Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello

Is it worth it?
A new winters coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy's birthday
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children, soon we'll be shipbuilding

Well, I asked her
The boy said 'Dad, they're going to take me to task
But I'll be back by Christmas'
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The results of their shipbuilding

With all the will in the world
Diving for dear lives
When we could be diving for pearls

It's just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram or a picture postcard
Within weeks we'll be reopening the shipyard
A notefying the next of kin once again
Oh, it's always killed in
We will be shipbuilding

With all the will in the world
Diving for dear lives
When we could be diving for pearls


Clevedon Pier at Sunset, looking out across the Bristol Channel (with Wales on the opposite side). The Victorian Pier has recently been restored after collapsing in 1970.