Once a great ironworks    Stood at the end of my street    And they hauled in The Monitor    Fit her with armor    For to save the union fleet       The River James was on fire    As The Merrimack thundered and raged    And she seemed so colossal and so unstoppable    Until the two engaged    And inside the sound    A deafening din, round after round, again and again    Shattering down, shattering down, shattering down       The neighborhood’s quiet at night    But sometimes my ears still ring    And you think I’d understand    That a rock-n-roll band    Doesn’t mean a blessed thing    But I picture the poor crew stunned    When the cannons did finally subside    How they stand on the deck    With the sun at their neck    And they wonder if they’re still alive    And I try to shout    But none of them hear    They’re moving their mouths    But the blood in their ears    Is running down, running down, running down       And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    But what then?       It’s stunning to know I’ve survived    But I’m not sure what I’m fighting for anymore    And when I break another string    And continue to sing    Is that courage? I’m not sure.    When the ironclads drifted apart    Still blue and still gray    The men shoveled in the coal    And worked the pumps in the hull    Just like every other day    And none of them knew    Oh, none of them cared    How much it just changed right then and right there    They just carried on, carried on, carried on       And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    But what then?       And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    And we’re singing la da da da da da    But what then?