Styx - Father O.S.A. Lyrics

One of my first albums... I learned how to play this intro on piano. Bringing back some memories.

This song reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia

what a song!

Sublime

father..father..I miss mine..pipe organ ROCKS!

An epic song! You just gotta love Styx

SIMPLEMENTE HERMOSA CANCIÓN !!!!!

Love playing along to this on the bass!!!! One of my favorites!!!!

This was my first Styx album predicated by Lady of course. I forgot how great an album this is and how amazing John Cruluski was. It is too bad Dennis can't see his way clear to rejoining the band.

true dat...

thanks Grandmaster

Why is this the most underrated song of Styx? This song clearly surpasses that overplayed song on my local radio station "Renegade", and yet I've never heard of this song until it played on my Styx Pandora radio station.

I herd it I LA California??? Late 70s
Loved it . . . Still do.

Fuck renegade

remember my younger year!

AWESOME SONG AND I THINK THIS WAS RECORDED AT THE ST.JAMES CATHEDRAL IN CHICAGO...CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG  OH BY THE WAY I STILL HAVE THE ORIGINAL VYNAL ALBUM

Wow I never heard John Panozzo play drums like this. The man was nasty. May he rest in peace but may music like this come back. This is some fine musicianship.

One of the most underrated drummers ever

Saw this group at Arrowhead stadium in  KCMO 1977.

Me Too !

Order of Saint Agustine

...at the risk of appearing dumb or ignorant...curious about what "O.S.A." stands for.

Not at all. I consider myself to be a Styx fan. Admittedly, I'm not that familiar with the early stuff although I do like it. I couldn't figure it out myself but did find this on the net.

http://net.indra.com/~eliz/Lists/styx.info

IV.E.
Q. What does the O.S.A. mean in the song titled "Father O.S.A."?

A.
It means Order of St. Augustine.

Order of St. Agustine.... Mendel Catholic Prep and St Rita Catholic HS in Chicago.

I've always wondered who mixed this song because it is solidly balanced and innovative...like on the tail where the whole mix fades leaving a sole backup piano part....brilliant.

That piano at the end is awesome.

@1eyedjacksRwild ABSOLUTELY

Am told this may be Father OSA. He may have been schoolmates with some of the original band members. http://www.fatherbillatkinson.com/

Here are excerpts from Father Bill's Website: "WILLIAM EDWARD ATKINSON, O.S.A. was born on January 4, 1946, in Philadelphia, PA, the son of Allen J. Atkinson and Mary S. Connelly. He had two brothers and four sisters. He was baptized at St. Alice's Catholic Church, Upper Darby, PA, on January 27, 1946. He attended St. Alice's Elementary School, graduating in 1959, and then attended Msgr. Bonner High School, graduating in 1963. He spent a year as a postulant at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, NY, and entered the Order as a novice at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, NY, September 9, 1964, and it was during that year that Bill had the tobogganing accident on February 22, 1965, that was to change the rest of his life. "

"He began again his novitiate year there, July 19, 1969 to July 20, 1970, and professed simple vows, followed by the profession of solemn vows on July 20, 1973. "

Wasn't THIS ALBUM RELEASED at the time he took his solemn vows? "Children.....you must understand....a man must stand alone...... and face....a world.....he'll never know..... and never call his own ..... " THEN you hear the "angelic choir" singing with the organ.

No, it was named after Fr. Durant OSA, a Guidance Counselor at Mendel CHS in the 60's and 70's

I found "Father OSA!" He is Father Bill Atkinson, O.S.A. The O.S.A. is "Order of St. Augustine." Father Bill graduated from the same high school as some of the band members. Shortly after graduation, in 1965, he got quadraplegia after a car accident. He took his solemn vows in July 1973. He is on the road to canonization. Here is the website for "Father OSA." Pass around the word. : http://www.fatherbillatkinson.com/

You could not be more wrong. Father Atkinson was a very young priest when this song was released and spent the major part of his life in Upper Darby, Drexel Hill, and Villanova, PA. The band members from Styx are predominantly from the Chicagoland area. None of the Styx members were graduates of Msgr. Bonner High School, where Fr. Atkinson graduated and later taught Theology (I never had him for class, but I graduated Bonner in '78).
His injuries were caused by a tobogganing accident. His older brother, Al, was a linebacker on the Super Bowl III champion NY Jets.
It's kind of funny that I find this discussion today - I was just talking about Fr. Atkinson last night with my brother-in-law, when I admitted that I wasn't very fond of him. Whenever I saw him rolling down the hallway, I found a set of stairs so that I knew he couldn't follow me. I suppose I would hate it if he became an official saint, since I used to run away from him all the time...
JNP

was it the order of st augustine??

+Neil Stump- yes it was

+Neil Stump Order of Saint Agustine

Grandmaster, stranger now friend, I can't thank you enuff for going to the trouble of splicing these together. I have been searching for this f*cking song for literally, without exaggeration, for 40 goddamn years. :) My cousin Gail came from a 1 street/1 stoplight podunk town in Wyoming to live with us in SoCal. after graduation HS, with the hope of greater opportunity in her eyes. I vividly remember her having the most AWESOME record collection my young eyes and ears had ever seen and heard. She really had remarkable taste in music considering where she came from, her catalog of LP's included this album with a band named Styx (which that in itself I really thought was wicked boss and cool!).

I had never heard music like this before, and lord have mercy, I LIKED it!! I had a VERY sheltered musical beginning, I'm talking all I had been exposed to was (aside from the radio of course), and I'm not kidding here: The Partridge Family, my mom from Oklahoma's gospel records (we know how 'Bringing in the Sheaf's' rocks, right?) etc, the only saving grace was when my uncle Ed bought me for Xmas my 1st Three Dog Night LP (Liar is still one of my favorite songs of all time). Anyways, I heard THIS song, and I was literally transported! I still remember thinking this was 'medieval music' because of the chillingly deep organ intro and the capo'ed acoustic guitars that sounded like lutes to me. Anyways, I forgot the name of the song, and have looked until today for this damn song!! (Here in Ca. at least for me, there were no outlets that sold or carried the damn Wooden Nickel recordings).Oh, and by the way, my cousin Gails collection turned me on to Pink Floyd Animals and Wish You Were Here, Dreamboat Annie (Roger Fisher, 1 of the most underated and sickly original HARD, and mean HARD rockers!), and several others. Thank you, Gail!!

It sounds like your sister is a " Rocker in Good Taste "

truly a masterpiece

Whover compiled this song is a genius as they took Bach's Little Fugue in G Minor and made it rock!!!!!!!

+Mary Jo Gauthier Actually it's in D Minor

Mary Jo Gauthier

RIP John Curulewski, the original guitarist for Styx.

A criminally underappreciated guitarist

oh my Gosh this is a long forgotin tune love it!!!

the "goth kids"@autumn noxx  would not get this. as it was written a very long time ago by one of the  greatest bands on earth.Who. Unlike that rap garbage, wrote their own music. and can play musical instruments. and while goth is cool. styx is not goth. Ozzy is. I would recommend for them Ozzy's Mr Crawley...

Id recommend them Evanescence instead. 

gemini16th yea ! Witch wolf is great .

"O.S.A" stands for the Order of Saint Augustine -- the song is about an alcoholic Augustinian friar. Dennis DeYoung actually plays only a fragment of  Bach's "Little Fugue in G'". I put an orchestral arrangement of that by Leopold Stolowski and this in my classical and prog playlist. Thanks for the upload -- this indeed is the best song on "Styx II".

Love this song ,

I bet the goth kids would love this.  :P 

Yeah, that's the stuff.

the woman singing, whats her name?

it's your mom

Well, it's certainly SOMEBODY'S mom! ... ~D-FensDogG

You just can't reach that note of voice and you're jealous that's all

High voice at the end is JY

Mendel Blue - 1973

For other examples of Bach Rock look up "Lover's Concerto" by The Toys and "Joy" by Apollo 100 on youtube.

They were awesome before they hit it big....started going down hill after Paradise Theater

I grew up a huge fan of styx even though 80s stuff was mostly an embarrassment ... i forgot how good some of this early stuff really was. thanx for posting this whoever posted this.

What a thrill it must have been for Dennis to play the huge St. James Cathedral pipe organ!

it blows me away what made it to the radio and what didn't..... Radio does nobody any favors! This weekend I'm discovering a whole side of Styx that I haven't heard before... AND I LOVE IT!

Awesome! I haven't heard this in decades.

Fantastic song !! it takes me back to my youth !! God bless John Curulewski !! (RIP, of course)

"Bach Rock!" Love the Pipe Organ!

RIP John Curulewski !!!! and God Bless You !!!

I didn't know he had passed :( Rest In Peace

thank you grandmaster. this takes me back to when I was like 10 years old or so : ))

this is 1 of many that cannot be forgotten - awesome

I thought "Little Fugue" would be a great intro or base of a rock song recently. Looks like Styx beat me to it.

You made a old man happy. Thank You so much I can remember when I was back in High School at Morton West in Berwyn IL. Going to see are local band Styx play at St Joes High School in Westchester. Ahh the memories Thank You.

GrandmasterLife, Thank you for the upload !! well worth the time sir.!

@glen713 - yes, they do. there is so much great modern progressive rock bands that blow Styx away.

osa most likely order of st augustine, the augustinians ran Mendel catholic high school on the south side of chicago where several members of the band attendend..

I disliked those reissue covers. They looked like a 6 year old made them with construction paper. The original covers were awesome.

This song just isn't the same without Little Fugue. I have the vinyl as well. Great album!

STYX II IS STYX IN THEIR FINEST HOUR!!! I OWN THE ENTIRE WOODEN NICKEL COLLECTION AND ITS A GREAT LISTEN.

Okay, I have a question. At one point in time, was Little Fugue missing in it's entirety on this album or was it just a portion of Little Fugue that was missing?

@ttmot

this too -
pVadl4ocX0M

thanks -

ttmot
1584

Actually, this organ prelude ("Little Fugue in "G") was originally pressed onto Styx II that was first released in 1973 on vinyl. I have both 1973 and the 1980 reissue on the RCA label (vinyl).

I too am a proud owner of an original print STYX II vinyl

Got it on 8-track

I have the vinyl too. God. I love Wooden NIckel Styx.

O.S.A. is an acronym for several religious orders. In this case possibly/probably Order Of Saint Augustine, a Catholic order.
Thanks GrandmasterLife for putting this up, this was probably my favorite Styx album.

Another band that has expanded the age of time and won. it touches the heart and soul.

We can compare this wonderful work with the Bach´s music,it´s amazing,realy it´s hard to explain with words.

I first had this album on *gasp* 8 track. That stunk. It changed tracks right in the middle of songs. I always wondered what the "O.S.A." in the title meant. I remember my little brother offering the suggestion "of south america," but honestly I have no clue.

This is my favorite song on this LP. I have the 1st pressing of this Wodden Nickel/RCA, which has the punch-out letters, and a gatefold which shows the painting of the river Styx...

groundhog713 special edition red vinyl in my collection

hell yeah, that's what i'm talking about !! thank you GML. love that pipe organ intro !!