The Monitor
Bishop Allen Lyrics

Once a great iron works
There used to be a major iron works factory at the end of the singer's street.

Stood at the end of my street
The factory was located at the singer's street's end.

And they hauled in The Monitor
The factory was given the task of fitting The Monitor with armor.

Fit her with armor
The factory added protection to The Monitor ship.

For to save the union fleet
The Monitor was meant to protect the union fleet.

The River James was on fire
During the battle, the River James was engulfed in flames.

As The Merrimack thundered and raged
The Merrimack ship caused destruction in the battle.

And she seemed so colossal and so unstoppable
The Merrimack seemed too powerful to stop.

Until the two engaged
The Monitor and the Merrimack went into battle.

And inside the sound
During the battle, the loud noise was all-encompassing.

A deafening din, round after round, again and again
The battle was extremely loud with repeated firing.

Shattering down, shattering down, shattering down
The sounds broke down repeatedly.

The neighborhood's quiet at night
The singer's neighborhood is usually silent at night.

But sometimes my ears still ring
The singer's ears still hear the battle ringing even when the neighborhood is silent.

And you think I'd understand
The singer believes they should understand the pointlessness of making loud music when such a battle is going on.

That a rock-n-roll band
The singer is referring to their music group.

Doesn't mean a blessed thing
The singer thinks that their music doesn't hold much importance.

But I picture the poor crew stunned
The singer imagines the crew of the Monitor were left in shock with the attacks.

When the cannons did finally subside
When the attacks were over, the singer believes the crew was left in silence.

How they stand on the deck
The singer imagines how the crew members would be standing after the battle.

With the sun at their neck
The crew would have been under the open sky with the sun shining over them.

And they wonder if they're still alive
After the fierce battle, the crew might have questioned if they were still alive.

And I try to shout
The singer attempts to talk to the crew.

But none of them hear
The crew members are unable to hear the singer's voice.

They're moving their mouths
Even though they look like they should be responding to the singer, they can't hear anything.

But the blood in their ears
The blood due to the firing could be what led to the crew's deafness.

Is running down, running down, running down
The blood is flowing out of their ears.

And we're singing la da da da da da
The singer and the music group are singing la da da da da da.

But what then?
The singer is questioning if there is something more they need to do after the music.

It's stunning to know I've survived
The singer is astonished that they survived the battle.

But I'm not sure what I'm fighting for anymore
The singer is losing sight of their purpose after experiencing the battle.

And when I break another string
When the singer breaks a string on their instrument.

And continue to sing
The singer keeps on singing even though the string broke.

Is that courage? I'm not sure.
The singer questions if the act of continuing to sing is brave.

When the ironclads drifted apart
After the battle was over, the ships drifted away from one another.

Still blue and still gray
The colors of both ships remained unchanged after the battle ended.

The men shoveled in the coal
The crew on the ship started working on the engines after the battle was over.

And worked the pumps in the hull
The crew would have also been working on the hull of the ship to repair any damage.

Just like every other day
The crew carried on with the repairing work like any regular day.

And none of them knew
The crew was unaware of the significance of the battle.

Oh, none of them cared
The crew was not bothered about the outcome of the battle.

How much it just changed right then and right there
The battle changed the course of US history, but the crew members were unaware of it.

They just carried on, carried on, carried on
The crew continued with their work as normal even after the battle.