From Prince William Sound, sailed the Valdez, Cali bound
When it struck the Bligh Reef in the A.M.
A bad spill would spread- rear it's black ugly head
Polluting the sea with much mayhem

Sticky oil, gallons galore, fifty-five million, or more
Held the tanker, before it half-emptied
What this ship would do - was a nightmare come true
No one knew full disaster, so early

The Valdez had pride, and successful runs glide
Till the mishap that struck like a monsoon
With good record to boast, port to port, coast to coast
Who would think such clean slate would be gone soon

Word is Valdez knew - insufficient was the crew
When it loaded and left on it's journey
The captain was drunk, passed out in his bunk
And third mate, at the wheel, made bad turning

Guidance radar no good, it'd been broken a year
Yet the company failed to repair it
Coast Guard tracking, none - that was gen'rally done
Game of blame - all so many to share it

The ship was out of it's normal sailing route
On the night of the ruptured lost barrels
Twenty-twenty recalled - also, cargo hauled
Added extra sound reasons for perils

Late, would come to be, the captain's apology
And it wasn't the blame he would partake
Claimed story untold, of true facts, still not cold
But Alaskans, he would say, gave a fair shake

Forgiveness can't unchain - heavy burden of such stain
No more than scarred life of the seas will
Bad deeds hold their plight - like the creatures, dark'd as night
From the black of the Exxon Valdez spill

No wise man will know why God let it be so
When it could have been stopped with his powers
The rough rocky coves trapped the black death in droves
As the spilled oil ran free the first hours

Great Herons shake wings, but the globbed oil still clings
And will not wash clean from the water
Once blue ocean beams - are now oil sticky gleams
From the sludging that brings nature's slaughter

Prince William Sound becomes a dull thud
On it's waves no more ballet of dancin'
The otters and seals, the seagulls and eels
Are lost in the oil's vast expansion

Beyond, it would go, 1200 mile flow
Envir'nmental damage is rendered
And the fishermen know - how the hardships can grow
From the "March, 89" spill, remembered

It's been twenty-five years, dry now, most of the tears
Of that night when disaster came staining
Closure of sorts, Exxon fined high in courts
But it can't buy back mem'ries remaining

Valdez takes new name - Sea River Mediterranean
But no changing the name of a ship will
Redeem for the dread, nor return nature's dead
From the black of the Exxon Valdez spill..