Day After Valentine's Day, The - Disaster SongsDisaster Songs

Day After Valentine’s Day, The

Tags: 1982 Ocean Ranger Disaster

Lyrics

Just after midnight
On the day after Valentine’s Day
She lay awake listening
To the storm blowing out on the bay
And her thoughts were on her man out on the sea
To give them a life, that was where he had to be

Just after midnight
On the day after Valentine’s Day
She lay awake thinking
About the last thing he had to say
Before he left, he said, “Wipe away that frown
“The devil himself couldn’t bring the Ocean Ranger down.”

But the sea can be a monster when it wants to be
Take man’s little toys and just sweep them away
And the ones left behind can only weep
And that’s the way it’ll always be.
And that’s the way it’ll always be.

Just after midnight
On the day after Valentine’s Day
She lay awake thinking
About her man out there on the sea
And she smiled as she drifted off to sleep
He’ll be home in my arms in less than a week.

But the sea can be a monster when it wants to be
Take someone you love and just sweep them away
And the hell with the ones left behind to weep
And that’s the way it’ll always be.
And that’s the way it’ll always be.

2 responses to “Day After Valentine’s Day, The”

Roger Ellis says:

March 31, 2020 at 2:13 pm

Hi there, Just happened to come across your website, and saw my song on here. Glad you like it. I live in Margaretsville Nova Scotia on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. Here’s some info about the song…On Feb. 14, 1982. one of the largest and most advanced drilling rigs of her day, the Ocean Ranger, was stationed off the coast of Newfoundland where she was riding out a fierce winter storm. With a crew of 84 men, 56 of whom were Newfoundlanders, the vessel was thought to be virtually unsinkable, but when a huge wave broke a porthole and flooded into the ballast control room, the system shorted out, and the rig began to list. In the early morning hours of Feb 15, the day after Valentine`s Day, the crew abandoned ship just before she sank beneath the waves. In spite of heroic efforts on the part of the crew of a nearby support vessel, none of the crew could be saved.

The wives and mothers of most of the crewmen, back home in Newfoundland were being pounded by the same blizzard that night, and of course their thoughts were on their men out on the ocean in such a terrible storm. In the end, though, they went to sleep, reassured by their faith that the Ocean Ranger was as safe a place as you could be on such a night. It was only when they awoke the next morning that they learned of the fate of their loved ones.

Thanks for your interest,

Roger

Reply
- Heather Sparling says:
  
  April 23, 2020 at 7:22 am
  
  Thank you for writing, and for offering additional information.
  
  Reply

by Roger Ellis

Ellis was born in Dartmouth, NS, in 1952, and currently lives in the Annapolis Valley. After several years of singing in various groups, he picked up the guitar in his mid-forties and began writing his own songs. He says he often finds it easier to write his own, rather than learn someone else’s. He started out by simply humming over chord progressions, and eventually this evolved into writing lyrics. He often constructs storylines that draw from his own experiences.

“The Day After Valentine’s Day” is a departure from his usual works, which are more interpersonal and humorous. He was inspired to write an Ocean Ranger song more than two decades after the disaster, influenced by a CBC Radio interview with the wife of a man who was working on the rig. As he researched the event, he was struck by the thought of the people who remained on land during the tragic storm. In the years leading up to the 35th anniversary, around a decade after initially writing the song, “The Day After Valentine’s Day” was recorded in multiple sessions. Instrumental layers were added as the song developed.