Father O.S.A.

This is pure genius, songs like this aren't recorded anymore. Simple, yet with a clear message.

The song has two parts - the first part is about a missionary of the Catholic Order of Saint Augustine, trying to spread the word. He's a pityful man who thinks he has sailed the seas of life - however, he hasn't realized his ship's in a bottle. The second part is the real message; that you can't just rely on a Jesus to carry you, but that you must stand strong in a world that is, and will always be, not entirely known.

IMO, this song is about the Catholic Order of Saint Augustine, or maybe about Roman Catholicism itself. That would be ironic because they recorded the organ part of the song in a Catholic church.

I always thought this song was about the restraints Christianity puts on its clergymen.

father you're life's a ship that's never been to sea

the bottle that surrounds your life you'll sail eternally

and

children please understand a man must stand alone

and face a world he'll never know and never call his own

=

Priests not being allowed to marry and have a family, etc.

I doubt it- Dennis DeYoung, who wrote this song, is a devout Catholic. To me it seems more like a lament for those whom the world has left with the passing of time.

I never knew what that song was about