Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride - Lyrics Meaning

Ride Captain Ride reached number 1 on the charts in 1968.

The band needed another song during a recording session. If there wasn't another song to record, the producer warned the band that it would be their last day in the studio. Mike Pinera, the lead singer, told him that he did have a song (but he didn`t). He looked at his Fender Rhodes piano, which had 73 keys. From there, he is quoted as saying that the song wrote itself.

In the first verse of the song, the men on the ship are calling everyone to ride to another shore, laugh, and be free. This most likely suggests that the men from the ship are encouraging people to free their minds and think for themselves. The people didn't hear the men calling them because they were too busy "watchin' those old raindrops fall". The raindrops symbolize the mundane lifestyles of the people. They were busy with the daily routine of life and didn't take time out to use their minds and discover new things.

In the chorus, every individual is the captain, while the mind is the mystery ship. Those who use their minds to discover new ideas, creativity, etc. will discover new worlds that others miss out on.