Bustles and Bonnets

The humpback, the bowhead, the blue and the grey
The right whale, the sperm whale have near had their day
But here in the twilight there must be a way
To bring the kings back to the ocean

It's five thousand years they've been hunted and chased
From the warm Bay of Biscay to the Antarctic waste
Of times to make shapely those ladies of taste
Whose perfume brought death to the ocean

The seven seas are deep and wide
Four ancient winds blow restlessly
There's neither peace nor place to hide
All for your bustles and bonnets

Gone are the days of the kayak and spear
Of the old sailing ships when sailing you feared
The harpoon explodes and the cannon's the gear
Wreaks the deaths on what still colour harbours

No more are the days when we netted and taut
Now the factory ships slaughter what flood swims across
The law of the sea now is leave bugger on
To reap without saw is the fashion

The seven seas are deep and wide
Four ancient winds blow restlessly
There's neither peace nor place to hide
All for your bustles and bonnets

But for every vessel that weathered the gale
Tossed like a cork between harpoon and whale
It's you shall be free and you flourish your tail
Once more to be king of the ocean

The seven seas are deep and wide
Four ancient winds blow restlessly
There's neither peace nor place to hide
All for your bustles and bonnets