Attention All Shipping
Liner notes
Another songwriting circle-inspired song, this -- the prompt was 'transport' and I thought what would make the Shipping Forecast even better is, if they also included information about the sea monsters. Once I'd decided to put a few Shipping Forecast areas in, it became a challenge: 'a few' isn't good enough. 'All of them' is the only option. I steal Helen Arney's Elements bit when introducing this and invite the audience to cheer for their favourite area, and if they don't have one (because they love them all equally), their favourite has to be German Bight.There is forecast misfortune in Forties
Let Portland prepare for the worst
Run fearful and frightened from South East Iceland
It feels like the Faeroes are cursed.
The Shannon sank north of Utsira
A calamity still unexplained
The weather was fair, just a breeze in the air
Yet splinters were all that remained
We hauled in the only survivor
Ten minutes more, he'd have drowned
We hoped he'd make sense of the chain of events
And say what sent the Shannon down
There are warnings of horror in Humber
In Hebrides, Thames and in Tyne
Peril in Plymouth, danger in Dover,
In Lundy, your Sole's on the line.
I've heard my fair share of stories
I'm well-versed in maritime lore
But the beast of a whale in the Fisher-man's tale
Was not one I'd heard of before
Its head was as high as the topmast
Its teeth were the size of a sail
It reeked as it roared, he was swept overboard
Thrown by the thrash of its tail
There are warnings of trolls in Trafalgar
FitzRoy and Fastnet and Forth
There's some indication of a Viking invasion
Means Rockall's been rocked like a horse
Perhaps he was struck with the sunstroke
And saltwater gives you a craze
And it's clear that he must be a little concussed
And possibly shell-shocked and dazed
But still we sail south of Utsira
And further if given a chance
It makes sense to stay in the Bay of Biscay
There's plenty of fish off of France
Irish Sea's swirling with whirlpools
In Bailey, there's maelstroms galore
The eddies are hostile in Fair Isle
You're best to go back to the shore
There are warnings of mermaids in Malin
Sightings of sea-sprites in Wight
Cromarty krakens, Dogger dragons
And don't let the German Bight
Don't let the German Bight.