Lyrics by Bradford Cox
I've been feeling like I'm gonna be sick
I've been landlocked for too many weeks
I've been feeling like I'm weak, yeah
I'm a poor boy from a poor family
There's nobody left to take care of me, so
Dream captain take me on your ship
Dream captain take me if you wish
I'll do anything that you need
There's nothing that's left of me
I'm a poor boy from a poor family
I can see where I come from easily
I don't need anybody to tell me what I'm worth
I've already been giving up from my birth
Could you be, for me, what I see in you
Or would you give me wings so I could fly, fly, or sink and die please!
Dream captain take me on your ship
If you feel that I am fit
To belong in the company grip
I want to be on the company ship
I'm a poor boy from a poor family
I ain't got nobody left to take care of me
I can't feel any of my extremities
They're going numb
and I don't know how long I can breathe
Dream captain take me on your ship
It's my only, my only wish
I can do whatever you command
I'm a boy, man
and you're a man, man
I'm a poor boy from a poor family
I ain't got nobody left to take care of me
I'm a poor boy, I'm so dirty
I'm a poor boy, well look into my eyes, look into my eyes...
"Dream Captain" is a love song from one of my favorite bands Deerhunter. Structurally, like a lot of music, the lyrics feature a rhyme scheme where each couple lines end in roughly the same sound, a sort of forced rhyme often. The first stanza has anaphora with "I've been" which adds emphasis to the lines. Each verse begins with "Dream captain take me on your ship" to add emphasis to that line, that wish of his. Other repetition comes in with the chorus or refrain "I'm a poor boy...", which along with the other repeated line, spells out quite simply speaker's feelings. This "dream captain" is presumably someone who the speaker is infatuated with, someone who can whisk him away from his sorrows. The extended metaphor of ships and the captain is used to express the speaker's feelings, "I've been feeling like I'm gonna be sick / I've been landlocked for too many weeks." There is a comparison here between loneliness and isolation and being landlocked. The speaker is clearly self-deprecating, referring to himself as "a poor boy from a poor family"; he fears rejection on this basis, "If you feel that I am fit / To belong in the company grip." Because of his fear, he tries to appeal to this "dream captain" by saying "I can do whatever you command" and finally an emotional appeal "look into my eyes, look into my eyes..." Bradford Cox writes a solid rock-n-roll love song; the whole extended metaphor structure is classic and this particular one is especially strong for capturing his emotions.
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