[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.
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.
The most recent was a destroyer launched in 1943, which was converted into a fast 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.
In 2006 Loudon Wainwright III recorded it on the compilation album Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys.
In British director Ken Russell's 2005 "Hot Pants Trilogy", "The Goodship Venus" short was billed as a musical trip around Cape Horn with "as horny a crew of sex-crazed sailors who ever sailed the seven seas."