Good Ship Venus
Encyclopedia
"Good Ship Venus", also known as "Friggin' in the Riggin'", is a bawdy drinking song
devised to shock with ever increasingly lewd and debauched sexual descriptions of the eponymous ship's loose moralled crew. The tune usually used (especially for the chorus) is "In and Out the Windows".
The last line of which varies, such as Our crest a rampant penis or Sucking a dead man's penis.
The usual rhyming structure for this song is the limerick
AABBA structure.
recorded an early version in 1952, but the best known version was recorded by British
punk band The Sex Pistols which appears on their Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
album, and was the finale track to the film of the same name. Released as part of a double-A side, it reached No.3 in the UK singles chart in 1979 and was the band's biggest selling single. Serbia
n punk rock
musician Toni Montano
recorded a version of the song, with lyrics in Serbian language
entitled "Frigidna je bila", relying on the Sex Pistols version.
The American thrash metal
band Anthrax
covered the Sex Pistols' version, but with different lyrics. In 2006 Loudon Wainwright III
recorded it on Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
. The Boston punk band Showcase Showdown
also released a version of the song on a tribute to the Sex Pistols.
When a ship was required in The Goon Show
it was often named the "Good Ship Venus" or "HMS Venus", one of several references to dirty jokes the Goons managed to get past the 1950s BBC censors.
), sailing on the colonial brigantine Venus, convinced members of the crew to commandeer the vessel, sailing from Port Dalrymple in Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania) in 1806.
Despite various reports, the ultimate fate of the Venus is unknown. This may have led to speculation by those left behind, with fantasies leading to the creation of this drinking song. Interestingly, one of the verses also refers to a 'Charlotte':
Drinking song
A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...
devised to shock with ever increasingly lewd and debauched sexual descriptions of the eponymous ship's loose moralled crew. The tune usually used (especially for the chorus) is "In and Out the Windows".
Lyrics
The lyrics exist in numerous variations. The opening verse is typically something along the lines of:- 'Twas on the good ship Venus,
- By Christ you should have seen us,
- The figurehead
- Was a whore in bed,
- And the mast a rampant penis.
The last line of which varies, such as Our crest a rampant penis or Sucking a dead man's penis.
The usual rhyming structure for this song is the limerick
Limerick (poetry)
A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century...
AABBA structure.
Recordings
Oscar BrandOscar Brand
Oscar Brand is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs...
recorded an early version in 1952, but the best known version was recorded by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
punk band The Sex Pistols which appears on their Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album)
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. Although released under Sex Pistols' name, it includes performances by other artists.- Production :...
album, and was the finale track to the film of the same name. Released as part of a double-A side, it reached No.3 in the UK singles chart in 1979 and was the band's biggest selling single. Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
musician Toni Montano
Toni Montano
Toni Montano , real name Velibor Miljković is a Serbian rock musician. One of pioneers of psychobilly on the former Yugoslav rock scene, Toni Montano is better known for his controversial statements.-Radost Evrope:Miljković started his career as a vocalist of the band Radost Evrope Toni Montano...
recorded a version of the song, with lyrics in Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
entitled "Frigidna je bila", relying on the Sex Pistols version.
The American thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
covered the Sex Pistols' version, but with different lyrics. In 2006 Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
recorded it on Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys is a compilation album of sea shanties performed by a wide array of artists, ranging from Sting to Bryan Ferry, representing a variety of genres. The artists cover a large number of diverse songs of the sea, at times adding elements...
. The Boston punk band Showcase Showdown
Showcase Showdown (band)
The Showcase Showdown was an American band who was a fixture in Boston's punk rock scene in the 1990s. The band toured the Northeast extensively and became notorious for their tongue-in-cheek songs, often about obscure cultural icons from political history, television shows and comic books...
also released a version of the song on a tribute to the Sex Pistols.
When a ship was required in The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
it was often named the "Good Ship Venus" or "HMS Venus", one of several references to dirty jokes the Goons managed to get past the 1950s BBC censors.
Origin
It is possible that this song was inspired by an actual event, where a female convict (Charlotte BadgerCharlotte Badger
Charlotte Badger is widely considered to be the first Australian female pirate despite being from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England...
), sailing on the colonial brigantine Venus, convinced members of the crew to commandeer the vessel, sailing from Port Dalrymple in Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania) in 1806.
Despite various reports, the ultimate fate of the Venus is unknown. This may have led to speculation by those left behind, with fantasies leading to the creation of this drinking song. Interestingly, one of the verses also refers to a 'Charlotte':
- The captain's daughter Charlotte
- Was born and bred a harlot
- Her thighs at night
- Were lily white
- By morning they were scarlet.
Further reading
- Cray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs (University of Illinois, 1992).
- Legman, Gershon. The Horn Book. (New York: University Press, 1964).
- Roud Folk Song IndexRoud Folk Song IndexThe Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
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