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Sinking Ship Lyrics by David Johansen

2020

[Intro]
He's unhinged! He's gonna kill us all!
This is an S.O.S. from the U.S.A
Location: all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific
S.O.S.! S.O.S.! Mayday, mayday, mayday! Help, help!

[Verse 1]
The U.S.A., a luxury liner
Sailin' the great wide seas
With a captain named Barack Obama
For eight years sailed smooth and free
But sadly Obama had to go away
The ship hit rough water that day
Someone gave the bridge up
To the scoundrel Donald Trump
My blood crawl, things start to fall
Hold my head as the sailors bawl

[Chorus]
Captain, the ship is sinking
Captain, these seas are rough
Locking children up in cages
Dog-whistling your racists
How low can we go?
Shall we abandon ship
Or shall we sit on it
And perish slow?
We don't know (Wе don't know)
Captain, you tell me what to do
Whoa-oh! Whoa-oh!

[Verse 2]
The U.S.A., ah, shе was a beauty
With wealth that none surpassed
And in her day, she sailed majestically
There were few in her class
Faithfully she fulfilled her sailors' needs
Some were overpowered by greed
And so they pilfered slow
Some took [?] in gold
Now she looks dull, she's at a lull
She can barely sit on her hull

[Chorus]
Captain, the ship is sinking
Captain, these seas are rough
Locking children up in cages
Dog-whistling your racists
How low can we go?
Shall we abandon ship
Or shall we sit on it
And perish slow?
We don't know (We don't know)
Captain, you tell me what to do
Whoa-oh! Whoa-oh!

[Verse 3]
The U.S.A., in her day of sailing
She was a friend to one and all
She never once ever hesitated
To answer all S.O.S. calls
Yes, she always did her best
To help out those in distress
Now it's so sad to see
She's in difficulties
Though she helped jeer, some of them cheer
And sarcastically declare

[Chorus]
Captain, the ship is sinking
Captain, these seas are rough
Locking children up in cages
Dog-whistling your racists
How low can we go?
Shall we abandon ship
Or shall we sit on it
And perish slow?
We don't know (We don't know)
Captain, you tell me what to do
Whoa-oh! Whoa-oh!

[Sample: Donald Trump]
Maybe that's a question you should ask China
Don't ask me
Ask China that question, OK?

[Verse 4]
Now there's a lot of fingers pointing
Suspicion running strong
Who's to be blamed for all her failures?
Who's to be blamed for doing her wrong?
Oh, please remember, I'm warning you
The last four years she had the same crew
Who hold the keys to the vault
So now we know who's at fault
It's up to you, it's up to me
To make her worthy to go back to sea

[Chorus]
Captain, the ship is sinking
Captain, these seas are rough
Locking children up in cages
Dog-whistling your racists
How low can we go?
Shall we abandon ship
Or shall we sit on it
And perish slow?
We don't know (We don't know)
Captain, you tell me what to do
We don't know (We don't know)

[Bridge]
You tell me what to do
You tell me what to do
We don't know
Put up a flag! Oh gosh, we don't know! (You tell me what to do)
Somebody call the INTERPOL, whoa-oh!
He's a maniac! The pandemic is killing us! (We don't know)

[Sample: Donald Trump]
It's going to disappear one day
It's like a miracle, it will disappear

[Outro]
You tell me what to do! We don't know! (We don't know, we don't know, we don't know)
We don't know! We don't know! (We don't know, we don't know, we don't know)
Somebody put in an application to the world bank
See if we can get some help with repairs! (We don't know, we don't know, we don't know)
Please! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! (We don't know, we don't know, we don't know)
(You tell me what to do)
Credits
David Johansen

David Johansen

About “Sinking Ship” by David Johansen

Read the complete lyrics to "Sinking Ship" by David Johansen in 2020. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Rock.

"Sinking Ship" is performed by David Johansen. in 2020 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Sinking Ship", explore more songs by David Johansen using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

View all songs and biography for David Johansen · Trending lyrics · Billboard Hot 100

Frequently asked questions

"Sinking Ship" is credited to David Johansen. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

Album information for "Sinking Ship" is not available in our database yet. You can still read the full lyrics on this page.

Visit the David Johansen artist page at /artist/david-johansen for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.

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