Shipbuilding (song)

"Shipbuilding" is a song with lyrics by Elvis Costello and music by Clive Langer.[1] Written during the Falklands War of 1982, Costello's lyrics highlight the irony of the war bringing back prosperity to the traditional shipbuilding areas of Clydeside, Merseyside (Cammell Laird), North East England and Belfast (Harland and Wolff)[2] to build new ships to replace those being sunk in the war, whilst also sending off the sons of these areas to fight and, potentially, lose their lives in those same ships. According to Robert Sandall, the best version of the song is the one recorded and released as a single by English singer-songwriter Robert Wyatt in August 1982 a few months after the Falklands War, although it was not a hit until it was re-released eight months later on the first anniversary of the conflict.[1]

In September 2013, Elvis Costello and the Roots released an answer song written in the perspective of the other side of the conflict, called "Cinco Minutos con Vos" ("Five Minutes with You"). The song is a duet partly sung in Argentinian Spanish by La Marisoul.[3]

  1. ^ a b Robert Sandall (5 April 2007). "The lasting legacy of Shipbuilding". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sold on Song was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Male, Andrew (12 July 2013). "Elvis Costello Unveils "Stark And Dark" Wise Up Ghost | MOJO". Mojo4music.com. Retrieved 26 August 2014.