Leslie Fish - Ballad of Transport 18 lyrics

We were thirty-eight crewmen on Transport Eighteen The hour was late and the talk was obscene, When the raiders streaked down and their bright lasers cut Some twenty-odd holes through her steel-plated gut So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home All the engines were dead, and the life systems shot, And the ship leaking air, like the steam off a pot When the crew was accounted and all damage told, The last airtight chamber was the fifth cargo hold So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home So we yelled SOS with our beacons and flares, And we ran for the hold by the last standing stairs We sealed off the ports and we gave a great cheer, When we found that the cargo was twelve tons of beer So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home. We were fairly well mellowed when our answer came through, Via transporter sparkle and a brief flash of blue, 'Twas a space suited navy man, calm and correct. Though his green pointed ears weren't quite what you'd expect. He raised one long eyebrow as he noted our fun, And he calmly announced that our troubles weren't done For his ship was off fighting the raiders alone, So we'd have to reach safety somehow on our own So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home He said, "There's a space station, not far at all, We could reach in two days at a jet powered crawl Now jets are quite simple, we could build one from here, Just a valve-line to the surface from one tank of beer." So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home So we cheered our salvation, and we mourned for the brew, And we sealed on the pipes, as he showed us to do Then we opened the fuel line with the ship aimed toward home, And we rode to the station on a long wake of foam So pity us poor sailors, wherever we roam, For there's no guarantee that we'll ever come home So at last when his ship came to take us in tow, Just an hour from the station with three tanks to go, We drank up the fuel and were feeling no pain, When the navy man left us with a look of disdain So cheer for us sailors, riding in on the foam, We were drunker than lords by the time we got home