Music by : Marc Huyghens - Christian Schreurs - Walter Janssens - Thomas Van Cottom
Lyrics by : Patric Carpentier - Marc Huyghens

Published by : Peer Music France Publishing

On the sun-deck, a lord looks at the foam
Drinks champagne, eats Belouga, the night's long
It's quiet, icebergs pass along
There's no wind, says a lady, but it's cold

On the below-deck, the people dream of something
From tables lit by white candles
What are you doing here? I am lost, says a boy
I can't sleep, says the other, it's so warm

Slowly, with a sigh, the fickelness of fate
Ripped open the hull, tearing it patiently
Ice blade cleaves the iron, it's time to drown our sins
In a delicate screeching, iron tears

The sun-deck shivers, the below-deck screams
Water is gushing up without invitation
Swallowing up mouths, swallowing up noses
And the dreams and the candles, we should have eaten when it was warm

Tonight there's no wind, the ocean is calm and quiet
It's waiting, waiting, catching its breath
It's true it could rain
But quietly the sea is waiting for its children
The howling sea

Do you hear?
I hear nothing
Save our souls, save our souls, help us Marconi, help us
I'm gonna swim straight ahead
Row, Mc Cawley, row
Mayday, mayday, mayday

The below-deck is floaded, the machine have stopped
And the lord, slightly troubled, slowly swallows the finest Calvados

Save our souls
Pray for my bones

- White Star Line appears on Welcome to the modern dancehall (1999).
- A live re-orchestrated version appears on The man who was already dead (2000) [recorded Sept. 26th, 2000]

Capodastre on 3rd fret (it isn't really that without it)

Chords :
Em : 022000
C : 032010 (or 03555X)
X : 000000

(riff1:)

---0---0---0---0--
--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
------------------
------------------
-------------0----
-0---3---2--------

On the sun-deck, a lord looks at the foam
Drinks champagne, eats Belouga, the night's long
It's quiet, icebergs pass along
There's no wind, says a lady, but it's cold

(riff2:)

Em Em Em Em Em
C C C C X X X
Em Em Em Em Em
C C C C X X X

(riff1)
On the below-deck, the people dream of something
From tables lit by white candles
What are you doing here? I am lost, says a boy
I can't sleep, says the other, it's so warm

(riff2)

(riff1)
Slowly, with a sigh, the fickelness of fate
Ripped open the hull, tearing it patiently
Ice blade cleaves the iron, it's time to drown our sins
In a delicate screeching, iron tears

(riff2)
The sun-deck shivers, the below-deck screams
Water is gushing up without invitation
Swallowing up mouths, swallowing up noses
And the dreams and the candles, we should have eaten when it was warm

(after the 4 double-bass notes)
(riff2)

(riff1)
Tonight there's no wind, the ocean is calm and quiet
It's waiting, waiting, catching its breath
It's true it could rain
But quietly the sea is waiting for its children
The howling sea
Do you hear?
I hear nothing
Save our souls, save our souls, help us Marconi, help us
I'm gonna swim straight ahead
Row, Mc Cawley, row
Mayday, mayday, mayday
The below-deck is floaded, the machine have stopped
And the lord, slightly troubled, slowly swallows the finest Calvados

(after the break)

(riff2)
Save our souls
Pray for my bones

Music from Venus
tabbed by Wasky

+ Download the guitar tabs for this song in "GP4" format.

The lyrics from White Star Line were initially written in French by Patric Carpentier. Marc Huyghens translated and adapted them to their current state afterwards.
White Star Line Ltd is the sailing company which built the Titanic, the boat whose tragic meeting with an Iceberg in April 15th, 1912 is probably the most famous shipwreck of all time. Patric has been fascinated by the symbolism behind this story for more than ten years (way before the James Cameron's blockbuster was released). Regarding the song, he was inspired by a text called Le naufrage du Titanic, une comédie [Shipwreck of the Titanic, a comedy], where a man in Cuba looks at the sea and thinks : "it's allright, there's no iceberg coming", so the world can go on : « The shipwreck of the Titanic is a really pertinent metaphor of our society and I got interested to this tragedy and all those absurd deaths. [...] And, well, the words "Save Our Souls" are truly beautiful, aren't they ? It's quite related to Venus... »
White Star Line is one of the strongest songs on the album, and its live performances never quite reach the same level of intensity (IMHO) ; even the orchestra version on The man who... can't compete.