“The Good Ship Lifestyle” by Chumbawamba opens with this series of words:
Pharohs, Bailey, Pharoh, Heppertes,
Rally, Ruffle, Challen, Soh,
Trafalgar, Fiddister, Irisy (Irish Sea?), Fiscay,
Umber, Forfend, Promity forth time
What the hell does this mean?
You’ve garbled them (or they have) but those are the names used in the UK shipping weather forcasts for areas of sea around Britain. Here’s a map.
Did you write transcribe that yourself? Because I think they’re actually hearing a list of Shipping Forecast areas:
Faroes, Bailey, Faroes, Hebrides,
Malin, Rockall, Shannon, Sole,
Trafalgar, Finnister, Irish Sea, Biscay,
Humber, Portland, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne.
You can hear the latest shipping forecast here - it has a strangely hypnotic effect.
(BTW, Finnister was renamed FitzRoy, so it’s not on that map)
Well I’ll be…
I think Faroes, Bailey, Fair Iles, Hebrides may be more likely given none others are repeated.
I was just thinking ‘shipping forecast’ when reading the yellow preview bubble for this thread.
You’d think it’s an obscure thing to know but it’s not.
Am I the only one flashing back to this thread?
I got no job, but I’m an opera fan …
Good call, I mustn’t have been thinking properly 
Tangentially: What other songs refer to the shipping forecast? Blur’s This is a low is the only one I can think of, but I’m sure there’s others out there…