I had seen the captain drinking
I don't know what he was thinking
When he took that stinking cargo out
Without a doubt, he went too far
But he will take us out to sea

Eighty-thousand metric tons of crude
A crew of twenty-one
War pounding through the ocean
Just ajar her screws in motion
All the stars rotating in their canopy

Black gold, rolling in the hold
Back and forth, in time for every swell
Black gold, time would now unfold
The heavens fixed upon our last farewell
To this black gold

Then she hit the water with a shudder
It had got her and she went down
Heard to utter was the captain in his cups
What's up? Says
"In my gut I know we all are doomed"
She broke up, a hemorrhage of oil gushed
A rage abroil from the soiled foil of her hull
And she was pulled beneath the waves
Into her grave down in the gloom

Black gold, my heart is still in pain
My mandolin will tell her how I feel
Black gold, bounding on the main
An agony of ebony and steel
All this black gold

I'm the way, the resurrection
Christ, I'd say on him reflecting
I'm not sure He'd feel secure
With what we're doing here
For sure, or want to lead us clear
Out of this dark

Down the deepest trenches
Man is stewing in his stenches
Their cadavers hold palaver
And the gravity of their endeavors
Cleverly convert them into shark

Black gold, nature's upper hand
With ladies in most cities on the strand
Black gold, Hades' high command
The tar upon her car and in the sand
All this black gold

Copyright: BMG Rights Management
Writer(s): Van Dyke Parks