Wherethe Heck is the Olga Patricia[1]?

 

Thereonce was a ship that was destined to be

A famous,mysterious ship of the sea

It sailedfrom a port in the south US

To takepart in a plan to invade, can you guess?

 

A stormthe first night sent a sound and a fright

Throughthe hull with a crash and a shudder

When themast it did fall with antennae and all

As theship rocked about on her rudder

 

So thetrip took a turn as the world would then learn

And madestops for repairs in a hurry

First theAzores and then to Lisbon to mend

As the bosspaid the bills with a worry

 

Portugal,it was nice and the crew once or twice

Touredthe town and drank down with the best

It tooktwo weeks, or three, to get back out to sea

And headnorth --- was it east, south or west?

 

The dayfinally came when the wind and the rain

In theNorth Sea were met by those bad boys

Therewere Yanks, and some Blokes, and a Aussie with jokes

Wouldwould soon file the air with their noise

 

RadioCaroline, and well, yet another – Big ÒLÓ

That werejust off the Felix Stowe sea shore

When theÒBoss JocksÓ arrived with their fast talk and jive

Theywould soon play their music, and Òmuch moreÓ

 

This shipit was true, with not one sound, but two

But notdestined to be there for too long

For onland was a fight, about whatÕs wrong and whatÕs right

And thelaw would soon silence their sea-song

 

With theMaritime Act it would simply be fact

That thedays we remember are past us

The Americansound that washeard in London town

Would dieout, though the memory would last us

 

Here we gatheragain to look back with a grin

To a timethat we faintly remember

A talethat was born with the sound of a horn

On a shipthat is vaguely familiar

 

So hereÕsto the lady we loved and we knew

Was hername...Bonnie, or Jenny?

Oh yeah,I recall, it was Olga, yaÕll

A friendwho is gone with our memory

 

For nownowhere we see is our old friend at sea

There arestories we just can not follow

Theyweave plots with no clues, like a clown with no shoes

CIA...LaissezFaire...all sound hollow

 

Whathappened when the fun, it was all said and done

And theboat and her crew they did sever

Did shesail off in fright to mysterious night

Or sinkto the bottom forever?

 

There isno end that we know to this story, and so

The truthmay never to told her

How thereal story ends, or if destiny bends

AroundOlga as we all grow older

 

LetÕscall out the Air Force, the Navy, and then

LetÕscall out the Army militia

WeÕve allgot to know, before we all go

Where theHeck, is the Olga Patricia

 



[1] Rick Crandall(lyrics) andKeith(Keefers)Hampshire(vocal) 2006 recording© with a new version of ÒThe wreckof the Edmund FitzgeraldÓ, originally recorded in 1976 by Gordon Lightfoot,Reprise Records.©