Right Away Great Captain
Right Away, Great Captain is a side project Manchester Orchestra singer Andy Hull. It was recorded over a three day period in a log cabin in Bastian, Va in August 2006.
Right Away, Great Captain's first album, "The Bitter End", is a concept album centering around a sixteenth century sailor. It is a personal challenge of singer Andy Hull's to write a story that will take place over three albums. The story is written chronologically as entries into a journal that is being kept over a three year period at sea. The album is inspired by Andy Hull's interest in love and heartbreak "in a society that did not revolve around instant gratification." It starts with the lead character witnessing his brother and his wife committing adultery. He never speaks a word to either, he just kisses his daughters goodbye and leaves.
The next eight songs focus on his feelings of heartbreak, loneliness, love, and betrayal. They are an expression of his mind wondering into thoughts most would and will never think. They are wrought with depression and brokenness. The sailor develops a relationship with his captain in an search for something higher than himself. These songs reflect Hull's second interest, the ability of the sailors to follow their captain with no contest.
"At this point in time, sailors were the most loyal to there captains. if they said jump the sailor responded with how high. if they captain wanted to steer the ship into what looked like pure danger to everyone but him, they would never second guess. they followed. this was something that equally intrigued me. in a world where we are trying to follow somebody or something weather it is a trend or a higher power, we never seem to do it without second guessing that thing. so the captain is now his god, not a literal god, but this position."
The album takes a more disclosing turn. The sailor deals with bouts of insanity which are equaled by his captain's polar opposite insanity. While the sailor is preaching grudges, the captain tells him that he must never place faith in something as fickle as love, and by proxy, the people that you love. These songs tell Hull's belief that people will always let you down, a topic he found hard to convey because of the Woody Allen Movie, "Manhattan". Hull found the theme of that movie to be, "you have to have faith in people", an opposite to what he writes. This probably lends weight to the opposites between the sailor and his captain. Although the topic can sound morose and depression, Hull states that it is meant to me enlightening not disenchanting. "this is something i believe as a truth, not as a sad statement but more as a beautiful revelation. i feel like you have to find faith in something more. although this is merely my opinion, and its your choice to accept or deny it."
The album closes with the sailor facing a decision, one that was left up to the listener to interpret. Hull has stated that this decision will be revealed over the next two albums in the series.