In September, while protesting offshore drilling in the Russian Arctic, Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was captured, its 30-person crew detained by the Russian government on charges of piracy. Following a lengthy investigation and much public outcry — Paul McCartney, Pete Seeger, Madonna, and 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners all urged President Putin to drop the charges — many of the “Arctic 30” have been released on bail, charged with a lesser offense of “hooliganism”.
In light of this, singer-songwriter Will Oldham, a.k.a. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, has reworked his own Wolfroy Goes To Town track “Black Captain”, dedicating it to Arctic Sunrise captain Peter Willcox. Below, watch Oldham perform the touching new version out on a quiet dock (via Huffington Post).
The version ends with new lyrics:
When he’d disappeared into hazard I’d feared
I was now meant to sail on my own
There is a place on the open sea
You will say it is like any other
It has an air of importance to me
As it waits for the hull of my brother
It had been my thought that the power he got
Couldn’t be there without what I gave him
And now I find a good part of my mind
Will be worthless unless I help save him
He ain’t here ain’t here
I can’t handle this lack
And now
I
Want my captain back
