Music Monday: Shipbuilding by Robert Wyatt

This is one of my favourite songs of all time. Record producer, Clive Langer originally wrote a song for Robert Wyatt, but he was not happy with the lyrics. While at a party, Langer played the music to Elvis Costello, who went off and wrote the lyrics. Costello took inspiration from the Falklands War, which was happening at the time. He contrasted the economic recovery of a struggling shipbuilding area, which would be called upon to replace any ships lost in the conflict, with the likelihood of young men from the same area dying in the South Atlantic.

Wyatt's recording of the song reached number 36 in the UK singles charts, the first top 40 hit for the independent record label Rough Trade. The video of this performance is taken from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. I hope you enjoy it.

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