Shanty Lyric Explanation please?

[(XBOX)Ancient Mutt]

Please can someone copy, paste and break down the lyrics with an explanation of each bit, please? I keep trying to listen but I'm having trouble following the 'plot.'

Sorry if I'm a bit thick.

[bad4youLT]

In a nutshell its a song about Vala's dreaded past on how she was the only survival after the Tempestarii attacked her work place and many of her friends died leaving her with PTSD .

[(XBOX)Ancient Mutt]

9 minutes ago, bad4youLT said:

In a nutshell its a song about Vala's dreaded past on how she was the only survival after the Tempestarii attacked her work place and many of her friends died leaving her with PTSD .

Really? I didn't get that... but it's a bit disjointed for me. This is why I asked for a breakdown of it.

One thing I did notice though... she looks awefully similar to Claudia Black doesn't she?

[Dark_Lugia]

Lyrics:

Spoiler

So it's into the Void
Now me girls and me boys
From Mother's hands we go
We'll be be sailing to the sun
Till the voyage is done
Then we'll be sleeping in the cold below

Sisters! Below, below
We're going where the winds don't blow
Yes we're all bound down
To the deep and we'll be
Sleeping in the cold below, below
Sleeping in the cold below

Our sailing ship
Is for the hard and the quick
We roll our load and go
There's a living to be made
Or there's Hell to pay
When you're sleeping in the cold below

Sisters! Below, below
We're going where the winds don't blow
Yes we're all bound down
To the deep and we'll be
Sleeping in the cold below, below
Sleeping in the cold below

There's a man on high
With the Devil in his eye
And a golden hand, I'm told
It can hurt you, it can hold you
He can kick you or console you
When you're sleeping in the cold below

Sisters! Below, below
We're going where the winds don't blow
Yes we're all bound down
To the deep and we'll be
Sleeping in the cold below, below
Sleeping in the cold below

Oh Sisters you
So wise and true
When it's my time to go
Won't you lay me down
Under Granum Crowns
And I'll be sleeping in the cold below

Sisters! Below, below
We're going where the winds don't blow
Yes we're all bound down
To the deep and we'll be
Sleeping in the cold below, below
Sleeping in the cold below

Today we sail
On the Solar Rail
For there's much we just don't know
So farewell with a kiss
Then it's fast for the mist
Till we're sleeping in the cold below

As non native speaker I understood it as:

She and her crew are heading into the Void and won't  return until their job is done (/or till they are dead?)
Refrain: They are now bound to this life
Their life on the ship isn't easy and only for the tough but otherwise they'll have to pay their dept (Corpus is all about the money and many have depts to them)
Refrain
This part is most likely about Parvos Granum (Corpus founding member, with the golden glove) and his power to either help you or make your life miserable
Refrain
She trusts her crew even in the fear of dying since they all serve under Granums (the corpus) rules
Refrain
Sailing into the unknown via the solar rails and saying farewell to those remaining behind

[Teliko_Freedman]

The first time I heard the song, my brain went to "sex workers being used and left in the cold after".

 

I'm still trying to twist it back to something less...like the other.

 

[Surbusken]

 

Was I the only going, wow deja vu flashback to royally awkward?

[(XBOX)Ancient Mutt]

@Dark_Lugia thanks

 

[(XBOX)Ancient Mutt]

So, now that they're in black and white in front of me, I can start thinking about the song properly.

What I gather from the lyrics is that the Corpus crew are an elite group of space-farers sent on a one way trip of discovery while also delivering some sort of cargo, and upon death they are sent to the Granum void to meet Parvos, either to receive punishment for failing their mission or comfort upon success, providing that their body has Granum Crowns on their eyes as part of a 'burial' ritual of some kind like our ancestors did in some part of the world. According to folklore, we used to place coins on the eyes of the dead to pay a ferryman for passage across the River Styx upon death. I wonder how Parvos mangled this up for his followers. 

The discovery mission also carried some kind of cargo that had to be delivered. "We roll our load and go, there's a living to be made," I question what they were being paid to deliver, what they were trying to discover and why it was considered a one-way trip?

Concerning the burial ritual, I'm guessing this was a rite reserved only for the top brass, Captains and alike who could afford at least two Granum Crowns (I seem to remember that they were supposed to be very expensive among Corpus society), otherwise Parvos would be swamped with inferior grunts to greet with his golden hand?

Furthermore, we know that spending a coin can open a rift to the Granum Void, so perhaps a subordinate spends them on the dead Captain's behalf, the second coin perhaps activating a kuva-like device to 'resurrect' the Captain on her way to Parvos. If this is the case, I wonder (to some chargrin) just how many lieutenants were trustworthy enough to do this and not just run off with the coins for themselves.

The song doesn't even mention Sevagoth or the ghost ship, so I'm thinking that meeting them was a distraction from the main mission. This makes me question why the Warframe was 'haunting' the Corpus ship in the first place and why for such a long time. I also wonder how the Corpus crew managed to live for so long. How many years was it between Sevagoth's mission (I'm guessing while the Orokin were still in full swing) and our reception of the distress call?

And the Cold Below... well... I'm thinking that's a reference to cryogenic sleep and/or death.

Does this seem about right so far?

[TARINunit9]

1 hour ago, (XBOX)War Teh Hog said:

Please can someone copy, paste and break down the lyrics with an explanation of each bit, please? I keep trying to listen but I'm having trouble following the 'plot.'

Sorry if I'm a bit thick.

43 minutes ago, (XBOX)War Teh Hog said:

Really? I didn't get that... but it's a bit disjointed for me. This is why I asked for a breakdown of it.

One thing I did notice though... she looks awefully similar to Claudia Black doesn't she?

OK you know how Vala was in a space station when it got blown up? And she was the only survivor? And she drifted in hard vacuum "for days" in a space suit while surrounded by corpses?

She claims that the corpses started singing to her. And the big "sleeping in the cold below" song is what they were singing. It's deliberately left ambiguous whether she was just hallucinating, or whether it was still in the middle of a Void Storm and Ol' Wally was pranking her

6 minutes ago, (XBOX)War Teh Hog said:

And the Cold Below... well... I'm thinking that's a reference to cryogenic sleep and/or death.

Death at sea. "Where the wind don't blow" and all that. Literally speaking, neither the ocean depths on earth, nor the hard vacuum of space have any wind

[(XBOX)Ancient Mutt]

Well, where the wind don't blow is a reference to the doldrums, something that every sailor feared because it meant that your ship didn't go anywhere. If the ship doesn't get to port, survival gets harder and the crew don't get paid for failure to deliver cargo (serious for perishable goods or time-sensitive deliveries). This, in short, means that the crew were sailing into something feared and basically damned with the knowledge that it's a one way trip... but one of utmost serious importance to Parvos and the Corpus in general. If my understanding of the song is correct anyway.

Also, being adrift in vacuum among your dead crew for days after we romp through to help Sevagoth, well, that's a hard death and it doesn't explain how the process into the Granum Void worked out.

Lots of questions, so little answers.