LYRICFLUENT
Shipyard Lyrics by Sting Sting , Jimmy Nail, Brian Johnson, Jo Lawry
Below, you will find the lyrics for Shipyard by Sting.
Me name is Jackie White and I'm foreman of the yard
And ye don't mess with Jackie on this quayside
Why I'm as hard as iron plate, woe betide ye if yer late
When we have to push the boat out on a spring tide
Now ye could die and hope for Heaven, but ye'd need to work your shift
And I'd expect ye's all to back us to the hilt
And if St. Peter at his gate were to ask ye why yer late
Why you'd tell him that ye had to get a ship built
We built battleships and cruisers for Her Majesty the Queen
Super tankers for Onassis, and all the classes in between
We built the greatest shipping tonnage that the world has ever seen
And the only life we've known is in the shipyard
All the platers and the welders, and the boiler making crews
When they see that bugger finished on the slipway
All the hardship's soon forgot and we'll cheer as like as not
And the bairns'll wave their Union Jacks all day
It's a patriotic scene, all that's missing is the Queen
But she said she couldn't make it of a Tuesday
Then something wells up here inside, and you could take it in yer stride
But you wonder if you'll see another payday
For there's a mixture of emotions, hatred, gratitude and pride
And you hate yourself for crying but it's difficult to hide
For there's a sadness in the leavin' and ye worry what's ahead
And that worry never leaves ye, keeps on nagging in yer head
And so ye pray to God for orders, but ye'll worry till yer dead
Until they bury your remains in the blacksmith's shed
And the only life ye've known is in the shipyard
Steel in the stockyard
Iron in the soul
We'll conjure up a ship where there used to be a hole
And I don't know what we'll do if this yard gets sold
For the only life we've known is in the shipyard
My name is Adrian Sanderson and riveting's me trade
But it's intellectual discourse I'm known better for
And I may forego English grammar when I'm injured with a hammer
But I've a preference for the deference of a metaphor
I've read the Odyssey by Homer and the Iliad as well
I read Tacitus and Pliny and the Scarlet Pimpernel
I put a night shift in with Dante on his journey into Hell
And that's what we'll all be facing if the yard's put up to sell
For the only life ye've known is in the shipyard
Now what about those Trojan wars? And the troubles that they caused?
When they sailed off on that summer's afternoon?
Aye, the ship they had was crap and they'd lost the effin' map
When they tried to get their selves back to the toon
There's a lesson in these tales although they happened ages past
Just like in 'Spartacus' that film by Stanley Kubrick
First it's tragedy then farce then they'll kick you in the arse
When you tempt the gods with arrogance and hubris
Well it's obvious I'm gifted with the rhymin' and the meter
And hereabouts I'm thought of highly as a bard
If I wasn't shooting rivets I'd be famous in me time
All those literary circles I could dazzle with me rhyme
And I never lacked ambition you could say it was a crime
And rivets may be riveting but sonnets are sublime
But the only life I've known is in the shipyard
Steel in the stockyard
Iron in the soul
We'll conjure up a ship where there used to be a hole
But we don't know what we'll do if the yard gets sold
For the only life we've known is in the shipyard
Me name is Tommy Thompson, I'm shop steward for the Union
Me dream is proletarian revolution
Comrades, brothers, fellow travellers and others
Class struggle is the means of dialectic evolution
Das Kapital's me bible and the ruling class are liable
And quoting Marx and Engels, it's entirely justifiable
If the workers' revolution here is ever to be viable
And we become the rightful owners of this shipyard
So it's a one-day stoppage, or an overtime ban
Or a work to rule for the Five Year Plan
'Til the means of production are safely in our hands
And we become the rightful owners of this shipyard
I'm not saying it won't be hard if the boss hands us me cards
When they try to close us down like other shipyards
And if industrial action only helps the competition
As I've heard the bosses bleating from their usual position
And I stand accused of anarchy, disruption and sedition
Well ye'll never knock us down, you reactionary clowns!
When it's time for occupation of the shipyard
My name is Peggy White
And I've nursed ye through your injuries and yer cuts and wounds I've bound
Busted arms, and busted heads
Broken backs and broken legs
I'd sooner put ye in a splint than have them put ye in the ground
And the fumes from all the welding where the poison air is hung
And the toxic radiation that's been blackening your tongue
I could give you's all an aspirin while you're coughing up your lungs
But it's all you'll ever get here in this shipyard
My name is Arthur Cook, I'm the Union superintendent
Where I represent the interests of ye's all
And I listen to you men as you talk about the future
But the truth is that we're heading for a God almighty fall
But it's clear that intervention's not the government's intention
'Cos they've got no need for ships, now have I got your full attention?
While the closing of the yard may be beyond your comprehension
I'm the one who sees the writin' on the shipyard wall
I've begged and I've pleaded at every meeting that we've held
That we limit our demands to this reality
It's like two different metals in a join ye cannot weld
And there's nothing to be gained from this dream of solidarity
There's nowt for us to bargain with when the industry's at sea
It must be obvious to you as it's obvious to me
And my advice to all of you's is to take redundancy
And accept that there's no future in this shipyard
Steel in the stockyard
Iron in the soul
We'll conjure up a ship where there used to be a hole
But I don't know what we'll do if the yard gets sold
For the only life we've known is in the shipyard
Me name is Davy Harrison, I like a drink or two
You could ask me when it started but I haven't got a clue
I'm never sad or miserable I'm never ever blue
And I'll still be up tomorrow for the shipyard
I drink meself into a stupor and I wake up with two heeds
And then the missus starts complainin' about all me drunken deeds
Like when I got the train to Sunderland but found meself in Leeds
And I had to get up early for the shipyard
I once gave up the drinking, was it 1963?
But it seems as if sobriety was not the thing for me
It was the worst three hours I ever hope to see
Steel in the stockyard
Iron in the soul
We'll conjure up a ship where there used to be a hole
And the ship sets sail and the tale gets told
And the only life I've known is in the shipyard
Steel in the stockyard
Iron in the soul
We'll get the bastard finished, and we'll end up on the dole
And we don't know what we'll do if the yard gets sold
The only life we've ever known is in the shipyard
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