Come Sail Away Styx

Captain Harlock (キャプテン・ハーロック, Kyaputen Hārokku, also known as "Captain Herlock" in the English release of Endless Odyssey and some Japanese materials) is a fictional character and protagonist of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga series created by Leiji Matsumoto.

Harlock is the archetypical Romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be Earth-born or alien. In his own words, he "fight[s] for no one's sake... only for something deep in [his] heart." He does not fear death, and is sometimes seen wearing clothing with the number 42 on it. In Japanese culture, the number 42 is associated with death (the numbers, pronounced separately as "four two," sound like the word "shini"—meaning "dying/death").

The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which is 2013's Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Though there are slight variations in each telling of Harlock's story, the essentials remain the same. Matsumoto presents a future (2977 AD) in which the Earth has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is slowly and steadily succumbing to ennui or despair, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader. Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship Arcadia to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors. Even though they have defeated Earth and devastated its peoples, the invaders are often presented in a sympathetic light, being shown as having some justification for their actions.

"Come Sail Away" is a song by the American Band Styx, written and sung by singer and songwriter Dennis DeYoung and featured on the band's seventh album The Grand Illusion (1977). Upon its release as the lead single from the album, "Come Sail Away" peaked at #8 in January 1978 on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped The Grand Illusion achieve multi-platinum sales in 1978. It is one of the biggest hits of Styx's career.

Lyrically, the song uses sailing as a metaphor to achieve one's dreams. The lyrics touch on nostalgia of "childhood friends," escapism, and a religious thematic symbolized by "a gathering of angels" singing "a song of hope." The ending lyrics explain a transition from a sailing ship into a starship, by narrating that "they climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies".

DeYoung revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of The Grand Illusion), that he was depressed when he wrote the track after Styx's first two A&M offerings, Equinox and Crystal Ball, sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "Lady".

Musically, "Come Sail Away" combines a plaintive, ballad-like opening section (including piano and synthesizer interludes) with a bombastic, guitar-heavy second half. In the middle of the second half of the album version is a minute-long synthesizer-heavy instrumental break.

Although the song hit its chart peak in 1978, "Come Sail Away" has had tremendous longevity in popular culture. It was arguably as popular in the 1980s (and in subsequent decades) as it was when released in the late 1970s.

The song appears on trailers and TV spots for the films Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Wild, and Big Daddy. It also appeared as a cover by "The Trophy Fire" in the 2012 movie Nitro Circus: The Movie, and in the 2017 animated movie My Little Pony: The Movie. In the 2018 Netflix release Like Father the song is the choice of the main characters Rachel and Harry for their winning performance in the cruise karaoke championship.

In the 2019 film, Stuber, the song is used during an action sequence later on in the film. It is referenced earlier in the film as well.

The song was used in the homecoming dance scene of The Virgin Suicides.

The song appears as a plot point to the South Park episode "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut." If Eric Cartman hears any portion of the song, he feels a compulsion to sing the rest of it. On Chef Aid: The South Park Album, he does a cover of the song.

The song scored the end of the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, in which Sam Weir summons the courage to ask a popular girl to slow dance. Though she agrees, the guitar-heavy second half kicks in before they can start slow dancing as originally intended.

A version of the song performed by Aimee Mann is used in the TV show Community in the Season 5 episode "Geothermal Escapism" for the nautical departure of Donald Glover's Troy Barnes. In the first season, he'd confessed to crying upon hearing the original version of the song.

The song also appears in ER's season 7, episode 19 ("Sailing Away"), where Dr. Greene sings along.

In Generation Kill several of the Marines sing the chorus as they travel.

The song is parodied as "Please Say You'll Stay" in the Fish Hooks episode "Labor of Love".

The song was featured in The Goldbergs season 1, episode 2 ("Daddy Daughter Day"). The song again appears in season 5, episode 4 ("Revenge o' the Nerds"), sung by Erica Goldberg at a Revenge of the Nerds-style musical finale.

The song is performed by the New Directions on an episode of the television show Glee (Season 6, Episode 11).

The song is performed as part of a Broadway musical in Mozart in the Jungle's first episode. Hailey plays the oboe section of the piece along with Cynthia at the cello. (Season 1, Episode 1)

In the Modern Family episode "Spring-a-Ding-Fling," a parody of the song is sung by realtor Phil Dunphy, played by Ty Burrell.

The song is performed by actress Olivia Holt in the season-one finale of Cloak & Dagger (episode 10).

The song was featured in the end credits of the Family Guy episode "Carny Knowledge".

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes released a cover on their album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah, which was featured in commercials for season 3 of the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch in 2005.

Patty Pravo covered it as "Dai Sali Su" on her 1978 album Miss Italia.