My Top 1000 Songs #229: The Big Ship

This is the first instrumental track to make the list; and while it won't be the last (probably?), I've largely steered clear of instrumentals. Which isn't to say there aren't a lot of instrumental tracks I truly love to death. (Yeah, there's a playlist for that...) But for me, a big part of what makes a song truly great is the lyrics--or, even where it's just gibberish or silliness, the role the vocals play in the overall production. So it's tough for even the most distinctive or musically brilliant instrumental piece to rise to the same level of significance in my (musical) existence as a vocal song.

Brian Eno, of course, is the exception. 1975's Another Green World in particular, one of my favorite albums, includes a number of soul-stirring non-vocal pieces among the vocal tracks. I was going to go with "In Dark Trees," for purely personal reasons; but opted instead for "The Big Ship." This one seems a little more universal, at least judging by the fact that it's been used in a half-dozen or so soundtracks. There's clearly something about it that strikes a chord for a lot of people.

Here's what I said about it in Jittery White Guy Music (the book):

Here's the tune:

Like it? How about hearing it on a 10-hour loop?

As used in Me And Earl And The Dying Girl:

As used in The End Of The Tour: