The Captain (song)

For the Kasey Chambers song, see The Captain (album).
"The Captain"
Single by Biffy Clyro
from the album Only Revolutions
B-side Help Me Be Captain
Once an Empire
Party On
Released 26 October 2009
Format CD, Download, 7"
Recorded 2009
Genre Alternative rock
Pop rock
Length 3:43
Label 14th Floor
Writer(s) Simon Neil [1]
Producer Garth Richardson
Biffy Clyro singles chronology
"That Golden Rule"
(2009)		 "The Captain"
(2009)		 "Many of Horror"
(2010)
Only Revolutions track listing
  1. "The Captain"
  2. "That Golden Rule"
  3. "Bubbles "
  4. "God and Satan"
  5. "Born on a Horse"
  6. "Mountains"
  7. "Shock Shock"
  8. "Many of Horror"
  9. "Booooom, Blast & Ruin"
  10. "Cloud of Stink"
  11. "Know Your Quarry"
  12. "Whorses"

"The Captain" is the third single from Biffy Clyro's fifth studio album, Only Revolutions, released on 26 October 2009.[2] It features a prominent brass section throughout the song. The music video was released on 23 September on NME.com. The B-side "Help Me Be Captain" is an early, more raw sounding, version of the song without brass instruments.

Contents

Released and promotion

"The Captain" was released on 26 October 2009 as the third single from Biffy Clyro's fifth album Only Revolutions. To promote the song, the band played the song on several of their live shows around cities in the United Kingdom. The band also performed the track on BBC's Live Lounge in September 2009. The song reached at #17 on the UK Singles Charts and #1 on the UK Rock Charts. Also promoted AFL football on Channel 10 in Australia for the 2010 AFL season.

Music video

The music video for "The Captain" depicts Simon Neil as a prisoner aboard a ship inhabited by pirates and other maritime characters. It begins with Simon being whipped by an unidentified pirate, this continues along with various other shots of Simon inside a jail cell and footage of the band performing on the ships deck. As the video carries on, a fight erupts between two factions aboard the ship and in the chaos, Ben and James steal a key held by the ship's captain and free Simon from his jail cell. The video won the best video award at the 2010 NME Awards, beating off competition from Arctic Monkeys and The Maccabees.[3] The video also won the best video award at the 2010 Kerrang! Awards.[4]

Track listing

CD Single 14FLR40CD

  1. "The Captain"
  2. "Help Me Be Captain"

7" Picture Vinyl 14FLR40

  1. "The Captain"
  2. "Once An Empire"

7" Red Vinyl 14FLR40X

  1. "The Captain"
  2. "Party On"

iTunes Digital EP

  1. "The Captain" - 3:43
  2. "Help Me Be Captain" - 4:55
  3. "Once An Empire" - 2:43
  4. "Party On" - 3:06

Chart performance

Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[5] 17
UK Rock Singles Charts[6] 1
Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Rock Singles Chart[7] 4

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by
"If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback		 UK Rock Charts number-one single
1 November 2009 - 15 November 2009		 Succeeded by
"Undisclosed Desires" by Muse

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ Ascap entry
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_10000000/newsid_10001600/10001647
  3. ^ a b http://www.nme.com/news/biffy-clyro/49951
  4. ^ http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2010/07/and_the_winners_are_1.html
  5. ^ "Chart Stats – Biffy Clyro – The Captain" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats.
  6. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_downloads_last.php?week=53&end=19 October 2008 - 25 October 2008
  7. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/rocksingles/
Biffy Clyro
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