FRANKLIN [Stanley Accrington 1993]

I was in a folk club the other week
Someone sang Lord Franklin and I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream, and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

From Baffin Bay where the whale fish play
쳌ecross the frozen ocean in the month of May
For a North west passage his course was fixed
That's in Canada not up the M6

The expedition had limited means
The only food they had was tins of beans
Even the Eskimo in his skin canoe
Had baked beans and frozen fish fingers too

With all those beans the winds began to blow
The fate of Franklin no man doth know
The fate of Franklin no man can tell
All that was left of him was a funny smell

In those days the tins were made with lead
They should have been made from steel instead
The crew grew sick and wished they'd never started
And as for Franklin ....... he simply departed

But now my story it gives me pain
I just can쳌ft listen to that song again
Without thinking of that blunder alimentary
Which I heard about in a documentary

I was down at a folk club where the admission's cheap
Someone sang Lord Franklin and I fell asleep
Dreamed ten thousand pounds was freely given
By Lady Franklin, who'd not seen the television

Franklin didn쳌ft die from the effects of lead
I think the beans did for him instead
I think he exploded in the arctic air
And punched a big hole in the ozone layer!