Listen to the latest single from Sea Captain Troubadours Mike and Amy Aiken. The intro to ‘Flown away’ is beautifully warm and resonant, the finger-plucked guitar dancing gently around sustained pedal steel notes, immediately setting the haunting tone and atmosphere for the rest of the song. When Mike Aiken and Chris P James wrote the song, they reflected on the recent death of their fathers, discussing their legacies and what they had learned from them. Then the death of David Crosby, who had been a huge influence on their writing, sparked the creation of ‘Flown away’The song is about life as a sailor on the vast oceans, which Mike’s father inspired him to do in his youth on a wooden sailboat: “A wooden ship out on the water // Came by today // Came to get my father // Set his sails and flew away.” The sensitive lyrics deal with life and death, offering a heartfelt and profound response to grief and loss. Throughout the song, the complementary blend of Mike and Amy’s voices is perfectly balanced.
The music video, directed and produced by Paul Steward, is as atmospheric as the song itself. Amy and Mike’s performance is artfully combined with other images that underline the themes of the song. The video is very effective and shows the difference a well conceived and produced video can make.
Mike Aiken says about the songwriting process: “In the studio, we went with a different sound than my usual instrumentation to keep up with the writing process with guitar and piano. I recorded a lot of ideas, multiple instruments and vocals and pared it down to what really served the song. I wanted three different voices. Mine and Amy’s, of course, and I brought in Tim Buppert as a third. Tim has sung on a lot of my songs and I knew the song would resonate with him. Writing and producing ‘Flew Away’ was a very personal, sometimes difficult and relatable song for me. It’s about the end of my father’s life and the dying process. It took a good two years after his death before I was able to step back and write with some objectivity. During that time, I began to better understand the life lessons he wanted to impart to me and the freedom he gave me and the freedom he let me run and chase my dreams. This wasn’t a song that fell out of thin air in 20 minutes. They were lessons for a lifetime. During the process, I started thinking about what I want to pass on to my daughter and what she wants to pass on to her children. That’s not an easy task.” At its core, Flew Away is simply about the profound impact of saying goodbye to a loved one, and while that goodbye was very personal for Mike, it is a subject that is universally relatable and meaningful to anyone who has ever experienced such loss and grief.
The life and love story of Mike and Amy Aiken is fascinating in itself. Aboard their boat, they travel the oceans, writing, recording and performing all over the world. They have traveled more than 30,000 miles across the world’s seas and recorded seven albums. Perhaps this seafaring lifestyle is the secret to fine songcraft, beautiful words and messages and great vocal harmonies. Listen to “Flew Away” and take a moment of quiet reflection as you imagine this wooden boat on the waves.
