Song of the Sea: The Ocean- Dar Williams

Here’s another for my Songs of the Sea series. Dar Williams is another of my favorite singer/songwriters. I love her stories, she can really sing too. I’ve got a couple of her CDs. I listen to them while I’m driving. 😉

The Ocean- Dar Williams

When I went to your town
On the wide open shore
Oh, I must confess, I was drawn
I was drawn to the ocean

I thought it spoke to me, It said, “Look at us
We’re not churches, not schools
Not skating ponds, swimming pools
And we have lost people, haven’t we though?”
Oh, that’s what the ocean can know of a body

And that’s when I came back to town
This town is a song about you
You don’t know how lucky you are
You don’t know how much I adore you
You are the welcoming, back from the ocean

I went back to the ocean today
With my books and my papers
I went to the rocks by the ocean
But the weather changed quickly

Oh, the ocean said, “What are you trying to find
I don’t care, I’m not kind
I’ve bludgeoned your sailors
I’ve spat out their keepsakes
Oh, it’s ashes to ashes, but always the ocean”

But the ocean can’t come to this town
This town is a song about you
You don’t know how lucky you are
You don’t know how much I adore you
You are the welcoming back from the ocean

And the ones that can know you so well
Are the ones, that can swallow you whole
I have a good and I have an evil
I thought the ocean, the ocean thought nothing
You are the welcoming back from the ocean

I didn’t go back today, I wanted to show you
That I was more land than water
I went to pick flowers, I brought them to you
Look at me, look at them, with their salt up the stem
But you frowned when I smiled and I tried to arrange them

You said, “Let me tell you the song of this town”
You said, “Everything closes at five
After that, well you just got the bars”

You don’t know how precious you are
Walking around with your little shoes dangling
I am the one who lives with the ocean
It’s where we came from, you know
And sometimes I just want to go back
After a day, we drink ’til we’re drowning

Walk to the ocean, wade in with our workboots
Wade in our workboots, try to finish the job
You don’t know how precious you are
I am the one who lives with the ocean
You don’t know how, I am the one
You don’t know how, I am the one

Songs of the Sea: The Lighthouse’s Tale

This is such a beautiful song.

I love this band. Nickel Creek. I listen to them a lot, and not just because I forget to change out the CD player in the truck! The fiddle and mandolin are amazing. I could listen to them all day.

This is really a sad song. When I really pay attention to the lyrics, I could almost cry. The sea is beautiful, but sometimes it’s cruel. I never forget how dangerous it can be.

As they say in the safety meetings: ‘complacency kills’.

 

“The Lighthouse’s Tale”

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.

I’ll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.

I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, ’till his joy meant everything to me.

And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into night.

[Chorus:]
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.

She’d had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had turned.

He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and terrible wave.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.

[Chorus]

Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the shore.
He kissed her cold face, that they’d be together soon he’d swore.

I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.

[Chorus]

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.

 

Hayloft- Nickel Creek

This one has really been sticking in my mind lately. I really like a lot of their music. The mandolin and fiddle are fantastic!

Check it out. Let me know how you like it. 🙂

Songs of the Sea: Farewell Shanty

My recent post (re-blogged from Indian Rocks Bridge) about climbing aloft on the Sorlandet got me thinking of those beautiful square riggers. I found this video yesterday. I love the pictures! Such beautiful ships!! It’s a traditional song but has recently been ‘discovered’ (at least according to some of the musical forums). Here’s a shanty to listen to the next time you’re getting underway. 😉

Farewell Shanty

It’s time to go now                                                                                                        Haul away your anchor (x2)                                                                                                ‘Tis our sailing time

Get some sail upon her                                                                                                Haul away your halyards (x2)                                                                                        ‘Tis our sailing time

Get her on her course now                                                                                               Haul away your foresheets (x2)                                                                                     ‘Tis our sailing time

Waves are surging under                                                                                             Haul away down-channel (x2)                                                                                           On the evening tide

When my days are over                                                                                               Haul away for Heaven (x2)                                                                                               God be by my side (x2)

PS- the Statsraad Lehmkuhl is another of the ships the Oceanics School chartered for our sailtraining. I missed this one too. 🙁 I got to sail the Ariadne and the brigantine Phoenix. They were all beautiful ships but not quite the same experience as to sail a full rigged ship.

Maybe I’ll do a couple of posts explaining the different ship types (sail plans). Would you like that? In the meantime, here’s a link to a site one of my classmates put online about our school. If you look closely, you can see me in some of the photos. Yeah, I still look pretty much the same. 🙂

Song of the Sea: The Water is Wide

This is such a beautiful song. It was a favorite in the 60’s when Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed it. Joan Baez does the song with the Indigo Girls in this version. It’s still a beautiful song even tho they don’t play it on the radio anymore.

(The lyrics are slightly different in this version.)

The Water Is Wide- traditional, performed by Joan Baez (and the Indigo Girls)

The water is wide, I cannot get over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall cross my true love and I

I leaned my back against an oak
Thinking it was a mighty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
So did my love prove false to me

I put my hand in some soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flower to find
I pricked my finger to the bone
And left the sweetest flower behind

Oh, love is handsome and love is kind
Gay as a jewel when it is new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew

The water is wide, I cannot get over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall cross my true love and I

Songs of the Sea: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

This is a classic song from the maritime industry. Gordon Lightfoot wrote and performed it and it was a big hit back in the 60’s. It’s about the sinking of the ‘Laker’ SS Edmund Fitzgerald in a winter storm almost 40 years ago (November 1975).

She was the pride of the Lakes fleet and it was such a tragedy when she went down. Lost with all hands aboard. It almost makes me cry sometimes when I pay attention to what he’s saying. We can never forget the power of the sea.

This is a sad song, but it’s also a good one. What do you think?

Song of the Sea: Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold

Here’s another song related to the sea for my Songs of the Sea series. It’s an old ballad about a rich girl who falls in love with a poor sailor. She ships off with him for a while and when she finally comes home, her father relents and allows her to marry her true love. 🙂

ANDREA CORR CAROLINE AND HER YOUNG SAILOR BOLD LYRICS

There lived a rich Nobleman’s daughter
Caroline is her name we are been told
One day from her drawing room window
She admired a young sailor bold
She cried – I’m a Nobleman’s daughter
My income’s five thousand in gold
I forsake both my father and mother
And I’ll marry young sailor bold
Says William- Fair lady remember
Your parents you are bound to mind
In sailors there is no dependence
For they leave their true lovers behind
And she says – There’s no one could prevent me
One moment to alter my mind
In the ships I’ll be off with my true love
He never will leave me behind
Three years and a half on the ocean
And she always proved loyal and true
Her duty she did like a sailor
Dressed up in her jacket of blue
When at last they arrived back in England
Straightway to her father she went
Oh father dear father forgive me
Deprive me forever of gold
Just grant me one favor I ask you
To marry a young sailor bold
Her father looked upon young William
And love and in sweet unity
If I be spared till tomorrow
It’s married this couple shall be

Which Wine Goes With Your Favorite Halloween Candy?

Which Wine Goes With Your Favorite Halloween Candy?.

Halloween is my favorite holiday (after St Patricks Day). Since I’ll be working (again) this year on Halloween, I won’t be able to enjoy any of my favorite wine (or candy). 🙁

I never was much of a wine snob. I like sweet wine but I don’t know enough about different wines to drink it much anymore. I don’t like to buy a bottle to try it, only to get home, open it up and find out I hate it and just wind up dumping the whole thing down the drain.

I hate to waste good food or drinks. I have a bottle of wine in my fridge that’s been in there for a year now. Maybe I’ll get around to drinking it soon. Who knows what it tastes like at this point?

My favorite wine (when I was drinking a lot of it) was Cello Lambrusco. I could always get that kind since that was what my dad drank around the house. It came in gallon jugs. 🙂

If he was still alive, my dad would probably be charged and heavily fined now for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for allowing me to have a glass of wine every now and again, but my grandmother was Italian and wine with meals was a given. 🙂

My other available choices back then were MD 20/20, Night Train, Ripple or Thunderbird (all affectionately known as ‘Bum wines”). 🙂

I wasn’t really a bum at that point (I was still in school), but my grandmother used to get on my case all the time about hanging around with a lot of them. 😉

Well, yeah, I did. But what’s wrong with that?

How else to get your booze supply when you’re underage in the USA?

Talking Thunderbird Blues- Townes Van Zandt

Among the strangest things I ever heard
Was when a friend of mine said “man, let’s get some thunderbird”
I said “what’s that? ” he just started to grin
Slobbered on his shirt, his eyes got dim
He said “you got fifty-nine cents? “

I said “yeah, I got a dollar, but don’t be a smart-aleck
I ain’t gonna spend it on no indian relic”
And he said “thunderbird’s not an old indian trinket,
It’s a wine, man, you take it home and drink it.”
I said “it sure don’t sound like wine to me”
And he said he’d bet me the change from my dollar

We hustled on down to the nearest u-tate-um
The guy wanted my id, I whipped her out and showed him
He got a green bottle from the freezing vault
My friend started doing backward somersaults
Through the cottage cheese

Took it back to his house, started drinkin’
Pretty soon I set in to thinkin’
“man, this thunderbird tastes yummy, yummy, yummy
And I know it’s doing good things to my tummy, tum…, t…”
It’s so you reason when your on that crap

Got a few more bottles, chugged them down
I pulled myself up off the ground
Decided I go see my dearest sweet wife
Who met me at the door with a carving knife
Said “get them damn grape peel from between your teeth.”

I could see we’re gonna have a little misunderstanding
I said “dear, I better get in touch with you later”
She said “forget it, man, you’re never touchin’ me again!”

Now I’ve seen the light and heard the word
And I’m staying away from that ol’ dirty thunderbird
A message come from heaven radiant, and fine,
All I drink now is communion wine
Six days a week

John Prine: Dear Abby

Just for the hell of it, here’s another one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite singer-songwriters.

John Prine is a fantastic songwriter. He’s written a lot of stuff that others have made hits. He’s not nearly as well known as he should be.

I hope you like it. 🙂

Songs of the Sea: The Light and the Sea- Dar Williams

Here’s another Song of the Sea. It’s by Dar Williams. I really like her (tho to be truthful, this isn’t really one of my favorite songs by her). I like some of her other stuff a lot more, but they’re not all about the sea, so, listen to this one and then check out her other stuff! It’ll be worth it. 😉

The Light and the Sea-Dar Williams

Sitting out upon the waves, in darkness and upheaval
I was told that I alone would not know good and evil
Oh but in time but oh in time it came to me
As my shepherd fallen rise
I could turn and lift my eyes
To the light that distant light
There will always be
The light and the sea
Rolling sea the light and me
And as the days rolled by I turned my wheel toward the thunder
Taking on a challenge that I knew could take me under
Oh..and it took me down and oh it took me down
And it came to me
As I cursed the stem and sail
Because its fate that I should fail
There is a light there is a light
There will always be the light and the sea
The rolling sea the light and me
And it all comes down down to me
To feel the presence of my soul
Amid the torrents and the cold
Of the sea..
And there will always be the light and the sea
The rolling sea the light and me
The light and me

 

 

Video: Yes Ma’am- Weight of the World

Here’s a video of the band I was talking about in my earlier post tonight. I saw them playing in the street as I was window shopping on Royal Street in the French Quarter (New Orleans).

It was a gorgeous Fall day and their playing was just perfect. It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. They had a bunch of people of all ages/types, dogs, kids on bikes, etc all watching, listening, dancing. It was a great experience.

I bought a CD from them before I wandered off. I really like it. They deserve more notice. The commercial stations don’t play stuff like this, but if you try you can find interesting new music like this on the radio or the internet.

In Houston, I listen to KPFT, 90.1 FM . Its listener- sponsored, no commercials. They have EVERYTHING on there. I like how they have such a huge variety. Everything from Irish music to Latino to Heavy Metal to Zydeco. You really need to go online and check out the schedule. 😉

I’m not sure what to categorize this band as. Folk? Americana? String Band? Bluegrass? Traditional? Alt Country? Blues? They could be called any of that, but the do it all well!

Check out the video.

Video: The Be Good Tanyas- The Littlest Bird

 

I’m taking a break today from the Zero to Hero Challenge. Todays assignment was to look around at other peoples blogs. Find something there you really liked (not content). I’ve been doing some of that but I haven’t seen anything today that I really MUST have on my blog. 😉

Actually, I did see something a while back, but now I can’t find it again. When I do, then I’ll do more of todays assignment. Or maybe not. 😉  In the meantime I haven’t been doing much with music on here lately. I really love music. All different kinds.

I really like this band. The Be Good Tanyas. I have a couple of their albums. I thought I’d post this particular video since I just did that post on New Orleans and this video was done there (and around).

I see the street performers around the French Quarter every time I go there. I bought a great CD from a band last time I was there. OK, I’ll do another post on them. But first…

Utne Monthly Music Sampler

Utne Monthly Music Sampler.

OK, Here’s the monthly music sampler from Utne Reader. I can’t even listen to them out here since my computer is screwed up and the internet is too slow for stuff like that. No music, no videos for me til I get off here…

There’s a good selection to check out this month. They have a great variety in this one. Everything from American folk, blues, punk to Indian folk, classical, Bollywood. I would like to listen to some of this stuff, especially the albums by “Over the Rhine” and “Zachary Cale”, but those guys the  “Jaipur Kawa Brass Band” sound super interesting and I think I might like “Rusty Belle” too.

People into more classical or traditional music might like to try out the selections from Carol Kleyn, a harpist who sings about Silkies, and Van-Anh Vanessa Vo, who plays Vietnamese instruments and sings in a mix of old and new .

Check it out. Let me know which ones you like and why. I’ll be happy to try your recommendations 😉

New Music: Humming House

I just found out about this great new band. It’s cool, I never would have known about them but they stopped by my blog and liked a post of mine. So I went to check them out. I found out they have some stuff online and a few videos on utube and an album out (Live at the Red Clay Theatre). You can go to their website and check them out. Its www.humminghouse.com. Here’s a sample…


Rise —Annabelle Chvostek

Rise — Borealis Records.

I was looking at my Utne Reader that came in my email this morning. I saw this record in a sidebar and decided to check it out. This is where it led me. I listened to a couple of the songs on the link to the utube at the bottom of the page. I think the song “The End of the Road” is interesting, mandolin and percussion put to good use 😉

I didn’t know about either this recording company- Borealis Records, (they look like they have a lot of interesting artists), or Annabelle until I got this email this morning. I didn’t know she used to be with the Wailin’ Jennies (who I really love). This particular album sounds like its really up my alley…

Rise is joyful, anthemic, and unabashedly political, revealing Chvostek’s passion for social justice work and musical activism.  Call it protest music for the indie generation or a soundtrack for the Maple Spring.

 

Song Premiere: David Bromberg – Keep on Drinkin’

Song Premiere: David Bromberg – Keep on Drinkin’.

This just came in on an email from Utne Reader. Good song.  I liked it 😉