot of people believing in aliens and alien abductions believe that they're here to show us what true life is all about, and what's beyond what we see here. It fits perfectly if you know what you're hearing.

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 5th 2013 !⃝

    I believe that this song talks about how we need to let go of our past regrets and mistakes and focus on the potential of the future. When the angels come, they display the fact that God can save us from our past and give us the bright future we desire. So, essentially it says sail away to the arms of Christ and you can be free.

  10. anonymous
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    Mar 30th 2012 !⃝

    "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 lads
    ...
    I thought that they were angels, but much to my surprise,

    We climbed aboard their starship, we headed for the skies"



    Sounds like he thought they were angels(obviously),but as he continues, he finds to his surprise that they were not angels but after reading the next part, they evidently came from the skies. Seeing as how anything beyond the sky isn't on this planet, I think it would be a safe assumption to presume he's talking about extra terrestrials. Plus, "climbed aboard their starship?" Sounds pretty much like an abduction by aliens. Then obviously they picked them up as they "headed for the skies," or space if you recall that it is what surrounds our skies. durrr

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 29th 2012 !⃝

    This song is about remembering your dreams and how much fun you use to have, and still being able to dream again. It has nothing to do with drugs...

  12. anonymous
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    Mar 20th 2012 !⃝

    Winners are just losers who got up and gave it just one more try.

  13. anonymous
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    Nov 12th 2011 !⃝

    To truly understand this song, one must smoke DMT

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  14. anonymous
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    Nov 2nd 2011 !⃝

    basicly it inspires the listener to let go of your previous life to sail away to a new one, do something you've never done, and live in today; hopefully you will let go of the past. even as you sail away on this new voyage in a virgin sea you look back in the reflection of the water and see your old life, what it could have been, and how perfect it was supposed to be. you still TRY to carry on by your own but it's not untill you look up and realise what is calling you, let go into the angels arms can you really sail away.

  15. anonymous
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    Nov 10th 2010 !⃝

    It is strange song about the singer going on a mystic voyage with space aliens. The band was most likely quite high when they wrote this song.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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