☝️ Key Points
- The singer describes himself as a ship trying to make contact with his lost love (the shore).
- Although he has traveled the world and enjoyed his life, he is constantly haunted by the memory of his lost love.
- Despite the distance and the passage of time, his feelings for her remain strong.
- He wishes he could turn back time and change things.
- At the end of the song, he has hope of regaining his lost love.
Interpretation
The song 'Ship to Shore' by
Chris De Burgh is metaphorical and tells the story of lost love and longing.
The singer describes himself as a ship at sea, trying to make contact with the shore that represents his lost love. 'Ship to shore, do you read me anymore, this line is bad, and fading,' illustrates the growing distance between him and his love.
He tells that he has seen the world and enjoyed life to the fullest, 'I have been to see the world, tasted life at every turn', but the memories of his lost love have always haunted him, 'And all the time, your face came back to haunt me'.
Despite the distance and the time that has passed, he confesses that his feelings for her are still strong, 'Day by day the feeling grew, I know I'm still in love with you'.
He expresses the desire to be able to turn back time to change things, 'How I wish that we could turn the clock back to the days when we were lovers in the true sense of the meaning'.
But at the end of the song, he seems to see a hope for reconciliation, 'I cannot believe my eyes, but I think I see a light; you are everything I've always wanted in my life', indicating that he still has hope of winning back his lost love.