The Ghost Ship
Written by: Robyn Hitchcock
Version 1 (1985 (?) - live studio recording)
Version 2 (1985 (?) - live studio recording)
Version 3 (1986 - demo version)
Notes: Included on a CD of outtakes recorded up to 1987, with the sense of being a demo recording.
Version 4 (1988 (?) - studio recording)
- Gotta Let This Hen Out! issues 2, 5
Version 2 (1985 (?) - live studio recording)
- Gotta Let This Hen Out! issues 2, 5
Version 3 (1986 - demo version)
Notes: Included on a CD of outtakes recorded up to 1987, with the sense of being a demo recording.
Version 4 (1988 (?) - studio recording)
- Balloon Man (single) issue 2, promos
- Globe of Frogs
Versions 1 and 2 - the lyrics
On the video, the song is heavily edited into pieces. Among the sections, there are two obvious finishing points, indicating two separate performances. The sometimes hesitant timing and slightly hap-hazard structure suggest this was sung as an improvisation both times.
The words are transcribed from video tape which contains very lo-fi sound – these lyrics are therefore best approximations of what can be deciphered. It seems doubtful these have ever been transcribed in this way before, so there is nothing to measure them by except our own judgement.
Performance 1:
[starts]
Both times spray
Both times weigh
The ship of hands...
[edit]
...The sound of lungs
the cry of breath
The carrot burns the baby’s heart
To sleep
To die
The ship in silence sails the ghost ship
Food and water, gathered up
Like minerals
And teddy bears and plans
The wave
In the dark, the truth
Like biscuits form
A handle to a frozen swarm
Of legionnaire’s disease
And heart like gold
Or Spam controls
I ham a ghost
In sequences of red
And gold and pink
[ends]
Performance 2:
The ghost ship
Piles on the coast
On the coast of Spain
The sounds that form again
Will kiss your heart
Which starts
To crumble like a sponge in sea
Although you’ll find so much
To hide
The ghost ship
Lap switch
Ipswich
Lip kisses my tongue
My hail and my brain I sigh
Or an afternoon against a broken rock
She sways
And slips
Her handbag like a hammock
To a two-ton drill
She slides around
She crawls uphill
She soaks the worms in gelignite
The litmus paper turns all white
She heaves a sigh like broken legs
The camel calls from off her eggs
The wind explodes like grandma on a...
[ends]
The words are transcribed from video tape which contains very lo-fi sound – these lyrics are therefore best approximations of what can be deciphered. It seems doubtful these have ever been transcribed in this way before, so there is nothing to measure them by except our own judgement.
Performance 1:
[starts]
Both times spray
Both times weigh
The ship of hands...
[edit]
...The sound of lungs
the cry of breath
The carrot burns the baby’s heart
To sleep
To die
The ship in silence sails the ghost ship
Food and water, gathered up
Like minerals
And teddy bears and plans
The wave
In the dark, the truth
Like biscuits form
A handle to a frozen swarm
Of legionnaire’s disease
And heart like gold
Or Spam controls
I ham a ghost
In sequences of red
And gold and pink
[ends]
Performance 2:
The ghost ship
Piles on the coast
On the coast of Spain
The sounds that form again
Will kiss your heart
Which starts
To crumble like a sponge in sea
Although you’ll find so much
To hide
The ghost ship
Lap switch
Ipswich
Lip kisses my tongue
My hail and my brain I sigh
Or an afternoon against a broken rock
She sways
And slips
Her handbag like a hammock
To a two-ton drill
She slides around
She crawls uphill
She soaks the worms in gelignite
The litmus paper turns all white
She heaves a sigh like broken legs
The camel calls from off her eggs
The wind explodes like grandma on a...
[ends]