Former Dutch Hospital Ship (Sheep Can't Swim)

by @johnnycashpoint

Former Dutch Hospital Ship (Sheep Can't Swim)
johnnycashpoint
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Liner Notes

#electropop #eightiesvibeinmyhead

So during the last Sprint, one of the lyrics posted by @silentmonkey contained the line "Former Dutch Hospital Ship", but it wasnt clear if it was part of the song of a left-over line from something else. Whichever, it stuck with me and I wrote some electropop inspired by it. Words came pretty much from this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Oranje, which I found vaguely and weirdly amusing, and thus they only make a modicum of sense. Not helped by me singing "shop" instead of "ship" in the third line! However, I like the surrealism it creates, so no biggie.

I thought about just calling this "Sheep Can't Swim" for quite a while but as the phrase only appears once in the lyric, it seemed a bit obtuse.

Apologies to any Dutch listeners offended by my mangling of the word "Oranje" in this song. j$

Lyrics

The MS Oranje Was a passenger liner Wartime hospital shop once until it went oranje-boom!

Maiden voyage to Jakarta Halted by World War outbreak Royal Australian Navy Claimed it as one of its own

We are all like hospital ships On our way down to the abyss Laughing at the cruel irony - We’re hospital ships that sink!

While docked at St Thomas A fire broke out, destroyed it Adding insult to injury Sank on route to the scrapyard.

Bobbing round on the water, Like lambs to the slaughter; Sheep can’t swim, still we get in - We are all former Dutch hospital ships

We are all like hospital ships On our way down to the abyss Laughing at the cruel irony - Hospital ships that sink!

Comments

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Thank you so much, j$, for requisitioning 'FDHS' from me and using it so darned beautifully ! "We are all former Dutch hospital ships":):) - brilliant

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i dig the historical angle and this has a great synthy motif. you know what this reminds me of is the "gothic archies" songs for the "series of unfortunate events" audiobooks ((look them up, they are cousins to this track).

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I think you've created a fun track that matches the lyrics in both a) making sense and also b) being a bit absurd. Really a delight. The upbeat bounce to the music juxtaposes with the story behind the lyrics, and by the end I was like, "YEAH! I AM a hospital ship!" and I don't even know really what I mean by that. Great composition.

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This is the most jaunty song I've ever heard about shipwrecks and tremendous loss of life at sea! Chapeau! 😀

[FAWM]