Heart of Oak

Heart of Oak ist ein Lied, das Captain Picards Duplikat im Zehn Vorne singt. Es ist ein altes englisches Volkslied. (TNG: Versuchskaninchen)

Text

Come cheer up, my lads! 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year;
To honour we call you, not press you like slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

(Chorus)
Heart of oak are our ships, heart of oak are our men;
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

Hintergrundinformationen

Zu hören ist in der oben genanten Folge nur die erste Strophe und der erste Refrain. Tatsächlich wurde der englische Text 1759 vom damals berühmten Schauspieler David Garrick (1716-1779) geschrieben (siehe hier). Die weiteren Zeilen lauten dort:

We ne'er see our foes but we wish them to stay,
They never see us but they wish us away;
If they run, why we follow, and run them ashore,
For if they won't fight us, we cannot do more.

(Chorus)
They swear they'll invade us, these terrible foes,
They frighten our women, our children, and beaus;
But should their flat bottoms in darkness get o'er,
Still Britons they'll find to receive them on shore.

(Chorus)
We'll still make them fear, and we'll still make them flee,
And drub 'em on shore, as we've drubb'd 'em at sea;
Then cheer up, my lads! with one heart let us sing:
Our soldiers, our sailors, our statesmen and Queen.