"The Captain" is the third single from Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, comprising Simon Neil , James Johnston and Ben Johnston...

's fifth studio album, Only Revolutions

Only Revolutions (Biffy Clyro album)

Only Revolutions is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released 9 November 2009 on 14th Floor Records. As with its predecessor, Puzzle, the album was produced by Garth Richardson. Upon release, Only Revolutions was a critical and commercial success...

, released on 26 October 2009. It features a prominent brass section throughout the song. The music video was released on 23 September on NME.com. The B-side "Help Me Be Captain" is an early, more raw sounding, version of the song without brass instruments.

Released and promotion

"The Captain" was released on 26 October 2009 as the third single from Biffy Clyro's fifth album Only Revolutions

Only Revolutions (Biffy Clyro album)

Only Revolutions is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released 9 November 2009 on 14th Floor Records. As with its predecessor, Puzzle, the album was produced by Garth Richardson. Upon release, Only Revolutions was a critical and commercial success...

. To promote the song, the band played the song on several of their live shows around cities in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The band also performed the track on BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Live Lounge

Live Lounge

The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...

 in September 2009. The song reached at #17 on the UK Singles Charts and #1 on the UK Rock Charts.
Also promoted AFL football on Channel 10 in Australia for the 2010 AFL season.

Music video

The music video for "The Captain" depicts Simon Neil as a prisoner aboard a ship inhabited by pirates and other maritime characters. It begins with Simon being whipped by an unidentified pirate, this continues along with various other shots of Simon inside a jail cell and footage of the band performing on the ships deck. As the video carries on, a fight erupts between two factions aboard the ship and in the chaos, Ben and James steal a key held by the ship's captain and free Simon from his jail cell. The video won the best video award at the 2010 NME Awards

NME Awards

The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....

, beating off competition from Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

 and The Maccabees

The Maccabees

The Maccabees are a indie rock band from Brighton, England. They have released two albums so far, Colour It In in 2007, with a follow-up, Wall of Arms, released on 4 May 2009...

. The video also won the best video award at the 2010 Kerrang! Awards.

Track listing

CD Single 14FLR40CD

1. "The Captain"
2. "Help Me Be Captain"

7" Picture Vinyl 14FLR40

1. "The Captain"
2. "Once An Empire"

7" Red Vinyl 14FLR40X

1. "The Captain"
2. "Party On"

iTunes Digital EP

1. "The Captain" - 3:43
2. "Help Me Be Captain" - 4:55
3. "Once An Empire" - 2:43
4. "Party On" - 3:06

Chart performance

>

Chart (2009)	Peak position
UK Rock Singles Charts United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	1
Chart (2010)	Peak position
UK Rock Singles Chart United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	4

Chart procession and succession