Verse 1
From the early dawn lights.
Rose the giants forged of thunder,
Where the battleships held sway.
From the mist came mighty warriors,
Mikasa took the lead,
Till Dreadnought changed the whole world
In nineteen-oh-nine.
Verse 2
Then the steel grew ever thicker,
Guns reached farther than the sky,
Yamato, Hood, and Bismarck
Took the whole world by surprise.
They were kingdoms on the water,
Floating fortresses of pride,
Each nation crowned a monster
That no sailor dared defy.
Chorus
But the thunder rolls no longer,
And the steel titans fade,
Once the rulers of the oceans,
Now just shadows time has made.
From the North Sea down to Midway,
Their great cannons roared in vain,
For the wings of war were rising—
the sky would rule the waves.
Verse 3
They fought through burning dawns,
In Jutland’s bitter spray,
Where the shells lit up the heavens
Like the end of judgment day.
Hood chased her final sunrise.
Bismarck sank into the deep,
And the Texas and Missouri,
Saw the world awake from sleep.
Verse 4
But across the peaceful ocean,
A new power spread its wings—
Carriers born of vision,
Carried storms no armor, could withstand.
At Pearl the truth was spoken,
At Midway fate was sealed,
The age of guns was ending,
the sky became the battlefield.
Chorus
But the thunder rolls no longer,
And the steel titans fade,
Once the rulers of the oceans,
Now just shadows time has made.
From the North Sea down to Midway,
Their great cannons roared in vain,
For the wings of war were rising—
the sky would rule the waves.
Bridge
Now they rest in quiet harbors,
Rusting crowns on silent decks,
Ghosts of men who stood like mountains,
Still whisper in the rivets and the steel.
A thousand storms they weathered,
But no ship can stand the sun,
When the future comes a-calling
With a new and louder guns.
Final Chorus
Yes, the thunder rolls no longer,
And the steel titans fade,
Monuments to glory
From a darker, prouder age.
Though the wings may rule the waters,
And the carriers claim the throne—
The battleships of yesterday
Still stand proud in iron stone.
Outro
So raise a glass to the warriors,
Whose hulls once shook the sea,
For the age of guns has ended,
But their names will always be.
From Dreadnought’s iron heartbeat
To Missouri’s final flare—
The steel titans may have fallen,
But their spirits linger there.