Skip to content

Cover of Punch the Clock by Elvis Costello & the Attractions — Cover: Punch the Clock

Song · Elvis Costello & the Attractions

“Shipbuilding” by Elvis Costello & the Attractions

From the album Punch the Clock (1983)

“Shipbuilding” by Elvis Costello & the Attractions appears on 17 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1983 and 2021. It was first released in 1983 on the album Punch the Clock. Its best result is #48 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #177 alternative song of 1983 and #1,294 alternative song of all time.

17countdowns

4stations

#48best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1983–2021years charted

Watch

Elvis Costello And The Attractions - Shipbuilding

Video from YouTube (Time Warp (Distorsion Temporelle)). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Elvis Costello wrote the words to "Shipbuilding" during the Falklands War of 1982, over music by Clive Langer, and they zero in on a bitter irony: the war was bringing work back to the old yards of Clydeside, Merseyside, the North East and Belfast, building ships to replace the ones going down, while the same towns sent their sons off to sail in them. Robert Wyatt got to it first, with a single in August 1982.

Costello's own reading turned up on Punch the Clock in 1983, produced by Langer and Alan Winstanley. The Attractions play it hushed and careful, Steve Nieve's keyboard drifting like fog off the water, and then Chet Baker steps in with a trumpet solo of such weary grace that it says everything the lyric leaves unspoken.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#959 of the '80s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1983	48	John Peel (BBC Radio 1)	John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1983	50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	1158	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	527	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	526	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1511	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1444	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1458	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1487	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1556	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1611	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1676	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	579	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909

Charting alongside it in 1983

Best songs of 1983 →

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Shipbuilding" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.