I think Knopfler is singing about the larger decline of the Shipbuilding in Clyde, the loss of an old traditional way, through the prism of a single ship as it goes to the ship breakers at a far off shipbreaking yard.
As the ship rides its last ride, the people aboard reminisce about the life of the ship, born in the shipbuilding yards on the River Clyde (in Glasgow), which is the setting for many songs in this album. They remember the long voyages far from the hometown ('So far from the Clyde, together we did ride'), as the ship seems to bravely walk the long walk as it approaches the shallows (keel shudders as it hits the bottom, sea spray when the draught is low wets the hands of the crew standing on edge of the the deck). Once the ship is beached, the crew leave forever, and the ship is dead, to be broken up by the vultures armed with hacksaws and torches.
There are three symbolic 'deaths' here - the ship is being broken, the crew is already gone ('She's a dead ship sailing skeleton crew'), and by the middle of the song, the captain is also no longer a seafaring man ('Goes 'bout to the car that has come here to take him... through the graveyard...'), and in a sense, a larger death of the shipbuilding industry (the refrain).
Comparisons to death abound - graveyard, bones, carcass, and to the 'swarms' of workmen too poor to spare a thought for the dead ship (like vultures stripping a dead carcass), till theres nothing left.
The hangman I think is the tug boat skipper, who ropes and guides the ship on her last journey to the beach. In a sense, the skipper of the tug drags the ship to her death with a rope, much like a real hangman would.
Knopfler is one of the greatest story-telling songwriters ever, and this song proves that the magic of 'Telegraph Road', 'Tunnel of Love', 'Love over Gold' and his other masterpieces haven't died.
This song seems a lyrical companion to 'Brothers in Arms' and 'Telegraph Road', in terms of its melancholy, bemoaning of loss and also musical structure (slow guitar solo, subdued vocals with rich musical overlay and a melancholic guitar solo at the end). There does also seem to be a thematic kinship with 'Industrial Disease'.
Knopfler builds layers over simple lyrics to create a larger tale - Telegraph Road for instance, telling the story of a larger decline of a city as well as a single persons view of it. Or Brothers in Arms, which told a larger story of the futility of conflict through the eyes of a dying soldier. Knopflers lyrics can be transposed to the larger story.
In this case, with the celtic instrumental backing, the heavy piano backing, plaintive flutes and the wailing guitar that rises up and down like the waves, the music is as much part of the lyrics as the words are. As are the pauses (Knopfler, like Van Morrison, Harry Chapin, Pink Floyd or Ray Charles is an expert at using pauses and silence to add meaning to the song). The plaintive Celtic tunes seem to mourn the loss of something old and traditional, through the death of a single ship.
I think Knopfler is singing about the larger decline of the Shipbuilding in Clyde, the loss of an old traditional way, through the prism of a single ship as it goes to the ship breakers at a far off shipbreaking yard.
As the ship rides its last ride, the people aboard reminisce about the life of the ship, born in the shipbuilding yards on the River Clyde (in Glasgow), which is the setting for many songs in this album. They remember the long voyages far from the hometown ('So far from the Clyde, together we did ride'), as the ship seems to bravely walk the long walk as it approaches the shallows (keel shudders as it hits the bottom, sea spray when the draught is low wets the hands of the crew standing on edge of the the deck). Once the ship is beached, the crew leave forever, and the ship is dead, to be broken up by the vultures armed with hacksaws and torches.
There are three symbolic 'deaths' here - the ship is being broken, the crew is already gone ('She's a dead ship sailing skeleton crew'), and by the middle of the song, the captain is also no longer a seafaring man ('Goes 'bout to the car that has come here to take him... through the graveyard...'), and in a sense, a larger death of the shipbuilding industry (the refrain).
Comparisons to death abound - graveyard, bones, carcass, and to the 'swarms' of workmen too poor to spare a thought for the dead ship (like vultures stripping a dead carcass), till theres nothing left.
The hangman I think is the tug boat skipper, who ropes and guides the ship on her last journey to the beach. In a sense, the skipper of the tug drags the ship to her death with a rope, much like a real hangman would.
Knopfler is one of the greatest story-telling songwriters ever, and this song proves that the magic of 'Telegraph Road', 'Tunnel of Love', 'Love over Gold' and his other masterpieces haven't died.
This song seems a lyrical companion to 'Brothers in Arms' and 'Telegraph Road', in terms of its melancholy, bemoaning of loss and also musical structure (slow guitar solo, subdued vocals with rich musical overlay and a melancholic guitar solo at the end). There does also seem to be a thematic kinship with 'Industrial Disease'.
Knopfler builds layers over simple lyrics to create a larger tale - Telegraph Road for instance, telling the story of a larger decline of a city as well as a single persons view of it. Or Brothers in Arms, which told a larger story of the futility of conflict through the eyes of a dying soldier. Knopflers lyrics can be transposed to the larger story.
In this case, with the celtic instrumental backing, the heavy piano backing, plaintive flutes and the wailing guitar that rises up and down like the waves, the music is as much part of the lyrics as the words are. As are the pauses (Knopfler, like Van Morrison, Harry Chapin, Pink Floyd or Ray Charles is an expert at using pauses and silence to add meaning to the song). The plaintive Celtic tunes seem to mourn the loss of something old and traditional, through the death of a single ship.