Songs about the Exxon Valdez disaster (1989)

Subject: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 08 Mar 99 - 08:12 PM

It's 10 years now since she plowed into a reef. Geoff Bartley wrote a great song "Wreck of the Exxon Valdez" but some of the chorus isn't clear to me. Here's what I hear.

Oh, I've been away, what a sorry (tale ?) I'll tell my (.....?).
I'm a native of these stormy seas
That was hit (ground ?) by the wreck Valdez.

Thanks, Barry

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: rich r
Date: 08 Mar 99 - 09:35 PM

Barry,

Doesn't help with your escaped words, but John McCutcheon also has a song about the Exxon Valdez incident called "Black Sea" on his LIve At Wolftrap CD

rich r

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Martin Ryan.(duplicate)
Date: 09 Mar 99 - 07:21 PM

Barry

Any chance of the words and air, please?

Regards

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: alison
Date: 09 Mar 99 - 11:54 PM

Hi,

Ralph McTell did a "beautiful" song, not about the Exon Valdez, but about an oil tanker which ran aground and broke up off the Shetland islands.

It is called "The Islands" and was used in "Billy Connolly's world tour of Scotland". Can be found on Ralph's "Sand in your Shoes" CD.

Slainte

alison

Subject: Lyr Add: WRECK OF THE EXXON VALDEZ (Geoff Bartley)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 10 Mar 99 - 10:21 PM

Hi Martin, the words, yes, the air, I don't know how to write music never mind trying to translate it onto the web (I know, even with the the great job of Alan O. A. & others have done it doesn't help), maybe someone will know it & put it up. Geoff sings/talks the verses somewhat & sings the chorus, I like it better singing it whole.

THE WRECK OF THE EXXON VALDEZ - Geoff Bartley

In 89 I sailed on board, a tanker in Prince William's sound
I gave warning from the bridges wing, on the night we ran aground

CH. Oh I've been away it's a sorry tale I'll tell my (....?)
I'm a native of these stromy seas, who's (hit ?) hard ground by the wreck Valdez

The pipeline taps the north slope, 800 miles from Beaufort Bay
Through nickle steel poured in Japan, 2 million days every day

Our ship was fresh pumped full of crude, near a 1000 feet & laid in style
From 15 knots you could shut her down, she'd drift a good 10 miles

I don't know how we strayed off course when red lights to starboard I could see
And besides Sat/Nav & twin radars there's Cats 2 & Loran C (these are all electronic navagational system)

And as the monster struck Bligh Reef the mate had failed to swing her round
The gentle nudge that riped her clean sent that oil into the sound

And now yes the judge was not prepared with (disperson?) booms (ready cruise?)
And a slick the size of Rhode Island spread for every day that we did lose

I cannot help but love the land but we're treating her like our young whore
When the eagles & the fish lie heaped all along the blackened shore
And now we just pay more for fuel the cost has been pasted down we learn
And the helpless anger that I feel, it could make these waters burn

Barry
^^

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Martin Ryan.(duplicate)
Date: 11 Mar 99 - 03:23 AM

Many thanks, Barry.

Regards

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From:
Date: 11 Mar 99 - 07:25 AM

This won't help either but the thread reminded me of Hamish Imlach and Iain MacKintosh coming up with an apt new verse for 'The Drunken Sailor' at a gig around the time of the disaster:
'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?'
'Put him in charge of an Exxon tanker ...'

Incidentally, I found the following in last Sunday's Observer:
[1999:] Scientists studying the world's worst environmental catastrophes have discovered that oil spills cause a hundred times more damage than was previously thought. Studies of the Exxon Valdez disaster - which happened 10 years ago this month - have shown that oil pollution of less than one part per billion is sufficient to kill marine life. Salmon and herring with half- formed tails, twisted spines and grossly distended stomachs are still being caught in Alaska's Prince William Sound, scene of the Valdez spillage, say researchers. [...]
The discovery has serious implications for coastal regions affected by other major oil spills - such as the Shetland Isles, hit by the Braer disaster, and the beaches around Milford Haven polluted by the Sea Empress. However, the findings of the Alaska study suggest that the problems are more wide- ranging. 'It is not the local impact that is the real problem,' says [Dr Bruce Wright of the US National Maritime Fisheries Service in Alaska]. 'Our work indicates that even microscopic amounts of oil that get into any stream or bay are going to kill fish. This is a problem for the whole world.' [...] When the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef and spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil over the pristine coastline of Prince William Sound at exactly five minutes after midnight on 24 March 1989, a precious eco- system that was home to otters, whales, seals, spawning fish and shore birds was coated in a choking black mass, triggering a massive clean- up operation - and an extensive environmental monitoring programme. It is this programme that has delivered its startling verdict on the danger that crude oil poses to our environment. (Robin McKie, Observer, 7 Mar)

This is only half of the article. I left out the scientific detail, not knowing my way round things like toluene or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons anyway. It seems scary enough as it is, and as a car owner I must count myself among the offenders. - Yours depressedly, Susanne

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: alison
Date: 11 Mar 99 - 08:49 AM

Hi,

The Ralph Mctell song mentions the Braer disaster.

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 11 Mar 99 - 04:36 PM

I just read a travel article too that stated that the upside of the Exxon Valdez disaster was that it put that same pristine coastline on the map as far as cruising tourists are concerned, does that mean one disaster begets another, some more far reaching side affects & aftershocks, & that some guides can take you to see spills of oil that still linger along with the cleanup boomtown ghost camps. So I guess that having a silk purse that's made from a sow's ear is still valuable if it drips with crude?????? Do the oil companies still want reduced crew sizes & single walled hulls with a drunk at the helm of both companies & ships????? Barry

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Bert
Date: 11 Mar 99 - 05:05 PM

http://www.itopf.com/stats.html

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 12 Feb 00 - 07:02 PM

I'm still looking for the "not to sure of words" to this, now because my daughter wants to use it in her science project based on oil tanker spills. An answer to my own question above, Exxon still refuses to double hull their tankers & states they'll never pay the 5+ billion dollars awarded to those (people, industry & the enviroment) that are still reeling from the disaster. The otter & bald eagle are the only speices that made a recovery, the killer whale has recently been put on the "Not Recovering" list. The government has of late claimed that the spill was at least 33 million gallons & not 11 as Exxon claimed & now Exxon & Mobil may merge. Anyway, thanks to all who posted above. Barry

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Feb 00 - 10:01 PM

Or the best one of all, to the tune of "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor?"

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

Put him in charge of an Exxon Tanker!

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST,Ruth
Date: 20 Mar 01 - 10:55 AM

What happenend? What made the Exxon Valdez crash in 1989? Please help i have to do a news report for my geography homework

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: mousethief
Date: 20 Mar 01 - 11:02 AM

The captain was asleep (passed out from overindulgence in alcohol, to be precise) and the mate, who didn't know the channel well, took a "shortcut" and drove her across the rocks. A friend of mine, who worked for the shipyard that repaired her, said that you could have fit his 3-bedroom HOUSE in the hole in the hull.

The Capital Steps did a great send up on this, to the tune of "Feliz Navidad" -- I can only remember a little bit:

Valdez hit the rock
Valdez cause a shock...

Alex

Subject: Lyr Add: OIL ON THE WATER (Bill Bonyun)
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 20 Mar 01 - 11:39 AM

Another related oil spill song was written by my mentor Bill Bonyun back in 1972, dealing with a tanker mishap in Portland Harbor.

OIL ON THE WATER

(Words by Bill Bonyun © 1972; tune traditional gospel "Walk on the Water")

On the stormy seas, the ship for to save,
They used to pour a little oil on the water;
To keep God's children from a watery grave,
They poured oil on the troubled water.

Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Pour oil on the troubled water.

But now great ships sail the seas so wide,
Carrying oil across the water;
300 thousand tons on the ocean tide,
Cry out danger to the water.

New Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Oil's gonna trouble the water.

Remember well, back in '72,
The Tamano spilled oil on the water;
The night was black, the pilot took her through,
Striking Soldier's Ledge in the water.*

Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Oil's gonna trouble the water.

100 thousand gallons spoiled Portland's shore,
Just a little oil on the water;
Santa Barbara's beaches are no more,
With a little more oil on the water.

Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Just a little oil on the water.

The wild Maine coast is a beautiful shore,
Standing on the cool clear water;
Full of jagged reefs, swift tides, fog and more,
Sank many ships on the water.

Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Oil's gonna trouble the water.

When a tanker on a Maine reef breaks apart,
300 thousand tons on the water;
Good bye birds, fish, home of our hearts,
From Cape Cod to Eastport waters.

Chorus:

Oil on the water,
Oil on the water, children,
Oil on the water,
Oil's gonna trouble the water.

* New verse by Charlie Ipcar, April 1991

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Mar 01 - 11:46 AM

In the early '90s at Sun Hearth, Debbie McClatchy's music gathering, I heard a couple lovely women with dulcimers sing their song, "Ain't Gonna Buy No Exxon Gas" of which all I can remember is the chorus:
You know that I've got too much class
To buy a tank of Exxon gas.
Airn't gonna buy no Exxon gas."

Bat Goddess

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: wdyat12
Date: 20 Mar 01 - 01:46 PM

Let's not forget the wreck of the Argo Merchant, another Liberian registered oil tanker, that went aground and broke in two off Nantucket Shoals on December 15, 1976. No ocean is safe from these human made disasters.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST,jamie 4 amie
Date: 25 Jun 01 - 06:03 AM

i was very impressed with this website, but i think it needs much more infomation about the deaths of the animals that were killed during the spillage and how it effected the people that lived in that area.

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: InOBU
Date: 25 Jun 01 - 07:44 AM

Hi guys: Johnney Carson made a brilliant joke about the Valdez, the punch line was something like, all ahead 1/5th, but I cant for the life of me remember it, you really knew from the joke that the fifth was a fifth of booze, anyone remember the joke? Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Jun 01 - 10:38 AM

'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?' 'Put him charge of an Exxon tanker..'

Well, I'm sorry to have to put a crimp in the sails of all these cocksure moralists, but a Congressional investigation into the wreck of the Exxon Valdiz established that the cause was sleep-deprivation, not drunkenness.

By that time, the event was old news, and the press did not publicize the findings.

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST,gillian wreck
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 06:20 AM

i only wanted to find out about it not sing it

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Gareth
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 06:58 PM

Fair Play. The Enviroment was not the only victim of Exxon CLICK HERE

Gareth

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 07:02 PM

Ieeneia - they would find that, wouldn't they? I don't trust any parliamentary investigation any more, after Bloody Sunday in Britain and party donations in Germany - among others!

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 06:51 PM

3 yrs back, forgot about this & still looking? Anyone? Barry

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: kendall
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 08:09 PM

Sleep deprivation, sure. The fact is, Hazelwood lost his licence for drunk driving, Exxon knew that, and they still put him in charge of that ship. I have not, and never will buy another drop of Exxon gas or oil.

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 08:23 PM

The sleep deprivation thing came more from the Third not calling his relief since the man who was to relieve him had worked cargo all day while the ship was loaded. The Third "felt sorry" for him and decided not to call him. A major mistake, but one that I can't attribute to Hazelwood. Hazelwood had a few drinks earlier and whether he was drunk or not, he DID make a grievous error in judgement.....this one:

Hazelwood suggests that the Third should have done a better job and that the turn was "no big deal," etc. The fact is that the Hazelwood had elected to take the Valdez outside of the outbound lane to avoid ice and crossover into the other lane, which they subsequently passed through altogether, and put them on Bligh Reef. Hazelwood then went below to "do paperwork." Considering that they would be in the open ocean soon and there would be plenty of time for paperwork then, why would he elect to leave the bridge when they were not in the outbound lanes?

Had the Valdez been continuing along with no ice and in the outbound lane, I could almost see how leaving the watch and navigation orders for the Third may have been somewhat acceptable, but under the conditions the Valdez was traveling at that night, it was a stupid and disastrous thing to do.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 09:38 PM

Interesting....friend and I wrote a song a while back... the song had the captain chained to his trunk in the hold due to drinking concens while an inexperienced fellow ran it aground....will look for it..

Conrad

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 09:55 PM

I also do "The Drunken Sailor"
What do you do with a drunken sailor 3x
early in the morning.

Make him skipper of an Exxon tanker 3x
early in the morning.

Way hay she's on a reef now,
Way hay she's on a reef now,
Way hay she's leaking oil now,

Cap't Bob

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALLAD OF JOSEPH HAZELWOOD
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 09:39 PM

FOUND IT!
Looking for a tune:

THE BALLAD OF JOSEPH HAZELWOOD

I am courtly and I'm canny
But of wealth, I hadn't any
So to earn an honest penny
I've sailed the wide world round
No silver spoon was sent me
I must serve the sons of plenty
Lacking face and duty
They take the poor man's pound.

They say I'm a drunken rover,
A scoundrel and deceiver
But I can drink and still say sober
And stand steadfast to my ground
I am careful of my duties
Of mariners, I am the ablest
If they'd left me in the wheel-house
We'd have cleared Prince William Sound.

I have known and loved the cold seas
Better than wife or mistress
Hand and eye were the surest
And with success were crowned
But they forced me to my cabin
I was not at my proven station
And like a wounded dolphin
The Valdez ran aground.

And for now the silent sand lies
Memorial to dead seabirds
Awash with oil-blacked corpses
And fishes caught by crude
Were I sated and not drunken
Had overcome the censors
If not prisoner below decks
We'd never gone aground.

But now the courts have freed me
From the alcoholic's heavy mantle
The price of fine is steep though
The sentence I can keep
In its words comes real freedom
For this spirited canny captain
Now many rounds will order
While cleaning the sound's black border.

Derek Ward (Bolton, Lancs. England)
Conrad Jay Bladey (Linthicum, Md. USA)
4/1990.

The motto of this little lay
Some will anger others sway
The drinker may a thinker be
But when incompetent are sent
They always be disaster bent.
So learn you all that drink's no answer
But never take as guiding pastor
Those whose lessons fail to master.

Conrad Bladey

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From:
Date: 14 Nov 02 - 09:37 AM

the reasons of this ship disaster (the Exxon Valdez)

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: GUEST,Mariner
Date: 14 Nov 02 - 11:03 AM

There was another song written about that disaster . It is by Steve Forbert and while the title escapes me, the chorus doesn't. It was simply "Oil".If my memory serves me well.

Subject: RE: Words? Wreck of the Exxon Valdez?
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 14 Nov 02 - 05:27 PM

Guest levogun - is this meant as a question, or were you cut off? A question would be answered if you read the top part of this thread. It's all spelled out there.

Subject: ADD: Raven's Child (John Denver)
From: denise:^)
Date: 15 Nov 02 - 04:46 PM

This isn't *the* lyrics to *that* song, but John Denver wrote one called"Raven's Child."
(click on "songs with guitar chords etc.", then click on "Earth Songs").

---

Raven's Child

(Words and Music by John Denver & Joe Henry)
from The Flower That Shattered The Stone (1990)

Raven's child is chas-ing salvation
Black beak turned white from the crack and the snow
On the streets of despair the answer is simple
A spoonful of mercy can set free the soul

The drug king sits on his arrogant throne
Away and above and a-part
Even children are twisted to serve him
Greed has corrupted what once was a heart

Raven's child keeps vigil for freedom
Trades for the arms that once made her strong
With nuclear warheads and lasers in heaven
Fear does the choosing between right and wrong

The arms king sits on his arrogant throne
Away and above and apart
Bankers assure him that he needn't care
And greed makes a stone of what once was a heart

Raven's child is washing the water
All of her wing-feathers blackened with tar
Prince William shoreline's an unwanted highway
Of asphalt and anger an elegant scar

The oil king sits on his arrogant throne
Away and above and apart
Lawyers have warned him he mustn't speak
And greed has made silent what once was a heart

Still there are walls that come tumbling down
For people who yearn to be free
Still there are hearts that long to be opened
And eyes that are longing to see

Raven's child is our constant companion
Sticks like a shadow to all that is done
Try as we may we just can't escape him
The source of our sorrow and shame, We are one

The true King sits on a heavenly throne
Never away nor above nor apart
With wisdom and mercy and constant compassion
He lives in the love that lives in our hearts

Raven's child is wash-ing the water.
Raven's child keeps vigil for freedom
Raven's child is chas-ing salvation
Raven's child is our constant companion


Copyright 1989 Cherry Mountain Music

---

Raven's Child

Words and Music by John Denver & Joe Henry
from The Flower That Shattered The Stone (1990)

  
Unusual Chords 
Asus4     x02230 
  
  
A   Asus4    A    Asus4 
  
A                  Asus4 
Raven's child is chas-ing salvation 
  A                              Asus4             A   Asus4 
Black beak turned white from the crack and the snow 
           A                   Asus4 
On the streets of despair the answer is simple 
    A          G         D            A   Asus4    A 
A spoonful of mercy can set free the soul 
  
      D 
The drug king sits on his arrogant throne 
               A  
Away and above and a-part 
D 
Even children are twisted to serve him 
Em                                   A 
Greed has corrupted what once was a heart 
  
A               Asus4              A            Asus4 
  
Raven's child keeps vigil for freedom 
Trades for the arms that once made her strong 
With nuclear warheads and lasers in heaven 
Fear does the choosing between right and wrong 
  
The arms king sits on his arrogant throne 
Away and above and apart 
Bankers assure him that he needn t care 
And greed makes a stone of what once was a heart 
  
A               Asus4              A            Asus4 
  
Raven's child is washing the water 
All of her wing-feathers blackened with tar 
Prince William shoreline s an unwanted highway 
Of asphalt and anger an elegant scar 
  
The oil king sits on his arrogant throne 
Away and above and apart 
Lawyers have warned him he mustn t speak 
And greed has made silent what once was a heart 
  
A               Asus4              A 
  
Bm                          E 
Still there are walls that come tumbling down 
     A                       F#m 
For people who yearn to be free 
Bm                           A 
Still there are hearts that long to be opened 
    D                         E 
And eyes that are longing to see 
  
  
 A                    Asus4 
Raven's child is our constant companion 
  A                Asus4                A  Asus4 
Sticks like a shadow to all that is done 
  A               Asus4 
Try as we may we just can't escape him 
    A            G                 D          A         Asus4         A 
The source of our sorrow and shame,    We are one 
  
       D 
The true King sits on a heavenly throne 
                           A  
Never away nor above nor apart 
      D 
With wisdom and mercy and constant compassion 
Em                                      A     Asus4    A   Asus4 
He lives in the love that lives in our hearts 
  
A                Asus4             A     Asus4 
Raven's child is wash-ing the water. 
A                  Asus4             A    Asus4 
Raven's child keeps vigil for freedom 
A                 Asus4            A      Asus4 
Raven's child is chas-ing salvation 
A                   Asus4              A   Asus4   A 
Raven's child is our constant companion 
 

Copyright 1989 Cherry Mountain Music