They had a last supper the day of the beaching
she's a dead ship sailing skeleton crew
the galley is empty the stove pots are cooling
whats left of the stew
the time is approaching the captain moves over
the hang man steps in to do what hes paid for
with the wind down the tide she goes proud ahead steaming
he drives her hard into the shore
so far from the clyde
together we ride
we did ride
a drift to a wave from her bows to her rudder
bravely she rises to meet with the land
under their feet you can feel the kings shudder
the shallow sea washes their hands
later the captain shakes hands with the hangman
climbs slowly down to the oily wet ground
goes back to the car that has come here to take him
through the graveyard back to the town
so far from the clyde
together we ridewe did ride
they pull out her cables and hack off her hatches
too poor to be wasteful with pity or time
they swarm on her carcass with torches and axes
like a whale on a bloody shore line
stripped of her pillars her stays and her stanchions
when their only her bones on the wet poison land
steal rods will drag her with winches and engines
so far from the clyde
together we ride
we did ride
so far from the clyde
together we ride
we did ride