Jeg ved ikke, om det er nyheden om de svindende oliereserver, der fik mig til at tænke på den fine amerikanske sanger og sangskriver Steve Forberts sang “The Oil Song”. Men i hvert fald dukkede omkvædet op på min indre afspiller, medens jeg sad og forsøgte at få lidt varme i min feberramte krop.
Sangen udkom første gang i 1979 som en særlig singleplade, der fulgte med albummet Jackrabbit Slim (der også rummer Forberts vel nok mest kendte sang: Romeo’s Tune). Siden er den genudgivet på Best Of-pladen “What Kind of Guy” (1993). Sangen fortæller om tankskibes olieforurening og er direkte inspireret af den store olietanker Amoco Cadiz‘ forlis ud for Bretagnes kyst i 1978. Skibet knækkede i to dele og forårsagede en af de værste olieforureninger i mands minde.

“Oh the engine’s gone dead,” cried the men who work there
And she passed up the dock on the wide Delaware
Then the ship ran aground and the oil got away
And they penned that report, “The Big Spill” on that day

It was hundreds of thousands of gallons galore
Stretching thirty-two miles down the Delaware shore
There were geese in the marshes out looking for food
They got stuck where they stood in the oncoming crude

And it’s oil, oil
Ah, drifting to the sea
Oil, oil
Don’t buy it at the station, you can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline where the water used to be

In the well-charted waters of the Nantucket shoals
There’s a ship run aground full of oil, we were told
In a week’s worth of rough winter weather and waves
The boat started cracking and it could not be saved

It was seven-point-six million gallons this time
Consider the danger and think of the crime
As it poured out a slick stretching into the tide
Over hundred-miles and yes, it came deep, it came wide

And it’s oil, oil
Oil pouring in the sea
Oil, oil
Oh, don’t buy it at the station, you can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline where the water used to be

There’s talk of some writing found in the ship’s log
Saying one of the helmsmen’s unfit for his job
And the ship’s gyro compass was six degrees shy
Their charts were outdated but they, they tried to get by

And you know it’s oil, oil
Yeah, pouring in the sea
Oil, oil
Don’t buy it at the station, you can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline where the water used to be
Yeahhh

Now both of these ships, like a great many more
Got registered in through Liberian doors
Inspections are quick and regulations are few
Just sign on the line and go find you a crew, yes

One of these ships was the Olympic Games
The Argo Merchant was the other one’s name
Well it’s sad, but it’s true, things got worse for the seas
‘Cause I ain’t even mentioned Amoco Cadiz

Amoco Cadiz, between England and France
The big super tanker out there taking it’s chance
With its one-hundred-thousand black tons of the slime
Amoco Cadiz spilled the most of all time

Yes, ya’ know it’s oil, oil
Man, it’s creepin’ in the sea
Oil, oil
Oh, don’t buy it at the station, you can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline where the water used to be

Now down in the Gulf east of Mexico Way
There’s something gone wrong, so the papers all say
A Mexican oil well is leaking it’s goo
They say it’s the worse that things have ever come to

Yes it’s gallons of sludge, sixty-million and more
It’s cruising and oozing towards many a shore
Yes, things have got bad but they will probably get worse
If you can’t drink the oil, oh, you might, you might die of thirst

Because it’s oil, it’s oil
And it’s creeping in the sea
Oil, oil
Don’t buy it at the station, you can have it now for free
Just come on down to the shoreline where the water used to be

Den eneste udgave, jeg har kunnet finde, er denne. En “rigtig” amatør-koncertoptalgelse. Men man kan godt høre, at det er en udmærket sang.