One Final Serenade: Songs of Billy Joel
Studio version of "Captain Jack' with some photos of Billy Joel from the early 1970's that I put together. "Captain Jack" is © 1973 Sony Music Entertainment
 Download "Captain Jack"
But Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to her your special island Captain Jack will get you by tonight Just a little push and you'll be smilin' Although the song "Piano Man" was Billy's first big hit, it was "Captain Jack" which may have saved Billy's career. After Cold Spring Harbor failed to establish Billy as a star (no doubt because of the error in the mixing and limited financial support from Billy's label), Billy hid out in Los Angeles. But during his Cold Spring Harbor tour, Billy had recorded a mini-concert for Philadelphia radio station WMMR in 1972 in which he sang his new unrecorded song "Captain Jack." WMMR (DJ Ed Sciaky) played the song regularly over the next year and a half, and it became extremely popular in the Philadelphia area. Click player below to hear the WMMR version.
"Captain Jack" Live on WMMR (1972)
Columbia Records executives took notice, including the legendary Clive Davis, and tracked Billy down in Los Angeles. Columbia signed Billy to a contract and cut a deal with his old label, Family Productions, releasing him from that label. "Captain Jack" was put on the Piano Man album, though it was not released as a single perhaps because it had been played many times already and contained some risque lyrics (i.e. the reference to "masturbate"). Nonetheless, it became popular on FM radio. The song portrays the dead-end existence and ennui of suburban teens, perhaps not unlike Billy and his peers during the late 60s, trying to find some escape from the mundaneness of suburbia. They have their tape deck and brand new Chevrolet, but "there's no place to go to anyway, and what for?" (Compare this to Movin' Out's Sergeant O'Leary who later trades in his Chevrolet for a Cadillac; is that all you get for your money?). And although they may venture into New York, go to the "Village in their tie-dyed jeans" looking for excitement and escape, it's not a joyous retreat. It is sordid and depressing.
"So you go to the Village in your tie-dye jeans
And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens . . . " Photo: Don Hunstein, CBS Publicity Photo (1973). This isn't actually the Village of course. |
Saturday night, and you're still hangin' around
Tired of living in your one-horse town You'd like to find a little hole in the ground For a while So you go to the Village in your tie-dye jeans And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens It's like some pornographic magazine And you smile. But Captain Jack will get you high tonight And take you to your special island Captain Jack will get you by tonight Just a little push, and you'll be smilin' Your sister's gone out, she's on a date You just sit at home and masturbate Your phone is gonna ring soon but you just can't wait For that call So you stand on the corner in your new English clothes And you look so polished from your hair down to your toes Ah but still your finger's gonna pick your nose After all But Captain Jack will get you high tonight And take you to your special island Captain Jack will get you by tonight Just a little push, and you'll be smilin' So you decide to take a holiday You got your tape deck and your brand new Chevrolet Ah, there ain't no place to go anyway And what for? So you got everything, ah but nothing's cool They just found your father in the swimming pool And you guess you won't be going back to school Anymore But Captain Jack will get you high tonight And take you to your special island Ohh Captain Jack will get you by tonight Just a little push, and you'll be smilin' So you play your albums, and you smoke your pot And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot But still you're achin' for the things you haven't got What went wrong? If you can't understand why your world is so dead Why you've got to keep in style and feed your head Well you're twenty-one and still your mother makes your bed And that's too long But Captain Jack will get you high tonight. And take you to your special island Well now Captain Jack will get you by tonight Just a little push, and you'll be smilin' Oh, Captain Jack will get you high tonight And take you to your special island Well now, Captain Jack could make you die tonight Just a little push, and you'll be smilin' While "Captain Jack" apparently refers to a heroin dealer who used to be on Long Island, Billy has also said that it was meant to be more open to interpretation. "Captain Jack" could be anything that people use to escape their little world to their "special island."
The song is considered one of Billy's best. Writing in Rolling Stone, critic Stephen Holden said the song was the "centerpiece" of the album and that it "compelled attention for [its] despairing portraits of urban fringe life, despite [the] underlying shallowness." He also believed that the song was reminiscent of Bob Dylan. "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Captain Jack" have some similar elements.
Billy discusses "Captain Jack" from SiriusXM in 2016.
The live version on 1981's Songs In The Attic shows how powerful the song can be when performed live. Click the player below to hear it. Although Billy does not play it in concert that often, he often plays it when he is in Philadelphia, and it still receives an enthusiastic response. "And there ain't no place to go anyway, except for Phil-a-del-phi-aye..."
"Captain Jack" from Songs In The Attic (1981)
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Videos
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A live televised performance of "Captain Jack" from 1973 on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.
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Starting at 23:05 in this 1976 radio profile, DJ Allison Steele discusses how "Captain Jack" became popular, followed by a video from Don Kirshner's Rock Concert from 1973. You can also watch the video on YouTube.
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Billy and the band play "Captain Jack" as an encore after ending this 1976 concert with "Miami 2017," from the video "Billy Joel Tonight."
Live version of "Captain Jack" from Live At Shea (2008)
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Live version in Philadelphia, where "Captain Jack" first became popular, from a concert in 1986.
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