The story of Andrew Weatherall’s ‘Fail we may, sail we must’ track title, tattoo and beloved fan mantra has become the stuff of legend over the past decade. Now, on the anniversary of the Guv’nor’s death, an Irish radio DJ has uncovered more details of the fabled tale.
In a 2010 interview with Dummy Magazine, Weatherall, who died on 17th February 2020, described his first encounter with the phrase, “Fail we may, sail we must”. While being driven to a gig in county Cork by a young fisherman, Weatherall asked him about his life and work. He wanted to know about the glamourous world of DJing, to which I said, It’s bollocks, it’s disco’s, tell me about tales of the sea,” Weatherall remarked at the time.