Herald of Free Enterprise

This is the legend of eight sisters
Herald was the famous one
It happened twenty years ago
although the sea was calm
It was 1987
and winter nearly gone
On that Friday running late
with rolling off and rolling on
Trucks and cars were sleeping
door by door and side by side
Someone had to close the back door
That day it must have slipped his mind
He was fast asleep in his cabin
tired from cleaning out the hall
While passengers were eating
indulging duty-free-for-all
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
In just ninety seconds
right down to the wire
Sailing with the doors wide open
so the waves kept pouring in
As they passed the Outer Mole
the disaster could begin
An a hundred yards from the shore
right outside a Belgian port
The lights went out
the ship turned around and fell to starboard
Then nothing but silence
silence and the cold
Herald and her sisters
just never fit the mold
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
In just ninety seconds
right down to the wire
Two months later she was refloated
a final one-way trip exchange
Pensioned off into the Third World
Where they named her Flushing Range
And in '88 she broke in two
probably because of guilt
Pride and Spirit changed their names
They were all doomed since they were built
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
Herald of Free Enterprise
In just ninety seconds
right down to the wire
This is the legend of eight sisters
Herald was the famous one
It happened twenty years ago
although the sea was calm
I was just a boy then
holding daddy's hand
Watching on tv
how Herald's time came to an end