Songs of the Sea: The Downeaster ‘Alexa’- Billy Joel

 

I’ve been in Korea for the last week or so. Seems I still can’t get away from the ocean. 😉

I’ve spent a lot of time going to the local markets. They have a LOT of seafood in their markets here!

Yesterday I went to Gijang. They were supposed to be having a festival yesterday. The Gijang Anchovy Festival. It said on the internet that it was cancelled. I went anyway since it also said the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled and it was still on. 🙂

I figured it would be an interesting day out anyway. Yes, the festival was actually cancelled. Yes, it was still an interesting trip. 🙂

I took the metro up to Haeundae Station and then the local bus (181) from there to the harbor where the festival was supposed to be. The town was obviously set up as a place for people to come and buy and eat fish, (more kinds than just anchovys), but I saw no signs of any kind of festival. I guess it really was cancelled (due to the ferry accident).

I wandered around for a while and took a bunch of pictures. I’ll have to take a look at them later and will put some in a later post. I’m trying to stick to my goals for the Blogging 201 Challenge, one of which was to get back on track with my “editorial calendar”.

So I am posting today another Song of the Sea. All that wandering around the fish market and the fishing boats made me think of this song by Billy Joel. It’s about the fishermen in the USA (NE Coast), but fishermen around the world are all the same. 🙂

It’s always hard work and the pay is never enough, but of course it’s still totally worth it!

I hope you like the song as much as I do. Enjoy. 🙂

 

The Downeaster ‘Alexa’

Well I’m on the Downeaster Alexa
And I’m cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner’s Bay
Like all the locals here I’ve had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I’ve worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can’t fall asleep

I’ve got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there’s fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren’t what they used to be
But I’ve got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Yeah yo [x4]

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers
And there’s no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can’t make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me

Yea yea yea oh [x4]

 

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: Sailing

I always loved this song. 🙂 I’m going sailing this weekend so I thought this would be a good start. 😉

I remember when this song first came out. I was a teenager, still living in Florida. I was living on the beach and sailing my little sea snark just about every day.

My life was about to change in a big way. I went off on the adventure of my life on the sailing ships of the Oceanics School. We ALL loved this song there! Rod Stewart was SO hot!!

 

 

“Sailing”

I am sailing, I am sailing,

home again ‘cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.I am flying, I am flying,
like a bird ‘cross the sky.
I am flying, passing high clouds,
to be with you, to be free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me
thro’ the dark night, far away,
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

Can you hear me, can you hear me,
thro’ the dark night far away.
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

We are sailing, we are sailing,
home again ‘cross the sea.
We are sailing stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.

Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free,
Oh Lord.

PS- does anybody know why he’s singing about sailing while he’s cruising around on a power vessel??? 😉

Songs of the Sea: Southern Cross- Crosby, Stills & Nash

At work last hitch, I got into a conversation with my watch mates about nautical music, or more generally, songs relating to the sea. We had a great time coming up with a whole bunch of great music. This was one of our favorites to sing along…

I love the images of those sailing ships in the video. I always wish I had another chance to sail on one of them but I’m very grateful I got to go even once.

This song and the lyrics make me want to just chuck it all and take off for the islands. Maybe one of these days I will. 😉

Here’s to some more inspiration…

“Southern Cross”

[Intro. (Acoustic Guitars)]
Oooh …Got out of town on a boat goin’ to Southern islands
Sailing a reach before a followin’ sea
She was makin’ for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to PapeeteOff the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away

Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten

(Around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows) Who knows love can endure
And you know it will

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small
But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a comin’ day

So I’m sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin’
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a’ flyin’
She is all that I have left and music is her name

Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten

(I’ve been around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure
And you know it will, and you know it will yes

[Instrumental (Electric Guitars)]
Oooh …

So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the southern cross

[Ending (Acoustic Guitars)]

Not many things more awesome than the clear, wide-open, star studded skies out on the open ocean. It’s one of the best things about being a sailor. 🙂

Southern Cross

Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing’s “Nuclear Winter”

Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing’s “Nuclear Winter” Smog | Mother Jones.

I was just going through some of my emails, trying to catch up and I saw this post from Mother Jones.

What a great way to make things better over there, even if just for the few minutes it takes to watch the video. It’ll put a smile on your face and make you feel better. Enjoy! 🙂

Songs of the Sea: Little Talks

I hope to make this another ‘regular’ feature here. I love music and I listen to all kinds of things. I like folk, rock, reggae. Irish, Latin, Cajun, blues, bluegrass, classical, etc. I especially love a good ‘ballad’. Pretty much everything except most heavy metal, rap and opera. 😉

I don’t listen to the radio much anymore. I don’t like listening to all the commercials and I really can’t find a station I can listen to for long before I get bored. The only one I listen to now is Houstons KPFT. They’re non commercial, listener sponsored and they have a huge variety of good stuff on there.

I thought I would try to share some of the things I’ve found that I liked on a more regular basis. I have posted a few songs in the past and people seemed to like them. I’ll continue to do that whenever I come across something I really like, but I wanted to showcase here music that relates to the sea in some way.

This particular song is one I just really like. I like the energy, HEY! I loved the imagery in the video. Absolutely fantastic! I liked the melody. I liked the feeling of the whole thing. In all honesty, I could barely make out the lyrics while listening to the song, but I did hear something about a ship. So I guess it’s enough to qualify for a “Song of the Sea”. 😉

So here goes… Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men…

“Little Talks”

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I don’t like walking around this old and empty house
So hold my hand, I’ll walk with you, my dear
[Video version:] The stairs creak as you sleep, it’s keeping me awake
[Live version:] The stairs creak as I sleep, it’s keeping me awake
It’s the house telling you to close your eyes

And some days I can’t even dress myself
It’s killing me to see you this way

‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey! Hey! Hey!

There’s an old voice in my head that’s holding me back
Well tell her that I miss our little talks
Soon it will be over and buried with our past
We used to play outside when we were young
And full of life and full of love.

[Video version:] Some days I don’t know if I am wrong or right
[Live version:] Some days I feel like I’m wrong when I’m right
Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear

‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey!
Hey!

You’re gone, gone, gone away
I watched you disappear
All that’s left is the ghost of you.
Now we’re torn, torn, torn apart,
There’s nothing we can do
Just let me go we’ll meet again soon
Now wait, wait, wait for me
Please hang around
I’ll see you when I fall asleep

Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Sting- Christmas at Sea

Merry Christmas to all my friends and readers! I hope you all have a great Christmas day and a nice holiday. I’m out here working (as usual) for the holidays. I’ve been working nights the last 2 hitches on this ship.

I like working nights. Nights are quieter, tho the work never stops. I hear secondhand a lot of what’s happening on board and around the world. This time of year, it’s already dark by the time I get to the bridge at night and still dark when I leave in the morning. I like to try and see the stars but it’s been pretty cloudy all week.

At least the weather here is not too bad. I feel for the people who are out there working in the North Sea or the Gulf of Alaska. Whoooo! I have to say, I do appreciate the weather in the Gulf of Mexico!

I’m looking forward to waking up for dinner tonight to see what our galley crew has come up with. We are lucky to have a fantastic baker. She really does a great job. 🙂 These photos are actually from last Christmas. I’ll try to get some later for this year.

I was trying to find something to describe how we celebrate Christmas out here. I googled ‘Christmas at sea’ and this video by Sting came up. I really kind of liked both the music and the photography, so I thought I would share it. Check out the link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fr7xSm52bxE#t=16

UPDATE…

Well, we did have quite a feast last night, but I forgot my camera and it was all gone this morning so no pictures. It’s really too bad, the cooks all did a fantastic job, especially considering that we had such a delay getting our groceries on board last week.

I was so impressed with the baking. They made a couple of the cutest little snowmen out of some sort of cake, they had a monkey made out of fruit, they had little birds carved out of apples to sit on top of the salads, they had candles made out of cakes, they had ham, turkey, roast beef, and they had a huge bread bowl baked out of bread and then filled with fresh rolls! OMG!

I could have stuffed myself sick. It’s probably a good thing I had to rush up to watch and could only taste a little bit.

I noticed a few friends I’ve worked with out here also sharing their holidays (on facebook) from their vessels. Everyone seems to have had a pretty good meal at least. 🙂

I was reading my email this morning and I got one from the ‘Old Salt Blog‘ that I follow. I heard I’m not supposed to do this sort of thing, but I don’t know how else to share this other than to cut and paste.

I already had posted the link to Sting’s song (above) but the Old Salt Blog had another video of Sting and also the poem by Robert Louis Stevenson that the songs lyrics were based on.

I can just imagine the conditions he writes about and the video with Stings music goes perfectly with it. I’ve done a little of that kind of sailing. and the poem really brings back some memories. So, forgive me blog world for violating the rules, but here goes…

Christmas at Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor’-wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.

They heard the suff a-roaring before the break of day;
But ’twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard.
So’s we saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessèd Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.

O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china plates that stand upon the shelves.

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessèd Christmas Day.

They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
“All hands to loose topgallant sails,” I heard the captain call.
“By the Lord, she’ll never stand it,” our first mate, Jackson, cried.
. . . .”It’s the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson,” he replied.

She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood;
As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.

And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.