Song Lyrics

Way of an eagle in the air
The way of a serpent upon a rock
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea
Way of a man with a maid
The way of a man with a maid

Chains of strength, chains of fear
Marking words in Satan?s ear
The manger whips, the nursemaid lies
Chains that launch the ship of sighs

Child sun, baby moon
Pass a failed hope or a failed love soon
Windward burning boats (ah ship of fools)
Slitting throats
Hopeless and gazing

Child head, baby brain
On the slipway, bluffed again
Your tide is out, your blinds, (ah ship of fools)
Your blinds are drawn
Sailor fools are born

Sound the foghorn horns
Screaming siren scorns
Petrify the human pawns

Child deranged, galactic fault
The arc lights burned, the squadrons halt
Baby breathes the gale and tastes the salt
Alarmed and cowering

Child tenor, baby crooner
Tripping double time onboard the schooner
Blows the whistle, sucks (ah ship of fools)
Sucks the Crisis pipe
For a lifelong passage

Sound the foghorn horns
Screaming siren scorns
Petrify the human pawns

Child skipper, baby mate
Ship of fools becomes the ship of fate
While gospel singers cool, (ah ship of fools)
Cool the panic struck
Forced and bitter luck

Child cry, baby sleep
My cabin is yesterday, my crater deep
On deck the captain scans, (ah ship of fools)
Scans the x-ray card
We need a metal surgeon

Sound the foghorn horns
Screaming siren scorns
Petrify the human pawns

Child steals, baby seeks
Travels miles and lifeless weeks
And turns the coverlet and shakes, (ah ship of fools)
And shakes the sheets
They?re only learning

Child chokes, baby dies
Fetid rumors, human cries
Transparent fighters (ah ship of fools)
Fly the transient skies
A hard coming we had and a harder going

Phil Johnstone, Robert A Plant

The duration of Ship of Fools is 6:20 minutes and seconds.