The Oil Song
Steve ForbertOriginal | La canzone attualizzata da Forbert nel 2010. |
THE OIL SONG "Oh the engine's gone dead," cried the men who work there And she passed up the dock on the wide Delaware Then the ship ran aground and the oil got away And they penned that report, "The big spill" on that day It was hundreds of thousands of gallons galore Stretching thirty-two miles down the Delaware shore There were geese in the marshes out looking for food They got stuck where they stood in the oncoming crude And it's oil, oil Ah, drifting to the sea Oil, oil Don't buy it at the station You can have it now for free Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be In the well-charted waters of the Nantucket shoals Was a ship run aground full of oil, we were told In a week's worth of rough winter weather and waves The boat started cracking and it could not be saved It was seven-point-six million gallons this time Consider the danger and think of the crime As it poured out a slick stretching into the tide Over one hundred-miles and yes, it came deep, it came wide And it's oil, oil Oil pouring in the sea Oil, oil Oh, don't buy it at the station You can have it now for free Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be There's talk of some writing found in the ship's log Saying one of the helmsmen's unfit for his job And the ship's gyro compass was six degrees shy Their charts were outdated but they, they tried to get by And you know it's oil, oil Yeah, pouring in the sea Oil, oil Don't buy it at the station You can have it now for free Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be, yeah Now both of these ships, like a great many more Got registered in through Liberian doors Inspections are quick and regulations are few Just sign on the line and go find you a crew, yes One of these ships was the Olympic Games The Argo Merchant was the other one's name Well, it's sad, but it's true, things got worse for the seas 'Cause I ain't even mentioned Amoco Cadiz Amoco Cadiz, between England and France The big super tanker out there taking it's chance Within one hundred thousand black tons of the slime Amoco Cadiz spilled the most of all time Yes, you know it's oil, oil Man, it's creepin' in the sea Oil, oil Oh, don't buy it at the station You can have it now for free Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be Now down in the Gulf east of Mexico way There's something gone wrong, so the papers all say A Mexican oil well is leaking it's goo They say it's the worse that things have ever come to Yes, it's gallons of sludge, sixty million and more It's cruising and oozing towards many a shore Yes, things have got bad but they will probably get worse If you can't drink the oil, oh, you might, you might die of thirst Because it's oil, it's oil And it's creeping in the sea Oil, oil Don't buy it at the station You can have it now for free Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be, yeah | THE OIL SONG (2010 UPDATE) “Oh, the engine’s gone dead!” cried the men who were there And she passed up the dock on the wide Delaware; Then the ship ran aground and the oil got away And they did not report the big spill on that day. It was hundreds of thousands of gallons galore Stretching thirty-two miles down the Delaware shore; There were geese in the marshes out looking for food, They got stuck where they stood in the oncoming crude! And it’s oil, oil, Drifting to the sea; An' it's oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. In the well-charted waters of the Nantucket shoals Was a ship run aground, full of oil we were told; In a week’s worth of rough winter weather and waves, The boat started cracking and it could not be saved. It was seven point six million gallons this time--- Consider the danger and think of the crime As it poured out a slick stretching into the tide Over one hundred miles, it came deep, it came wide! It was oil! oil! Pouring in the sea; Oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. One of these ships was the Olympic Games; The Argo Merchant was the other one’s name. It’s sad but it’s true, things got worse for the seas, Along came a craft called Amoco Cadiz--- Amoco Cadiz between England and France, Big supertanker out taking a chance With his one hundred thousand black tons of the slime, Amoco Cadiz spilt the most of all time! People, oil! oil! Creeping in the sea! It was oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. Gallons of sludge, sixty million and more! Sleazin' and easin'; towards many a shore; A Mexican oil well went leaking its goo---- At that time the worst things had ever come to! It was oil, oil, Creepin' in the sea; Oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. Hey, the captain's now free and his case it is closed, The Exxon Valdez wrecked itself I suppose; What's left of the life in the Prince William Sound Might not condone what our court of law found! And it’s oil! oil! Creeping in the sea! Oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. Saddam Hussein was a pretty strange man, Look what he's done for his trusting homeland, With sanctions and bombing he'd no way to sell Crude from his captured Kuwaiti oil wells; He sat down to think and came up with a scheme--- One that he thought might protect his regime; Covered the Gulf in a blanket of black Thought it might hold a few battleships back! It was oil, oil, Creepin' in the sea, Oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. Registered in through Liberian doors, Passin' the Shetlands near Scotland's cold shores, A single-hulled ship with his engine broke down Drifted five hours and then ran aground Right where the wildlife preserve chanced to be And twenty million more gallons got free. But don't worry, folks, "It's light crude!," they did say, "It'll prob'ly break up and be gone right away!" And it’s oil, oil, Drifting to the sea; An' it's oil, oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. They're banning those single-hulled tankers we hear, Phasin' 'em out in the next sev'ral years; There's one called The Prestige won't be junked in that heap, It stalled off of Spain and it sank down the deep; One million gallons of fuel reached the beach, Nineteen more sank in some tanks that weren't breached; If air's trapped inside 'em they'll burst any day, If not, they'll just sit there to rust and decay… Till it's oil! oil! Creepin'' in the sea... The Delaware River was back in distress, This time the captain did not cause the mess; The paint on his ship was the same as the type That divers found scraped on a fifteen-foot pipe; Therefore the pipe was the cause of the hole, The hole in his hull was beyond his control; Hey, whomever knows how that pipe got stuck there--- Thanks for the half-million-gallon nightmare! Which was oil, oil, Yeah, creepin' to the sea, It was oil. it was oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. The Israeli Army was bombing Beirut Cause Hezbollah kidnapped some Israeli troops; The Lebanese oil was in tanks near the sea Cause that's where those oil storage tanks tend to be; The Israeli bombs hit the tanks on the shore, The oil isn't stored in those tanks anymore; The Mediterranean tourism buzz As per The Holy Land ain't what it was! Now it's oil, an' it's oil, Creepin' in the sea, It was oil. it was oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. A barge full of oil hit a tanker last night, The good news I guess is the tanker’s alright; The barge broke in two and so old New Orleans Got stuck with what newscaster teams call a “sheen” The riverfront walk was a-funk, yeah, with fumes, The Coast Guard was rollin' out red plastic booms To block off the spill and contain it … (good luck!) Four hundred thousand thick gallons of muck! It was oil, oil, Creepin' to the sea, It was oil. it was oil, Don’t buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. We're pumpin' out petrol, no matter what cost And now that eleven men's lives have been lost The price is as high as rig workers can pay— Payin' the price for the U.S. of A. A deepwater rig called Horizon went down, No way to seal off its pipe has been found; So south Louisianans all wait for to see Just what the landfall of this spill will be. . . People, oil, an' it's oil, Creepin' in the sea, Don't buy it at the station, You can get it now for free, Just come on down to the shoreline Where the water used to be. |