A Million Redondo Beach Sardines Are Gone Gone

Late afternoon, what is that smell?
We just had the quarrel that sent you away.
I was looking for you, are you gone gone?
Check out all those seagulls, out over King Harbor.
What have they found there? Probably something to eat.
I went looking for you, are you gone, gone?

Down by the ocean it was so dismal,
Women all standing with a shock on their faces.
Sad description, oh I was looking for you.

Everyone said a million sardines had washed up
On Redondo Beach and everyone is so sad.
I was looking for you, are you gone gone?
“Remember all the birds?” Everyone cried.
But it’s really quite normal, when lots of animals die.
I went looking for you, are you gone gone?

Down by the ocean it was so dismal,
Women all standing with shock on their faces.
Sad description, oh I was looking for you.

Desk clerk told me sardines washed up,
Packed into the harbor, like a giant tin can.
I went looking for you, are you gone gone?
Surrounding the sailboats, no oxygen left.
They float belly-up, like a carpet of death.
One day they’re all there all here, but now they’re gone gone.

Down by the ocean it was so dismal.
I was just standing with shock on my face.
Eighteen solid inches of rotting dead fish.
“We need to get rid of them,” said sergeant Phil Keenan,
“This is going to create a terrible pollution and public health issue if we don’t.”