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Call the Ships to Port Lyrics

a billion words ago
the sailors disappeared
a story for the children
to rock them back to sleep

a million burning books
like torches in our hands
a fabric of ideals
to decorate our homes

a thousand generations
the soil on which we walk
a mountain of mistakes
for us to climb for pleasure

a hundred clocks are ticking
the line becomes a circle
spin the wheel of fortune
or learn to navigate

a choir full of longing
will call our ships to port
the countless lonely voices
like whispers in the dark

a second of reflection can
take you to the moon
the slightest hesitation can
bring you down in flames

a single spark of passion
can change a man forever
a moment in a lifetime
is all it takes to break him

a fraction of a heartbeat
made us what we are
a brother and a sister
for better or for worse

a billion words ago
they sang a song of leaving
an echo from the chorus
will call them back again

a choir full of longing

tonight we light the fires
we call our ships to port
tonight we walk on water
and tomorrow we'll be gone
Song Info
Submitted by
gravija On Aug 22, 2002
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15 Meanings

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Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

The sailors: A metaphor for the daring, brave individuals...like the ones that would venture out to sea before the earth was known to be round. They have gone...in light of logic and science, there are no dreamers anywhere but in the stories. I think that's exactly what the line "The line becomes a circle" means. The flat earth became round thanks to discovery. But one of Covenant resounding themes is seeming to inspire...to ask the question of "Where are the ones that will stand up and make a difference?" I think the same theme is present in "Brave New World". I could be wrong, but that's my take.

This song is about our society. Our society is lost at sea, going round in circles and making mountains of mistakes. As in the book burning that preceded world war 2. There is a big storm coming, in other words trouble and it is time for us to "Whisper in the dark". Which means that Goths call the ships back to the safety of the port. It has other layers of meaning as well. ( This resonates with me as I live overlooking a harbour and have been at sea in storms many a time )

Another big theme is how...

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Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

My father used to use the saying "Call the ships to port" as a phrase that means to take time to gather yourself. This song seems to be describing a pivotal moment that's going to change your life for better or for worse and if you take the moment to pause and second guess your decisions you could really lose it all.

Which the line where he gets louder and says "Tonight we light the fires, we call our ships to port, tonight we walk on water and tomorrow we'll be gone" sounds like the singer's decision to go all in with everything he has and risk it all for a goal that he knows might break him. The 'walking on water' I think describes his feeling of being untouchable.

I believe you have a pretty good handle on the song. In fact you have done better than I would have.

However, the "walking on water" likely is a reference to Peter having his faith tested by Jesus when Jesus is walking on the water and calls out to Peter to join him. It is told in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter step out of a boat, walks upon the surface of the lake, then his faith falters, and but for the hand of Jesus would have drowned.

So I would take to simply be reinforcing the meaning that you...

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

Some parts of this song remind me of the story of a famous shipwreck in Sweden a few hundred years ago. I think it was called the Vasa. This song is a highpoint of any live Covenant show, really. It does seem to be about the pivotal moments in life, and the tenuous hold we have on it. Some of it seems more specific, though, and I'm not sure what those parts refer to. I can connect it to more than a few personal things, but I'm not sure what the writer intended. I love it, though.

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

i think its about living for the moment like a lot of people have said but in the negative sense. like "burning books" could mean accidentally destroying parts of the past. and also how many parts of the world and such were accidentally discovered as in "a mountain of mistakes, for us to climb for pleasure"

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

Great new single of their new album Northern Light! I love it.

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

What's your favorite remix? My personal favorites are the Kaylab Version and Single Version.

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

The Single verson is my favorite. Covenant really came through with this one! I can't wait for the album, it's gonna be so ace!

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

I saw Covenant live on Saturday and this song was the highlight of the whole festival!! Amazing!!!!!!!!! Beat and lyrics.

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

This song is entierly about living in the now, but not to burn your past or you wont have a future.

Cover art for Call the Ships to Port lyrics by Covenant

So much of Covenant's music concerns longing for transcendence and immortality. The perspective is often that of an outsider, observing the world, the universe, or the cycle of life and death objectively and impartially, as though detached from it. Though sometimes he is within it, and there is a dichotomous theme of the joy of existence coupled with the agony of inevitable annihilation.

I like to imagine that this song concerns a long-forgotten mythic ritual that tied a community of isolated and alienated individuals to its collective identity, and was suddenly remembered or discovered. "The sailors" represent the mythic lore kept in this ritual, that over time lost its significance, just a children's bedtime story. The mythic value was lost in the interest of pragmatic value, and the eternal collective consciousness of the people was lost in the interest of pleasure. But the reasons that the community needed the lost mythic value are the same reasons that will bring them back to it. It's that, individually, life is haphazard, ephemeral, accidental, and absurd, and there's no escaping that. Individually, they are countless lonely voices, whispering in the dark. But collectively there is history, progress, continuity, meaning, transcendence, and immortality. Lighting the fires, calling the ships to port, means rediscovering this ancient wisdom before we're gone.