Why So Good? - "Shipbuilding"

[mbfrancis]

Two months ago I posted this:

 

Some years ago I read a magazine article interviewing songwriters about their favorite songs (i.e., songs, not recordings). A few songs came up again and again, and none of them were songs I was really super familiar with, or which were major 'hits.' I thought I'd ask the group 1) if they agreed that these were "great" songs, and 2) if so, why?

 

Last time, Randy Newman, this time, Elvis Costello and "Shipbuilding." This is not a song that growing up in the US in the 80s you heard on the radio (heard plenty of Elvis Costello, though) - I was totally unfamiliar with it until the article. It's a lovely track (though awful 80s piano sound), interesting melody, and a weighty lyric about the impact of the Falklands on the UK home front. But best-written song ever?

 

(On a side note, how poor is our culture that we have no great songs about what over a decade of war in the Middle East has done to us, and the Falklands lasted, what - a season?)

 

So...what do you guys think?

 

[video=youtube;_ByW-zcd3F0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ByW-zcd3F0

 

"Shipbuilding"

 

Is it worth it

A new winter coat and shoes for the wife

And a bicycle on the boy's birthday

It's just a rumour that was spread around town

By the women and children

Soon we'll be shipbuilding

Well I ask you

The boy said 'DAD THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE ME TO TASK

BUT I'LL BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS'

 

It's just a rumour that was spread around town

Somebody said that someone got filled in

For saying that people get killed in

The result of this shipbuilding

With all the will in the world

Diving for dear life

When we could be diving for pearls

 

It's just a rumour that was spread around town

A telegram or a picture postcard

Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards

And notifying the next of kin

Once again

It's all we're skilled in

We will be shipbuilding

WITH ALL THE WILL IN THE WORLD

DIVING FOR DEAR LIFE

WHEN WE COULD BE DIVING FOR PEARLS

 

[oldgitplayer]

Yeh - Maggie's war. It lifted her ratings just like she hoped it would.

 

Beautifully understated song - but we were raised on understatement in this wet little country. It's second nature.

[nat whilk II]

This is a "I Love The Song....but" in my book....I really dislike that choppy, melodramatic, overplayed piano part. And the tag line "diving for dear life when we could be diving for pearls" makes me cringe a bit. But yeah, always liked the song a lot in spite of...not a best ever 'tho.

 

From this side of the pond, the big flap over the Falklands was hard to understand - at least for me. The level of acrimony was white hot, and I couldn't get from point A to point B understanding that. I have no particular opinion on all this, just a newspaper reader's level of understanding which is to say very very little understanding......but wow, does (or did) E.C. ever hate Ms. Thatcher as per this tune....nothing understated here:

 

 

[video=youtube_share;9t4-zDem1Sk]

 

I saw a newspaper picture

From the political campaign

A woman was kissin' a child

Who was obviously in pain

She spills with compassion

As that young child's face in her hands she grips

Can you imagine all that greed

And avarice coming down on that child's lips?

 

Well I hope I don't die too soon

I pray the Lord my soul to save

Yes, I'll be a good boy

I'm trying so hard to behave

Because there's one thing I know

I'd like to live long enough to savour

That's when they finally put you in the ground

I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

 

When England was the whore of the world

Margaret was her madam

And the future looked as bright and as clear

As the black tarmacadam

Well I hope that she sleeps well at night

Isn't haunted by every tiny detail

'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands

All she thought of was betrayal

And now the cynical ones

Say that it all ends the same in the long run

Try telling that to the desperate father

Who just squeezed the life from his only son

And how it's only voices in your head

And dreams you never dreamt

Try telling him the subtle difference

Between justice and contempt

Try telling me she isn't angry

With this pitiful discontent

When they flaunt it in your face

As you line up for punishment

And then expect you to say "Thank you"

Straighten up, look proud and pleased

Because you've only got the symptoms

You haven't got the whole disease

Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can

Filled up with dreams then poured down the drain

Try telling that to the boys on both sides

Being blown to bits or beaten and maimed

Who takes all the glory and none of the shame

 

Well I hope you live long now

I pray the lord your soul to keep

I think I'll be going before

We fold our arms and start to weep

I never thought for a moment

That human life could be so cheap

'Cos when they finally put you in the ground

They'll stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down

 

 

nat whilk ii

[oldgitplayer]

That's powerful - I think he might have needed to get it off his chest.

Maggie devastated Britain with her neocon ideology. Loathed by the common man.

Eventually it was her own party that ditched her.

[rsadasiv]

Agree with Nat - good song but.... From that period Almost Blue is a better cocktail jazz song and Pills and Soap is a better political song.

[LCK]

Good song. I'm unclear on something: has someone classified this as "the best song ever?" Or even "the best Elvis Costello song?"

 

I'd much rather listen to "When Green Eyes Turn Blue" or "I'm in the Mood Again," but they're not available on YouTube.

[mbfrancis]

Good song. I'm unclear on something: has someone classified this as "the best song ever?" Or even "the best Elvis Costello song?"

 

In the article they just asked what the songwriters' favorite "song" was - i.e. not recording. So best-written song I guess.

 

[Lee Knight]

Well... That was a Clive Langer cowrite and production. As I recall, Langer was big on that bright sparkly punchy British sound at the time. Madness and their hits then. For me, being a huge Elvis fan at the time, that sound was a bit of a shock. But I was also a huge Chet Baker fan then too. He was out of fashion and Elvis brought him back in. I was drawn in as much for Baker as for Elvis. Best song ever? I can't even entertain that sort of concept. Great song? Absolutely. It's just a rumor that was spread around town... Really? Is that not great? Or that melody? Langer's. Somebody said understated? Once again, absolutely. That is Langers melody. And what a great melody. A lyric that may not speak to Americans but somehow I don't understand why not? Great song? Yes. For me anyway. And once again, for me, war is a horrible, unfortunate tragedy. The song speaks to that beautifully and tragically. That is a great piece of art.

[mbfrancis]

Nice, great stuff.

 

I think I'm with Lee on one thing - the music+lyric from "it's just a rumor that we spread around" through "the result of this shipbuilding" is flawless, and creative/unexpected.

 

I think the rest lets it down. "Take me to task" feels off. So does "diving for dear life"/"diving for pearls." And the music is too jazzy, or not jazzy enough. Hard to articulate: I think The Blue Nile nailed the vibe much better with

.

 

I guess on this one I don't understand why it had such an impact that people would rate it *so* highly. This is one I would put on "I love this but" list...love the "just a rumor" bit, the rest leaves me cold.

[Oswlek]

Never heard it before, but I'd be proud if it were part of my catalog.