Текст пісні
Gideon was born with his sight of the shipyard
The son of a river-towser
And Gideon was raised as the ship grew a shadow
A great hull would blot out the light of the sun
And six days a week he would watch his poor father
A working man live like a slave
He'd drink every night, and he'd dream of a future
Of money he never could save
Gideon would cry when he thought of the future
Year after year, a new bottle was broken
That launched the great ship out to sea
He'd watch it sail out past the bend in the river
The town that he desperately wanted to flee
What else was there for a shipbuilder's son?
New ships to complete, new work to be done
One day he dreamed of a ship in the world
That would carry his soul to the sea
To a place they would never be found
To a place far away from this town
Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship
All the workmen suspended like flies
Caught in the flare of acetylene light
A glimpse of a future he'd come to despise
Gideon would cry when he thought of the future
Then what they call an industrial accident
Left old John Fletcher half-dead
They brought Gideon's father back home in an ambulance
Breast, what shut check, and an invalid's bed
What else was there for a shipbuilder's son?
New ships to complete, new work to be done
That night he dreamed of a ship in the world
That would carry his soul to the sea
To a place he could never be found
To a place far away from this town
This Newcastle ship without course
'Til we sail to the island of soul