OCEANOS SONG LYRICS

Shortly after the Oceanos sank, South African musicians and music shops organised a benefit concert to help Tracy and I recover from losing all of our musical equipment under the sea. On the night of the Oceanos benefit concert, Tracy and I parked outside the venue and I thought, "If I am asked to sing, what song should I perform?". Somehow, just singing a normal song seemed wrong. I suddenly thought that I would write a song instead. Using the tune of the old classic "Sea Cruise", I wrote the lyrics to the Oceanos Song in about 15 mins. Sure enough, I was asked to sing at the benefit concert, and to the tune of Sea Cruise, I sang the song lyrics below.

OCEANOS SONG                                                                         Lyrics - MOSS HILLS

Here's my story of the Oceanos, and how that ship became world famous.

I'll tell you it straight, I won't tell a lie, it's a sad story so, try not to cry.

VERSE ONE

It was just around nine I noticed that things were going wrong,

As the lights went out I saw the crew put their life-jackets on.

Well the ship started rolling we were falling about,

We knew we were in trouble and we had to get out.

So up in the lounge we all put life-jackets on

And in the dim light I played music and we all sang along. (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.

VERSE TWO

Well in the age-old tradition it was women and children first,

But that didn't work out the way that we had rehearsed.

Cos when we got to the boats the crew were already there,

Some were helping out but some didn't seem to care.

The boats were half-full of passengers and half-full of crew,

And then we saw the officers were getting off too. (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.

VERSE THREE

So we went to the bridge, to ask the Captain what to do,

But when we got there we saw that had been abandoned too.

The radio was calling "Oceanos come in",

So we answered "Quick come get us please, 'cos we don't wanna swim".

They asked "Where is the Captain?" we said "We don't know,

But T.F.C. staff and entertainers now run the show" (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.

VERSE FOUR

Well we hung on through the night makin' small talk and feeling all alone,

We tried to keep spirits up but we kept thinking of home.

Then at dawn's first light we all jumped for joy,

We saw the S.A.D.F. choppers and those navy fly boys.

While Julian was out in the inflatable raft

Moss and Tracy ran the fore-deck and Lorraine ran the aft. (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink

VERSE FIVE

Well the last from the pool-deck were off and heading for shore,

And then the chopper pilots asked me to count up how many more.

(2-4-6-8-10) Twelve passengers were left with Tracy and me,

And Robin was in the bridge with the Captain's canary.

That made fifteen of us left but then the choppers had to go,

Back to the shore-base 'cos the fuel was getting low. (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.

VERSE SIX

Well the choppers came back, but the ship was going down in the bow,

We had to move back fast and make it to the pool-deck somehow.

Then as the ship was going under we got off from the rear,

We gave a final check around and the decks were all clear.

So we got off the sinking ship and we flew to the shore,

And the next thing that I heard was that our ship was no more. (we sang)

CHORUS
Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.

VERSE SEVEN

Well we all made it home without one single life being lost,

And then we began the battle with insurance as we counted our cost.

Well now it's all over we look back on that scene,

I know we only made it 'cos we worked as a team.

All of us pulled together, no-one was left alone,

And maybe we could save our country if we did the same at home. (we sang)

CHORUS

Mayday, Mayday, get me to the shore 'cos the ship's gonna sink.