Ghost Ship
Robyn Hitchcock Lyrics

The ghost ship haunts the sea
The presence of a mysterious and supernatural ghost ship dominates the vast sea

She'll come back and marry me
The singer has a strong belief that one day the ghost ship will come back and unite him with his lover

The rust is where her heart should be tonight
The ship's rust occupying its interior is where the love and passion should have been felt by the singer

Her face is where her fingers were tonight
Memories and images of the artist's lover linger on in his mind, but he still holds on to the hope of their reunion

A glassy chequered engine room
The engine room of the ship is described as transparent and diamond-patterned

The speechless silence of the tomb
There is absolute stillness and quietness in the ship's interior like a tomb

The manuscripts inside the womb unfurl
The hidden secrets and stories of the ship are slowly revealed

A girl
The artist perceives the ship as a girl or woman, possibly comparing it to his lover

Translucent as a jellyfish
The ship is nearly transparent like a jellyfish, with its beauty only partially visible through the water

That palpitates upon a dish
The ship seems to move and pulse along the surface of the water, like a dish is vibrating under it

She stings you with her gently falling curl
The ship has a subtle and seductive effect on those who witness it, represented by the sting of a gentle curl or wave

And sinking in the waters green tonight
The artist ponders the mystery of his lover's disappearance in the deep green waters beneath the ghost ship

I wonder where my lover's been tonight
The singer expresses his longing and confusion as a result of his lover's absence

The ghost ship changes tack
The ghost ship alters its course or direction, making it even harder to track its movements

And stands becalmed; her sails are slack
The ghost ship has stopped moving and its sails are not catching any wind

The cabinboy lies on his back and sighs
An eerie and unsettling image of a cabin boy who appears lifeless

The mayonnaise is oozing down his thighs
There are unsettling signs of decay and rot on board the ghost ship, represented by the sight of mayonnaise oozing down the cabin boy's thighs

The bubbles rising from the deep
Bubbles or air pockets are forming from the depths of the ocean, signifying a haunting presence

Where deadmen sing themselves to sleep
The ghost ship is surrounded by legends and stories of lost souls who have perished or passed away onboard

From oak and coral they do seep to say
The haunting spirits seem to be speaking through the wood and coral structure of the ship

"Okay
The spirits seem to be assenting to something, or giving permission to someone

You throw open my future like a chart
Someone has unveiled or exposed the future of the haunting spirits, likely the artist or the ghost ship's lover

See through my skin; into my heart
The spirits feel exposed and vulnerable, with their innermost thoughts and emotions laid bare

That flutters in my ribcage like a bird."
The spirits are human-like and have feelings, specifically a fluttering heart that resembles the wings of a bird

And the ghost ship sails on into someone's life
The ghost ship is an ominous presence that continues to affect the lives of those who encounter it

The air from bottles forms into
The air or breath contained in bottles is forming into something else

The skeletons of all the crew
The breath or air in the bottles is taking the form of the skeletons of the ghost ship's crew

In white they dance against the blue and wail
The spectral form of the crew is a haunting sight, with them dancing against the blue water and emitting mournful cries

Their curling bodies flail around the sail
The skeletons or apparitions of the crew are writhing and struggling around the sail

The figurehead before the mast
A statue or sculpture at the front of the ghost ship, which was once a figurehead in the shape of a person or animal

Stares back into the golden past
The figurehead seems to be staring or facing towards a past that is as precious as gold

Across the wrinkled sea so vast she mourns
The ship itself seems to be grieving or mourning something lost in the vast and turbulent sea

Forlorn
A sense of sadness and loneliness pervades the scene and atmosphere around the ghost ship

She flutters round me like a moth
The ship once again assumes the shape of a living, fluttering creature, resembling a moth

That beats against mosquito cloth
The fluttering of the ghost ship is like the sound of a moth that is beating its wings against a piece of mosquito cloth

And tries to eat her way into my dreams
The ghost ship's unsettling presence is invading the artist's dreams and consciousness

The melons on the riverbank
There are melons lying on the banks of a nearby river

Are bulging through decaying planks
The riverbank is in disrepair, with planks or wooden structures starting to decay and break apart

Their beauty is so warm and dank and light
The melons have an allure and beauty that is warm, moist, and natural

The captain wears a headless grin tonight
The captain of the ghost ship has a strange and eerie expression like a grinning skull, possibly caused by death or decay

And silhouetted on the blue
The captain is visible only as a silhouette against the blue ocean

The cook, the mate, the captain, too
Other members of the ghost ship's crew are mentioned besides the captain

They know not where or why or what they do at all
The crew of the ghost ship is in a state of confusion and purposelessness

They fall
The crew members are collapsing or sinking down, possibly due to the ship's enchanting effect on them

Like masonry in the abyss
The fall of the crew is heavy and solid, giving the sense of a heavy stone structure sinking into the deep

That opens every time we kiss
The artist or his lover impart a sense of an abyss opening up metaphorically every time they kiss or touch

I hear their laughter echo round the bay
The hysterical and haunting laughter of the ghost ship's crew echoes and reverberates throughout the surrounding bay

And the ghost ship sails on into someone's life
The lives of those who witness the ghost ship are inextricably intertwined with its haunting and unsettling presence