“Come Sail Away” by Styx

Dennis DeYoung wrote "Come Sail Away" in a funk. Styx's first two A&M records, Equinox and Crystal Ball, had sold less than anyone hoped after "Lady", and he poured that gloom into a song about setting sail after your dreams. It became the lead single from The Grand Illusion, the band's seventh album, in 1977, opening as a hushed keyboard confessional before swelling into full-blown arena grandeur.

DeYoung sings lead and plays keyboards and synthesizer, Tommy Shaw layers acoustic, electric and 12-string guitars, James Young adds guitar and synth, and Chuck Panozzo on bass and John Panozzo on drums drive the voyage. Along the way it drifts through memories of old friends and angels singing of hope, with a last-minute twist that turns the ship into a starship. It reached number 8 on the Hot 100 in January 1978 and helped carry the album to multi-platinum.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.