Barrett's Song

She's sparkling clean, this new-born ship

But one old thing is clear

The orders they propose above

We execue down here

We'll watch from here as up above

They'll catch a whiff of glory

This wonder ship may be brand new

But it's the same old story

Stoke the fire in the hold as the men draw back

Feed the heat in the hold as the men draw back

And the dust of the coal in the air is black

And a trickle of sweat runs down your back

And what are the boys from the midlands doing here?

Coal it is that makes the steam

That runs the machines that run the world

That sends the men below the ground

To mine the coal

Each day

From Leicestershire and Nottingham

Us lads who worked down in the pit

Knew if you got above the ground

You'd save your soul

Some way

Get out of the pit

And westward I knew I could run

And ship out to sea and there my new life was begun

And the screws are turning at 71

It became my dream to go out to sea

Further out from the mine you couldn't be

But born to the coal, there's no place for you elsewhere

You trade a life of dank and gloom

To shovel in the boiler room

But now you're seven decks below

A lady's dainty feet

And nothing has changed

There's nothing a miner can do

The pit and your mates

Turned into the hold and the crew

And the screws are turnin at 72

Faster and faster we watch as we gain ever more

73, and too soon it is 74

For a record speed, I believe we strive!

For the maiden ship that's too hard to drive

If you push her faster than 75

That is the truth

I swear!