Save The Titanic
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Lyrics and Music ©2012 by Bill Roper
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Meanwhile, back at FilkONtario, I took one look at the required words for this year's at-con songwriting contest -- tweed, stilettos, prophylactic, titanic, and penguin -- and concluded that I was woefully short on ideas. Ok, I also have to admit that my first thought was that I didn't want to write a song that had nearly as much sex in it as the words would seem to require.
And some time on Saturday afternoon, my subconscious finished chewing on the question and spit out an appropriate, but completely (more or less) non-sexual plot line. I could work with that! :)
I don't know if it was because attendance was down or because of the choice of words, but there only ended up being three entries in the contest. (Four, if you count Tanya Huff's contribution that she didn't get to perform after leaving early due to a death in the family.) I ended up finishing second behind Randy Hoffmann's similarly themed -- in that the Titanic was involved -- and quite funny song, "Break Up", which was just fine by me.
Or as Gretchen said after listening to the song, "Spiders and snakes."
True enough. And it's been a long time since I read my Fritz Leiber...
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Am7 Em7
He stood upon the chilly deck, dressed in warm English tweed,
Fmaj7 E7
Jumping here through time and space to satisfy the need.
Am7 Em7
He saw the dark Atlantic, that icy northern sea,
Fmaj7 E7 Am7
And swore he would be certain that the future would not be.
(Chorus)
Am7 Em7
“Save the Titanic!” was why he came that day,
Dm7 E7
Arriving from the future to chase the past away.
Am7 Em7
Fifteen hundred people would never have to drown.
Fmaj7 G6 Fmaj7 Am7
If he could kill that iceberg, the ship would not go down.
The future held technologies this world had never seen.
Locked inside his cabin, he’d brought a fine machine.
Against the force it brought to bear, no iceberg stood a chance.
And so the ice was pulverized – he waltzed off to the dance.
(Bridge)
Fmaj7 Am7
She walked across the floor – he thought he’d take a chance.
Em7 Am7
Her stilettos clicking lightly as they glided in their dance,
Fmaj7 Am7
She whispered in his ear, “You had a handsome plan.
G E7
It’s a shame that we can never let it stand.”
He felt the ship lurch sideways as it rammed into the ice.
A penguin slid across the deck, a touch of added spice.
“It came from the Antarctic, the closest I could find.
A prophylactic patch to keep the future right on time.”
(Chorus, then alternate chorus)
“Sink the Titanic!” was why she came that day,
Arriving from the future so the past won’t go away.
Fifteen hundred people condemned by time to drown.
She found another iceberg so the ship will still go down.
Fmaj7 Am7
Must still go down.
Fmaj7 Am7
Must always drown.
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