Love Boat Captain is a song by Pearl Jam, featuring lyrics written by Eddie Vedder and music co written by Vedder and keyboardist Boom Gaspar, Love Boat Captain was released on February 24, 2003, as a single from the band’s seventh studio album, Riot Act (2002). It became a top 20 hit in Canada and Portugal. The song was not released in the United States, where Save You was issued instead.
The lyrics for Love Boat Captain tackle existential matters. Love Boat Captain references the 2000 Roskilde tragedy with the line “Lost nine friends we‘ll never know two years ago today“. When Love Boat Captain is performed in concert, Eddie Vedder modifies the lyric to reflect the passage of time since the tragedy. There is also a reference to The Beatles‘ song All You Need Is Love with the lyrics “I know it’s already been sung…can’t be said enough/Love is all you need..all you need is love“.
Tracklist:
CD (Australia and Canada)
- Love Boat Captain
- Love Boat Captain (live)
Recorded live on December 6, 2002, at The Showbox in Seattle, Washington. - Other Side (Jeff Ament)
The music video for Love Boat Captain was directed by James Frost. The video was filmed at Seattle, Washington’s Chop Suey club in September 2002. The video consists of a filmed live performance of the band rather than a conceptual video. It was one of five videos shot at the club to promote Riot Act (including I Am Mine, Save You, Thumbing My Way, and 1/2 Full). Up to that point the band had not made any music videos since 1998’s Do the Evolution. The video was released in late 2002.
