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"Good Ship Venus", also known as "Friggin' in the Riggin", is a bawdydrinking song devised to shock with ever increasingly lewd and debauched sexual descriptions of the eponymous ship's loose-moralled crew. The tune usually used (especially for the chorus) is "Go In and Out the Window".[citation needed]
The opening verse is typically something along the lines of:
'Twas on the good ship Venus,
By Christ you should have seen us,
The figurehead
Was a whore in bed,
And the mast a rampant penis.[1]
However, the lyrics exist in numerous variations. For example, the last line varies, being substituted with any of a large variety of phrases such as 'Our crest a rampant penis',[2] 'With a mouth full of dead man's penis', or 'Sucking on a red-hot penis'.[3]
The usual rhyming structure for this song is thelimerick AABBA structure.
A few other verses:
The Captain's wife was Mabel
She was ready, willing and able
On the floor, behind the door
Or under the kitchen table.
The first mate's name was Carter
By gad he was a farter!
When the wind wouldn't blow
And the ship wouldn't go
They'd get Carter the farter to start her.
The second mate's name was Topper
By Christ he had a whopper!
Once around the deck
Twice around his neck
And up his ass for a stopper.
It is possible that this song was inspired by an actual event, where a female convict (Charlotte Badger), sailing on the colonial brigantineVenus, persuaded members of the crew to commandeer the vessel, sailing from Port Dalrymple,Tasmania, (now part ofGeorge Town, Tasmania) in 1806.[4]
Despite various reports, the ultimate fate of theVenus is unknown. This may have led to speculation by those left behind, with fantasies leading to the creation of this drinking song. One of the verses also refers to a 'Charlotte':
The captain's daughter Charlotte
Was born and bred a harlot
Her thighs at night
Were lily white
By morning they were scarlet.
Five ships of theRoyal Navy have borne the nameHMS Venus between 1758 and 1972. The most recent was adestroyer launched in 1943, which was converted into afast frigate in 1951, and served during the 1950s and 60s, to the surprise of those who assumed the name in the song to be apocryphal. (She was a sister ship ofHMSTroubridge, whose name inspired the fictional "HMSTroutbridge" in the long-running BBC radio comedyThe Navy Lark of the same period).
| "Friggin' in the Riggin'" | |
|---|---|
| Song bySex Pistols | |
| from the albumThe Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle | |
| Released | 26 February 1979 |
| Recorded | 1979 |
| Genre | Punk rock |
| Length | 3:37 |
| Label | Virgin |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional; arranged bySteve Jones |
| Producer(s) | Dave Goodman |
Notable recordings include theOscar Brand 1952 version, and theBritishpunk bandSex Pistols, which appears on theirGreat Rock 'n' Roll Swindle album, and appears as the finale track in the film of the same name. Released as part of a double-A side, it reached No. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1979 and was the band's biggest-selling single.
When a ship was required inThe Goon Show it was often named the "Good Ship Venus" or "HMSVenus", one of several references to dirty jokes the Goons managed to get past the 1950s BBC censors.
The Americanthrash metal bandAnthrax covered the Sex Pistols' version, but with different lyrics. In 2006Loudon Wainwright III recorded it on the compilation albumRogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys. The American punk bandShowcase Showdown also released a version of the song on a tribute to the Sex Pistols.
Serbianpunk rock musicianToni Montano recorded a version of the song, with lyrics in theSerbian language, entitled "Frigidna je bila", relying on the Sex Pistols version.
In British directorKen Russell's 2005 "Hot Pants Trilogy", "The Goodship Venus" short was billed as a musical trip aroundCape Horn with "as horny a crew of sex-crazed sailors who ever sailed the seven seas." The trilogy received its world premiere at the Oldenburg Festival, Germany in Sept 2005.
