Ship of Stone

© 1981 Don Simpson. All rights reserved

Lyrics [pdf]

Am
  Once there was a Ship of Stone
G6
That orbitted a mi ghty star
Am G Am Em Am
And fr om  it fl ew the first sh ip's cr ew
Em Am
Whose children we  all  are;
C
And no m atter how long
G6
 We've dr awn our track,
Am Em
Still  over our shoulder, l ooking back
Am
Through the h ydrogen's hiss
G6 Esus4
And the meth ane's m oan, pause
D5 G C
Past the p olym er cl ouds
G C G6 F
  Of the d ead st ars' shr ouds, pause
C G Am Em Am
All our r oads r un b ack to the Ship  of St one.


Am
Th ere the first crew all were made
G6
And wakened from unkn owing sleep
Am G Am Em Am
By the b oundl ess s ight of Heav en's h eight
Em Am
And the fires on th e d eep;
C
And no m atter how strange
G6
 the f orms we wear,
Am Em
How w arped and wild, how r ich and rare, pause
Am G6 Esus4
How ch anged we've made the seed w e've s own;
D5 G C G C G6 F
We are bl ood  of th ose wh o s ing ing r ose
C G Am Em Am
From the b od y  of the Ship  of St one.


Am
Th ere our own ships' frames were formed
G6
To grow blue glowing w ings,
Am G Am Em Am
And spr ead th em w ide to the farth est t ide
Em Am
Where the last, lone beac on s ings;
C G6
And no m atter how tight the n et they knot
Am Em
Of our w eb where the wheel of l ight is caught,
Am
How str ange and lost,
G6 Esus4
  How grand th ey've gr own, pause
D5 G C G C G6 F
They t oo d es ire  all H eav en's f ire: pause
C G Am Em Am
Our comp an ions s ince the Ship  of St one.

one verse instrumental

Am
  Once there was a Ship of Stone,
C Am G6
Clear-d omed, broad-h ulled, and cl ean,
C G Am
Where the  air sh one bl ue,
Em Am
Through whose holds b irds fl ew,
G6 Em Am
Whose decks w ere gr owing gr een;
C
And no m atter how odd
G6
 These th ings may seem,
Am Em
As m adly mazed as sh ards of dream, pause
no drum on these two lines
Am G6 Esus4
They are n ot a dream that you dr eam al one-- mute strings
D5 G C G C G6 F
All sh ips,  all m en  are  of  one k in;
C G Am Em Am
We shall n ot f org et the Ship  of St one.

If any of the songs we filkers are writing and singing now deserves to be remembered a thousand years from now, this is it. My all-time favorite.