I understand. But IMO the song is some of the best poetry and verse that GL ever wrote.
The song always reminds me of the Texaco Oklahoma, out of Port Arthur, which sank in a storm off of Cape Hatteras. The subject line from a subsequent investigation:
"MARINE ACCIDENT REPORT: STRUCTURAL FAILURE AND SINKING OF THE TEXACO-OKLAHOMA OFF CAPE HATTERAS ON 27 MARCH 1971, WITH THE LOSS OF 31 LIVES. At 0330, March 27, 1971, the tankship SS TEXACO-OKLAHOMA, fully loaded with a cargo of black oil, broke in two, about 120 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina."
The son of the chief engineer on board lives around the corner from me, and we play golf sometimes. When you know some of the surviving family members it hits home.