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The Dark and Rolling Sea Lyrics
When we came to the station all the trains were rusty,
The doors were open and the windows broken in
There was grass in all the cracks and the air hung musty
The travel posters were flapping in the wind
So we moved through the dust and gloom
Playing waiting games in the waiting-room
Lay our sleeping-bags out on the floor
CHORUS
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a place to go
If I followed the coast road, I'd be home by evening
The harbour lights still cut across the bay
>From the slot machine arcade the lights go streaming
To the bikes outside the rock 'n' roll cafe
Ah but you know those small town blues
Are really too much to lose-
There's nothing really there to go back for
CHORUS
Any railway station would be just fine, fine, fine
To settle down and wash the cobwebs from your head
If your situation's running dry, dry, dry
Find a waiting-room beneath the stars to make your bed
You know London can make your brain stall
The streets get cold and empty on a rainy night
So you duck into the subway station, you can hear the trains call
They want to take you to the Earl's Court Road, but it don't seem right
And there's na, na, na noowah
On the juke-box, singing in the burger bar
See the people's faces in the passing cars don't want to know
CHORUS
YOu have the most appealing surface I have seen
Bring it over here, lay it down by me
Don't mean to make you nervous, I just mean
To make you see, this is the place to be
When we came to the station all the trains were rusty
The air was empty and the platforms overgrown
There were old tin cans and cats and the doors were crusted
With mud and leaves and names carved long ago
and the rails go on forever in a silver trail to the setting sun
You can follow them anywhere you want to go
CHORUS
The doors were open and the windows broken in
There was grass in all the cracks and the air hung musty
The travel posters were flapping in the wind
So we moved through the dust and gloom
Playing waiting games in the waiting-room
Lay our sleeping-bags out on the floor
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a place to go
The harbour lights still cut across the bay
>From the slot machine arcade the lights go streaming
To the bikes outside the rock 'n' roll cafe
Ah but you know those small town blues
Are really too much to lose-
There's nothing really there to go back for
To settle down and wash the cobwebs from your head
If your situation's running dry, dry, dry
Find a waiting-room beneath the stars to make your bed
The streets get cold and empty on a rainy night
So you duck into the subway station, you can hear the trains call
They want to take you to the Earl's Court Road, but it don't seem right
And there's na, na, na noowah
On the juke-box, singing in the burger bar
See the people's faces in the passing cars don't want to know
Bring it over here, lay it down by me
Don't mean to make you nervous, I just mean
To make you see, this is the place to be
The air was empty and the platforms overgrown
There were old tin cans and cats and the doors were crusted
With mud and leaves and names carved long ago
and the rails go on forever in a silver trail to the setting sun
You can follow them anywhere you want to go
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The lyrics displayed on the page are to "Apple Cider Re-Constitution." They should be:
Oh you slipped away from the harbour side In the morning bright and clear And your sails were filled with the rising wind And you laughed for all to hear But you never glanced at the ragged dance Of your lovers on the quay Don't call on them when the winds rise high On the dark and the rolling sea
Oh you set your course for the furthest shores And you never once looked back And the flag you flew was a pirate cross On a field of velvet black And those landsmen who you but lately knew Were left stranded on the lea Don't call on them when the storm clouds rise On the dark and the rolling sea
"Oh I have no need of a chart or creed" You told your waiting crew "For the winds of chance, they will bear us straight" And you spoke as though you knew So you paid no mind to the warning signs As you gave your words so free Don't change your tack when the timbers crack On the dark and the rolling sea
Now the thunder rails in the great mainsails And the stars desert the skies And the rigging strains as the hands of rain Reach down to wash your eyes And your oarsmen stands with his knife in hand And his eyes spell mutiny Don't call my name when your ship goes down On the dark and the rolling sea
About a person who flaunted morals and conventional wisdom ("I have no need of a chart or creed"), betrayed or used everyone close to him/her ("those landsmen who you but lately knew/Were left stranded on the lea") and lived life heedless of the consequences ("the flag you flew was a pirate cross"). The narrator tried to convince this person to change his/her ways, but gave up in frustration ("you paid no mind to the warning signs") and is now watching from a distance as the consequences of his/her actions catch up with him/her: "Don't call my name when your ship goes down"
[Edit: Improved interpretation.]