I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)
Encyclopedia
"I'm Your Captain" is an epic 1970 song written by American musician Mark Farner
and recorded by Grand Funk Railroad
as the closing track to their album Closer to Home
. Ten minutes in duration, it is the band's longest studio recording. One of the group's best-known songs, it is composed as two distinct but closely related movements. Its title has been rendered in various ways across many different Grand Funk albums, including "I'm Your Captain", "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home", "Closer to Home/I'm Your Captain", "Closer to Home (I'm Your Captain)", and "Closer to Home".
The song conveys the pleas of a captain on a troubled sea voyage and facing a mutiny from his crew. Its use of an orchestra during the long repeated refrains of the closing movement served to differentiate it from much of Grand Funk's work. Several interpretations of the song have been given; most revolve around the Vietnam War
, and "I'm Your Captain" is popular among veterans of that conflict. The record was a modest hit single when first released, but achieved greater airplay on progressive rock radio
stations. It has become a classic rock
staple and has appeared on several audience-selected lists as one of the best rock songs of all time.
, set against a steady drumbeat from Don Brewer
accompanied with occasional wah wah guitar flourishes. The chord changes go from D to G to G6/C.
The story ostensibly deals with a ship's captain on a troubled voyage and facing a mutiny from his crew. Farner's vocal of the pleading lyric begins:
The music has a bass break and then drops down to half time before resuming at its normal tempo. The protagonist's plight becomes worse, with the captain's pleas continuing while the unhappy crew members are approaching the point of murder.
At the 4½-minute mark the song switches to the second movement, which begins with the sounds of waves and gulls. The captain's voice is tinged with a sense of hopeless longing, perhaps even indicating that it is his ghost now singing:
Again the bass line carries the music, with now a flute line accompanying it. The second movement starts at a fairly slow tempo, before speeding up somewhat into its repeats. The significant chord progression in this part is from C to B♭add9. The movement's single lyric repeats over and over as a mantra, in the style of Van Morrison
. Around the 7-minute mark a full orchestra appears to accompany the band to the gradually fading conclusion.
Unusually for him, Farner wrote the lyric of the song first, with the words coming to him in the middle of the night after saying prayers for inspiration to write something meaningful. The chord changes to "I'm Your Captain" came to him the following morning between sips of coffee, and the following day he took it to the band. They immediately liked it, but after a while had no ending for the second movement. They came upon the idea of using an orchestra, and hired Tommy Baker, an arranger and trumpet player who was working on the Cleveland television series Upbeat
. He suggested they extend the ending so that his orchestral score would have space to develop in, and producer Terry Knight
brought in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra to record it. The band members never heard the full version until Knight played it for them back in hometown Flint, Michigan
. Farner nearly cried when he heard it, and Brewer has said "We were just like, 'Wow!'"
as the group's first top 40 hit single. It was far more successful on progressive rock radio
stations, such as those in New York
, where its length and epic feel were an asset and where it became a mainstay that appealed to a broad spectrum of rock fans outside Grand Funk's immediate listener base. Its airplay helped the album reach the Top 10 of the U.S. albums chart
within a month of its release.
Decades later, "I'm Your Captain" remains a staple of many classic rock
radio stations. It is considered to be the standout track on the Closer to Home album and by both Farner and others to be his best work as a songwriter. And with its melodic strengths and dramatic feel it is often considered one of the best rock songs of all time; in 1988, the listeners of legendary New York rock station WNEW-FM ranked it the 71st best song of all time, while twenty years later in 2008, New York classic rock station Q104.3
's listeners still ranked it the 112th best song of all time.
Grand Funk Railroad were consistently despised by the rock critic establishment, and "I'm Your Captain" got some of the same treatment. In the 1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Dave Marsh
relented only slightly by writing, "Wretched was the word to describe Grand Funk's music. Although the group occasionally achieve an interesting song—'I'm Your Captain' was about the best of the early ones ..."
's Odyssey
and themes of returning home, such as college students returning from a long semester. Authors have seen the song as an "epic of paranoia and disease" and as a tale of a man who had lost control of his life in a fashion strong enough to invoke childhood nightmares. It has been used as the subtitle for a chapter of a novel dealing with war and addictions. Comparisons have been made to Walt Whitman
's poem "O Captain! My Captain!
" in its use of the rank to mean Abraham Lincoln
.
Farner himself does not explicitly state what the song is about, and indeed prefers that listeners be able to use their own imaginations when listening to songs in general. But the most common interpretations and resonances of "I'm Your Captain" revolve around the Vietnam War
. VH1
's Behind the Music
said the song "became a subtle anti-war anthem". Lee Andresen, author of Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War, sees it as portraying President Richard Nixon
as "captain" of the United States, losing popular support for continuing the war. Fellow Flint native Michael Moore
remembers hearing it on the radio the day he went to his draft board
(where he would file as a conscientious objector
), and hoping the I'm getting closer to my home refrains would never end, as he felt America was his home and not Vietnam.
The song found a following too among American personnel in Vietnam, in part because the band's working-class Flint origins were similar to those of many Americans serving in the war. It resonated with them as they tried to stay alive while waiting for the time when they could get closer to home, and then when they were finally returning from the war. It remains quite popular among Vietnam veterans
and Farner has played it at several veterans' benefits. Farner visited and performed at The Wall
in November 2007, on the 25th anniversary of the memorial's dedication. He later said, "The gig was a great spiritual and emotional experience. The 'Nam vets I had the privilege to speak to were so gracious and personal with me, as if we were relatives getting back together after a long time apart. As you could imagine, it was really hard for me to sing 'I'm Your Captain' because there was a softball stuck in my throat and I couldn't swallow it!" In 2010, Farner sang the song accompanying himself on acoustic guitar at the Vietnam Veterans of America
's National Leadership Conference, where he received the organization's President's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
, 1991's Capitol Collectors Series, 1997's Bosnia
, Thirty Years of Funk: 1969–1999, 2002's Classic Masters
, a bonus track on the 2002 CD reissue of 1971's E Pluribus Funk
, the archival Live: The 1971 Tour
, and 2006's Greatest Hits
.
The song has been a staple of Farner concert performances in the decades since its recording, with the younger generation of concert-goers still knowing all the words. It received standing ovations when Farner played it as part of the third edition of Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
in 1995, and a similar reaction greeted it during the 1996 reunion tour of Grand Funk Railroad.
The song has been recorded by the German
power metal
band Helloween
as a track on their 1995 CD single "Sole Survivor". Perhaps the most unusual 'performance' of it was an improvised one with altered lyrics by an American Airlines
pilot over a plane's PA system while awaiting permission to leave the gate. This performance too drew much applause.
American radio personality Mark Thompson said in 1999 that the song "will be played for the rest of time." Producer Terry Knight said in 2003 of the song, "I'm humbled by my part in that piece of history. 'Closer to Home' will never die, it'll be around forever." Farner said in 2007, "It’s just one of those songs. It fit. Everything about it worked for that time and it still works today."
Mark Farner
Mark Fredrick Farner is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a Contemporary Christian Musician.-Early life and career:...
and recorded by Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...
as the closing track to their album Closer to Home
Closer to Home
Closer to Home is Grand Funk Railroad's third studio album, and was released in July 1970 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight. This album reached RIAA gold record status in 1970, making it the group's third gold record in one year. The songs, "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" and...
. Ten minutes in duration, it is the band's longest studio recording. One of the group's best-known songs, it is composed as two distinct but closely related movements. Its title has been rendered in various ways across many different Grand Funk albums, including "I'm Your Captain", "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home", "Closer to Home/I'm Your Captain", "Closer to Home (I'm Your Captain)", and "Closer to Home".
The song conveys the pleas of a captain on a troubled sea voyage and facing a mutiny from his crew. Its use of an orchestra during the long repeated refrains of the closing movement served to differentiate it from much of Grand Funk's work. Several interpretations of the song have been given; most revolve around the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and "I'm Your Captain" is popular among veterans of that conflict. The record was a modest hit single when first released, but achieved greater airplay on progressive rock radio
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
stations. It has become a classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
staple and has appeared on several audience-selected lists as one of the best rock songs of all time.
Writing and recording
The song is composed in the compound binary form that was most popular, and used for several well-known songs, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The first movement opens with an electric guitar riff from Farner, which aspiring young guitarists of the time learned to imitate. This soon changes into a strummed acoustic guitar paired with a distinctive lead bass line from Mel SchacherMel Schacher
Mel Schacher is best known as the bassist for rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early career :Schacher was born in Flint, Michigan. He became interested in music at the age of seven playing with his father's banjo. By age twelve he had moved to playing guitar and then bass...
, set against a steady drumbeat from Don Brewer
Don Brewer
Don Brewer is the drummer and co-lead singer for American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early life :Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan on September 3, 1948 and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School....
accompanied with occasional wah wah guitar flourishes. The chord changes go from D to G to G6/C.
The story ostensibly deals with a ship's captain on a troubled voyage and facing a mutiny from his crew. Farner's vocal of the pleading lyric begins:
- Everybody, listen to me, and return me, my ship
- I'm your captain, I'm your captain, although I'm feeling, mighty sick.
- I've been lost now, days uncounted ...
- And it's months since, I've seen home.
- Can you hear me, can you hear me? Or am I ... all alone.
The music has a bass break and then drops down to half time before resuming at its normal tempo. The protagonist's plight becomes worse, with the captain's pleas continuing while the unhappy crew members are approaching the point of murder.
At the 4½-minute mark the song switches to the second movement, which begins with the sounds of waves and gulls. The captain's voice is tinged with a sense of hopeless longing, perhaps even indicating that it is his ghost now singing:
- I'm getting closer to my home ...
- I'm getting closer to my home ...
Again the bass line carries the music, with now a flute line accompanying it. The second movement starts at a fairly slow tempo, before speeding up somewhat into its repeats. The significant chord progression in this part is from C to B♭add9. The movement's single lyric repeats over and over as a mantra, in the style of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
. Around the 7-minute mark a full orchestra appears to accompany the band to the gradually fading conclusion.
Unusually for him, Farner wrote the lyric of the song first, with the words coming to him in the middle of the night after saying prayers for inspiration to write something meaningful. The chord changes to "I'm Your Captain" came to him the following morning between sips of coffee, and the following day he took it to the band. They immediately liked it, but after a while had no ending for the second movement. They came upon the idea of using an orchestra, and hired Tommy Baker, an arranger and trumpet player who was working on the Cleveland television series Upbeat
Upbeat (TV series)
Upbeat was a syndicated musical variety show produced in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, at WEWS-TV that aired from 1964 to 1971 which spotlighted on the performers and their hit songs of the 1960s Top 40 pop music genre which was common on such AM radio stations as WIXY in Cleveland and CKLW in...
. He suggested they extend the ending so that his orchestral score would have space to develop in, and producer Terry Knight
Terry Knight
Terry Knight , born Richard Terrance Knapp, was an American rock and roll music producer, promoter, singer, songwriter and radio personality, who enjoyed some success in radio, modest success as a singer, but phenomenal success as the original manager-producer for Grand Funk Railroad and the...
brought in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra to record it. The band members never heard the full version until Knight played it for them back in hometown Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
. Farner nearly cried when he heard it, and Brewer has said "We were just like, 'Wow!'"
Reception
Released as a single with the title "Closer To Home", it was modestly successful in early fall 1970, reaching number 22 on the U.S. pop singles chartBillboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
as the group's first top 40 hit single. It was far more successful on progressive rock radio
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
stations, such as those in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where its length and epic feel were an asset and where it became a mainstay that appealed to a broad spectrum of rock fans outside Grand Funk's immediate listener base. Its airplay helped the album reach the Top 10 of the U.S. albums chart
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
within a month of its release.
Decades later, "I'm Your Captain" remains a staple of many classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio stations. It is considered to be the standout track on the Closer to Home album and by both Farner and others to be his best work as a songwriter. And with its melodic strengths and dramatic feel it is often considered one of the best rock songs of all time; in 1988, the listeners of legendary New York rock station WNEW-FM ranked it the 71st best song of all time, while twenty years later in 2008, New York classic rock station Q104.3
WAXQ
WAXQ is a radio station with a classic rock format in New York City. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-WFDR:...
's listeners still ranked it the 112th best song of all time.
Grand Funk Railroad were consistently despised by the rock critic establishment, and "I'm Your Captain" got some of the same treatment. In the 1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
relented only slightly by writing, "Wretched was the word to describe Grand Funk's music. Although the group occasionally achieve an interesting song—'I'm Your Captain' was about the best of the early ones ..."
Themes and interpretations
Over the years many interpretations have been posed by listeners of "I'm Your Captain", including the literal one of mutiny on a voyage, but also ones involving drug addiction and ones by those who see resonance in HomerHomer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
and themes of returning home, such as college students returning from a long semester. Authors have seen the song as an "epic of paranoia and disease" and as a tale of a man who had lost control of his life in a fashion strong enough to invoke childhood nightmares. It has been used as the subtitle for a chapter of a novel dealing with war and addictions. Comparisons have been made to Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
's poem "O Captain! My Captain!
O Captain! My Captain!
"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, concerning the death of American president Abraham Lincoln.-Analysis:...
" in its use of the rank to mean Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Farner himself does not explicitly state what the song is about, and indeed prefers that listeners be able to use their own imaginations when listening to songs in general. But the most common interpretations and resonances of "I'm Your Captain" revolve around the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
said the song "became a subtle anti-war anthem". Lee Andresen, author of Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War, sees it as portraying President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
as "captain" of the United States, losing popular support for continuing the war. Fellow Flint native Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
remembers hearing it on the radio the day he went to his draft board
Draft board
Draft Board was a part of the Selective Service Act which registered and selected men of military age for conscription in the United States-Local Board:...
(where he would file as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
), and hoping the I'm getting closer to my home refrains would never end, as he felt America was his home and not Vietnam.
The song found a following too among American personnel in Vietnam, in part because the band's working-class Flint origins were similar to those of many Americans serving in the war. It resonated with them as they tried to stay alive while waiting for the time when they could get closer to home, and then when they were finally returning from the war. It remains quite popular among Vietnam veterans
Vietnam Veterans
The Vietnam Veterans is an French psychedelic band, hailing originally from Chalon-sur-Saône, a commune in eastern France. They released six full-length albums during the 1980s, starting in 1983. The band was praised by many alternative music publications, including Bucketful Of Brains during the...
and Farner has played it at several veterans' benefits. Farner visited and performed at The Wall
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...
in November 2007, on the 25th anniversary of the memorial's dedication. He later said, "The gig was a great spiritual and emotional experience. The 'Nam vets I had the privilege to speak to were so gracious and personal with me, as if we were relatives getting back together after a long time apart. As you could imagine, it was really hard for me to sing 'I'm Your Captain' because there was a softball stuck in my throat and I couldn't swallow it!" In 2010, Farner sang the song accompanying himself on acoustic guitar at the Vietnam Veterans of America
Vietnam Veterans of America
Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that promotes the interests of United States military veterans of the Vietnam War era. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government...
's National Leadership Conference, where he received the organization's President's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Later appearances
The song has been included on many Grand Funk live albums and compilations since it first appeared, including 1971's Mark, Don and Mel: 1969–71, 1975's Caught in the ActCaught in the Act (Grand Funk Railroad album)
Caught in the Act is Grand Funk Railroad's second live album, and was released in August 1975 by Capitol Records as a double album. It was recorded live on tour in 1975 and features "The Funkettes" — Lorraine Feather and Jana....
, 1991's Capitol Collectors Series, 1997's Bosnia
Bosnia (album)
Bosnia is the title of a live recording by the American rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The concert was a benefit performance for the nation of Bosnia...
, Thirty Years of Funk: 1969–1999, 2002's Classic Masters
Classic Masters (Grand Funk Railroad album)
Classic Masters is a compilation album from Grand Funk Railroad. Released in 2002, it is one in a series by Capitol Records.It was intended to replace 1991's Capitol Collectors Series compilation, although track-wise they are identical except for one song. Both albums have 15 tracks, but Classic...
, a bonus track on the 2002 CD reissue of 1971's E Pluribus Funk
E Pluribus Funk
E Pluribus Funk is Grand Funk Railroad's fifth studio album, and was released in November 1971 by Capitol Records. This is the final Grand Funk Railroad album produced by Terry Knight. The title is a play on the former motto of the US government, E Pluribus Unum...
, the archival Live: The 1971 Tour
Live: The 1971 Tour
Live: The 1971 Tour is a live album from Grand Funk Railroad, which was recorded over several performances in 1971 but not released until 2002.-Track listing:#Intro - 1:39: Date/venue not listed....
, and 2006's Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Grand Funk Railroad album)
-Track listing:#"We're an American Band" – 3:26#"Time Machine" – 3:45#"Walk Like a Man" – 4:05#"Some Kind of Wonderful" – 3:23#"Shinin' On" – 5:56#"Heartbreaker" – 6:34#"Rock & Roll Soul" – 3:29#"The Loco-Motion" – 2:46#"Footstompin' Music" – 3:46...
.
The song has been a staple of Farner concert performances in the decades since its recording, with the younger generation of concert-goers still knowing all the words. It received standing ovations when Farner played it as part of the third edition of Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
This article is about the album. For the band, go to Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band is Ringo Starr's first official live album, recorded in 1989 during his successful comeback tour and released in 1990...
in 1995, and a similar reaction greeted it during the 1996 reunion tour of Grand Funk Railroad.
The song has been recorded by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band Helloween
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...
as a track on their 1995 CD single "Sole Survivor". Perhaps the most unusual 'performance' of it was an improvised one with altered lyrics by an American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
pilot over a plane's PA system while awaiting permission to leave the gate. This performance too drew much applause.
American radio personality Mark Thompson said in 1999 that the song "will be played for the rest of time." Producer Terry Knight said in 2003 of the song, "I'm humbled by my part in that piece of history. 'Closer to Home' will never die, it'll be around forever." Farner said in 2007, "It’s just one of those songs. It fit. Everything about it worked for that time and it still works today."