2 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
A Ship In Port Lyrics
Some say that our dreams are a distant road
Down which our hearts would like to go
But I have always stayed in place
Under that old illusion that it's safe
He said the ship in port is the safer one, but it's not the reason it was made
So forgive me if I wander off, and forgive me more if I just stay
Sing another song for the lost ones
We're the ones who need it the most
Every time you run it'll cost ya
But it doesn't stop us running
If a coward dies a thousand times
Then there's a graveyard in my head
'Cause it took me years to say the words
That you did not even need said
Sing another song for the lost ones
We're the ones that need it the most
Nothing that you fear is forgotten
It follows you around like . . .
Then everything danced to a stranger tune
And we found our song, and we found our truth
And now that we know it's that we always knew
Farewell to the chains we were born into
As we danced among the ashes of our lives
We laughed it off
As we burned our tiny worlds and found the ocean
Just beyond those paper walls
Down which our hearts would like to go
But I have always stayed in place
Under that old illusion that it's safe
So forgive me if I wander off, and forgive me more if I just stay
We're the ones who need it the most
Every time you run it'll cost ya
But it doesn't stop us running
Then there's a graveyard in my head
'Cause it took me years to say the words
That you did not even need said
We're the ones that need it the most
Nothing that you fear is forgotten
It follows you around like . . .
And we found our song, and we found our truth
And now that we know it's that we always knew
Farewell to the chains we were born into
We laughed it off
As we burned our tiny worlds and found the ocean
Just beyond those paper walls
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The chorus and title are references to the old adage "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for," which first appeared in print in a 1928 book of sayings by John A. Shedd (unsure if he wrote them or just collected them). It's often misattributed to Grace Hopper, the famous computer science pioneer and naval admiral, who quoted it on more than one occasion.
One of my absolute favorite songs, about letting go of the fears that keep you from pursuing your dreams. The line that always strikes me is "So forgive me if I wander off, and forgive me more if I just stay." Sometimes we worry we'll be letting the people around us down if we go pursue what we want, but we'll be letting ourselves down if we don't.
"Richard Applegate, from “Servants and Kings”, also narrates this song. Upon returning home from war, he finds he no longer fits in. But he does not leave, and instead does what’s expected of him by his family. He struggles with feeling like a fraud and a coward until he befriends another man, Raymond, who convinces him to start living for the things he truly believes in."