Artist: Harry Chapin Album: Dance Band On The Titanic Song: Dance Band On The Titanic Year: 1977 Top Chart Position: unknown

Dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me Mama stood cryin' at the dockside Sayin' "Please son, don't take this trip" I said "Mama, sweet Mama, don't you worry none" "Even God couldn't sink this ship" Well, the whistle blew and they turned the screws It turned the water into foam Destination sweet salvation Goodbye home sweet home I'm in the dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me There was a trombone and a saxophone The bass and drums were cookin' up the bandstand And I was strummin' in the middle with this dude on the fiddle And we were three days out from land And now the foghorn's jammed and moanin' Hear it groanin' through the misty night I heard the lookout shout down "There's icebergs around" "But still everything's all right" Oh, the dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me They were burnin' all the flares for candles In the banquet they were throwin' in first class And we were blowin' waltzes in the barroom When the universe went CRASH! "There's no way that this could happen" I could hear the old captain curse He ordered lifeboats away, that's when I heard the chaplain say "Women and children and chaplains first" Well, they soon used up all of the lifeboats But there were a lot of us left on board I heard the drummer sayin' "Boys, just keep playin'" "Now we're doin' this gig for the Lord" I heard the dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me There's a wild-eyed boy in the radio shack He's the last remaining guest He was tappin' in a Morse code frenzy Tappin' "Please God, S.O.S." Jesus Christ can walk on the water But a music man will drown They say that Nero fiddled while Rome burned up Well, I was strummin' as the ship go down I'm in the dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me Dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me Dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me

Dance Band On The Titanic is a somewhat ironic look at the tragedy that occurred in April 1912. Chapin sings in the character of a member of the Titanic’s dance band. He gives an almost comical look at the sinking of the ship, with lines like "He [the captain] ordered lifeboats away, that's when I heard the chaplain say "Women and children and chaplains first!" This song is a look at the death of a great ship, which was a wonder of technology at that time, and thought to be unsinkable. As Chapin says, "Even God couldn't sink this ship." Like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, this song shows that no matter how advanced science becomes, we can never dominate nature completely.