25th anniversary of the Tokio Express.
I heard about it on the radio (BBC Radio4 UK) tonight .
And then googled it.
13th Feb 1997. 4.8 million pieces of lego were lost of the container ship Tokio Express.
The bricks they find on beaches from Penzance to Melbourne look box fresh after 25 years in the sea (sometimes with sea-life attached).
If we're so clever why aren't we rich?
This is the tale of the Tokio Express and her place in history
she was built for Hapag Lloyd in the 1970s
February 13 '97 twenty miles off Cornwall
She was hit by a phenomenal wave
it's in the Captain's journal
30,000 Dragons swimming in the sea
cutlasses and octopuses it's a jubilee
26,000 lifejackets didn't save a soul
there are plastic daisies growing on the beach
She rolled to starboard and she rolled to port
losing her containers
filling the sea with the Lego she brought
I'll tell you something stranger
Fate had made it 'nautically themed' in its perversity
It's been carried by the tide for 25 years
from Penzance to Hawaii
@miltz Feb 2022
Very nice. "there are plastic daisies growing on the beach" is a great line.
@feb21sundari Feb 2022
Great work, the voice, instruments and the arrangement. I like the lyrics- is it a true story?
@redhauer Feb 2022
I love the sound of this! Very well written.
@timfatchen Feb 2022
4.8mill Lego! Was totally ignorant of this and had to rush off to look it up too. A wonderful tale and song! 30,000 dragons! Neptune has a sense of humour....
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
You listen to Radio 4 a lot more than I expected. Is this the second time it's got a shout-out? It's a great telling of the tale - the lego-based imagery is an inspired angle to take. Lovely harmonies too.
@makers8 Feb 2022
It's like if Joe Strummer did Edmund Fitzgerald? Love it