Το τραγούδι γράφτηκε έπειτα απο το ναυάγιο του πετρολαιοφόρου Prestige (ελληνικης πλοιοκτητριας) στα ανοιχτά της Γαλικίας και που είχε επιπτώσεις στο περιβάλλον στις ακτές της βόρειας Ιβηρικής αλλά και στις γαλλικές δυτικές ακτές.

Info for the accident from Wikipedia:
"The Prestige was a 26-year-old Greek-operated, single-hulled oil tanker, officially registered in the Bahamas, but with a Liberian-registered single-purpose corporation as the owner.

The ship had a deadweight tonnage, or carrying capacity, of approximately 81,000 tons, a measurement that put it at the small end of the Aframax class of tankers, smaller than most carriers of crude oil but larger than most carriers of refined products. It was classed by the American Bureau of Shipping and insured by the London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association, a shipowners' mutual known as the London Club.

The French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refused to allow the Prestige to dock in their ports.
On November 13, 2002, the Prestige was carrying 77,000 metric tons of two different grades of heavy fuel oil, crude #4. It encountered a winter storm off Costa de la Muerte, the Coast of Death, in Galicia northwestern Spain. The Greek captain, Apostolos Mangouras, reported a loud bang from the starboard side and as the ship began to take on water from high waves the engines shut down and he called for help from Spanish rescue workers. The Filipino crew was evacuated with rescue helicopters and the ship drifted within four miles of the Spanish coast already leaking oil. A veteran captain, Serafin Diaz, was lowered onto the ship per the Spanish governments Industry Ministry, to navigate the ship off the Spanish coast northwest, and saw the gaping 50-foot hole on the starboard side. Mangouras argued the ship should be brought into port where the leaking oil might be confined but under the threat of the Spanish navy Mangouras relented. After pressure from the French government, the vessel was also forced to change its course and head south into Portuguese waters in order to avoid endangering France's southern coast. Fearing for its own shore, the Portuguese authorities ordered its navy to intercept the ailing vessel and prevent it from approaching further.[1]

With the French, Spanish, and Portuguese governments refusing to allow the ship to dock, and after several days of sailing and towing, it split in half on November 19, 2002. It sank only about 250 kilometers or 130 miles from the Spanish coast, releasing over 17 million US gallons (64,000 m3) of oil into the sea. An earlier oil slick had already reached the coast. The captain of the Prestige was taken into custody, accused of not cooperating with marine salvage crews and of harming the environment."

One of the cases where art serves as a mean of remembrance, so as to not forget.