The Oil Song

Oh, the engine's gone dead
Cried the men who were there
As she passed up the dock
On the wide Delaware
Then the ship ran aground
And the oil got away
And they did not report
The big spill on that day

It was hundreds of thousands
Of gallons galore
Stretching thirty-two miles
Down the Delaware shore
There were geese in the marshes
Out looking for food
They got stuck where they stood
In the oncoming crude

And it's oil, oil
Adrift into the sea
Oil, oil
Don't buy it at the station
You can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be

In the well-charted waters
Of the Nantucket shoals
Was a ship run aground
Full of oil we were told
In a week's worth of rough
Winter weather and waves

The boat started cracking
And it could not be saved

It was seven point six
Million gallons this time

Consider the danger
And think of the crime
As it poured out a slick
Stretching into the tide
Over one hundred miles
Yes, it came deep, it came wide

And it's oil, oil
Oh, pouring in the sea
Oil, oil
Oh, don't buy it at the station
You can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be

There's talk of some writing
Found in the ship's log
Saying one of the helmsman's
Unfit for his job
And the ship's gyro compass
Was six degrees shy
Their charts were outdated
But they, they tried to get by

And you know it's oil, oil
Yeah, pouring in the sea
Oil, oil
Oh, don't buy it at the station
You can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be

Now both of these ships
Like a great many more
Got registered in
Through Liberian doors
Inspections are quick
And regulations are few
Just sign on the line
And go find you a crew, yes

One of these ships
Was the Olympic Games
The Argo Merchant
Was the other one's name
Well, it's sad, but it's true
Things got worse for the seas
'Cause I ain't even mentioned
Amoco Cadiz

Amoco Cadiz
Between England and France
The big supertanker
Out there taking his chance
With its one hundred thousand
Black tons of the slime
Amoco Cadiz
Spilt the most of all times

Yes, you know it's oil, oil
Man, it's creeping in the sea
Oil, oil
Oh, don't buy it at the station
You can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be

Now, down in the Gulf
East of Mexico way

There's something gone wrong
So the papers all say
A Mexican oil well
Is leaking its goo

They say it's the worst
That things have ever come to
Yes, it's gallons of sludge
Sixty million and more
It's cruising and oozing
Towards many a shore
Yes, things have got bad
But, but they'll probably get worse
If you can't drink the oil
Oh, you might, you might die of thirst

Because it's oil, it's oil
And it's creeping in the sea
Oil, oil
Don't buy it at the station
You can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be, yeah