[Verse 1]
This is the legend of eight sisters
"Herald" was the famous one
It happened twenty years ago
Although the sea was calm

It was 1987
And winter nearly gone
On that Friday running late
With rolling off and rolling on

[Verse 2]
Trucks and cars were sleeping
Door by door and side by side
Someone had to close the back door
That day it must have slipped his mind

He was fast asleep in his cabin
Tired from cleaning out the hall
While passengers were eating
Indulging duty-free-for-all

[Chorus]
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
In just ninety seconds, right down to the wire
[Verse 3]
Sailing with the doors wide open
So the waves kept pouring in
As they passed the outer Mole
The disaster could begin

And a hundred yards from the shore
Right outside a Belgian port
The lights went out
The ship turned around and fell to starboard

Then nothing but silence
Silence and the cold
Herald and her sisters
Just never fit the mould

[Chorus]
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
In just ninety seconds, right down to the wire

[Bridge]
Two months later she was re-floated
A final one-way trip exchange
Pensioned off into the third world
Where they named her "Flushing Range"
And in '88 she broke in two
Probably because of guilt
"Pride" and "Spirit" changed their names
They were all doomed since they were built

[Chorus]
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
"Herald of Free Enterprise"
In just ninety seconds, right down to the wire

[Outro]
This is the legend of eight sisters
"Herald" was the famous one
It happened twenty years ago
Although the sea was calm

I was just a boy then
Holding daddy's hand
Watching on tv
How "Herald"'s time came to an end