Endurance: The Ballad of the Imperial Trans​-​Antarctic Expedition

Polaris was forged Before the world was at war For some Norwegians, their guests, and cooks But this name that she bore When she first left the shore Wasn't completely erased from the books Cursed from beginning For this mariner's sinning Her bougie interior glistened Her shipbuilder's bane Was Shackleton's gain And thus, the ship was rechristened She was built for the north It was pretty straight forth To refit her for a different mission Her hull built for ice Would surely suffice On the journey to southern perdition "Men wanted for hazardous journey Small wages, bitter cold Long months of complete darkness Constant danger, safe return doubtful Honour and recognition in case of success" Ernest put out a call To find the bravest of all To traverse Antarctica on sled Twenty-seven brave men Came to Ernest's dank den Hoping they wouldn't end up dead Three life boats logged And seventy sled dogs Among the cargo she laden down And at London's Lloyd's They insured those boys Valued at fifteen thousand pounds They steamed away For Vahsel Bay For this Antarctic expedition But for months they'd drift In the iceberg rifts On the journey to southern perdition Endurance, Endurance Bound for the Southern Seas With your great brave crew And Shackleton too You're remembered for eternity Endurance, Endurance Cutting through the ocean spray With a great bold plan To cross southern land And Shackleton led the way And Shackleton led the way Round Halloween Of Nineteen fourteen They left Brazil's port of call But the seas were rough And the ice was tough And they were hit with frozen squalls By January's Ides They were two hundred miles From their first ground destination But those icy rifts Rarely gave or split Much to Shackleton's frustration They heaved and hoed On the icy floes With no break from these conditions What rotten luck The Endurance was stuck In an icy southern perdition Endurance, Endurance Adrift in the Weddell Sea She braced herself Near the Ronne ice shelf As the ridges heaved and squeezed Endurance, Endurance Fighting frostbite's decay With shovels in hand They made their stand And Shackleton led the way And Shackleton led the way On Valentine's Day They clawed their way Only four hundred yards from freedom But the gales came in And the ice froze again So, they settled in a cold winter's tedium For the next half year The froze their rears Even had to put Mrs. Chippy down In October's ice rush The hull got crushed Had to abandon from the starboard bow They camped in wait For the weather to abate But the ice dealt a final blow On November twenty-one The Endurance was done And she sank to the depths below Endurance, Endurance Now just a memory With split deck planks The ship she sank Like lead into the sea Endurance, Endurance Your crew stranded far away But with three life boats They still had hope And Shackleton led the way And Shackleton led the way By April of sixteen The crew caught a gleam Of a place called Elephant Isle But it was so remote That no explorer's boat Would pass within a hundred miles Ernest enlisted five Of his most dependable guys To find a busier port of call And on the James Caird They small crew sailed On the greatest sea journey of all Eight hundred miles On a sea so wild But they made to Haakon Bay Three had to stay put Three walked on foot To a town forty clicks away James Caird, James Caird One lifeboat, cold and damp South Georgia's shore Was where they moored And they called it Peggotty Camp James Caird, James Caird Their lives don't end today Three men would go Over mountains and snow And Shackleton led the way And Shackleton led the way A Norwegian whaler Saved the other three sailors And luck was finally on their side But the Endurance's crew Was surely through If Ernest couldn't get them a ride Three times they failed To break the ice shelf's gales By August it was looking dire But on the fourth go A ship called Yelcho Got them set for Elephant Isle The ship was true And the weather was too And they made it through an ice transition They found those men And set sail again Delivered from southern perdition Endurance, Endurance All twenty-eight-crew survived They went through hell With a tale to tell And records for the London archives Endurance, Endurance Not one had passed away Three years apart From their lover's hearts And Shackleton led the way And Shackleton led the way No ticker tape parade For the men so brave Cause the war had not yet relented But the records they kept From Endurance's wreck Meant their legacy was cemented Over a century later A submarine crew made her Off Palmer's eastern bank Her discovery 'Neath the Weddell Sea Was only four miles from where she sank Now we look to the stars To the Moon and Mars The next frontier of exploration And now we need Someone to lead The next daring generation (Do you have what it takes?) Endurance, Endurance We've found you once again A historic site Neath a frozen blight A monument to great brave men Endurance, Endurance The folly of a man obsessed Three clicks below Where the mariners go Is where you're laid to rest Is where you're laid to rest Endurance, Endurance Lost to the Southern Seas But your great brave crew And Shackleton too Are remembered for eternity But your great brave crew And Shackleton too Are remembered for eternity They're remembered for eternity