Thursday's Band - The Chittagong Tattoo

Shah Alam fell a hundred feet today
We found him lying face up on the keel
Azrael came and bore his soul away
And left his body broken by the steel

These are ocean going ships we break
Not built to come apart with ease
Three hundred taka is our pay
And a dream of greater wealth beyond the seas

Jamuna and Raja
Mabiya in the mangrove
The copper core
The blowtorch cutting through
This is where the great ships die
And all the workers bear the sign
The welding burn, the Chittagong tattoo

You can never hear when the gas escapes
It floats up from the bilge and fills the air
The cutterman's assistant starts the flame
It's the kind of thing that can happen anywhere

The work is hard
And steel is strong
We walk on rusted plates and rods
There's not a man
Would stay so long
But for the terrible will of God

Written by:
Mark Gamon

Publisher:
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid

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