LYRICS
Barrett's Privateers |
 |
Northwest Passage | |
De Cara a La Pared | |
Ride Forever | |
Robert Mackenzie | |
Holy Tears | |
Possession |
|
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy |
BARRETT’S PRIVATEERS
by Stan Rogers
O the year was Seventeen Seventy-Eight
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke
now
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I've
ever seen
Chorus:
God damn them all
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American
gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax
pier,
The last of Barrett's Privateers
2. O Elcid Barrett cried the town
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke
now
For twenty brave men all fishermen who
Would make for him the
Antelope's crew
Chorus:
3. The Antelope sloop was a sickening site
How I wish I was in
Sherbrooke now
She'd list to the port and her sails in rags
And the
cook in the scuppers with the staggers and jags
Chorus:
4. On the King's birthday we put to sea
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke
now
Ninety-one days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the
way
Chorus:
5. On the ninety-sixth day we sailed again
How I wish I was in
Sherbrooke now
When a great big Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked
four-pounders we made to fight
Chorus:
6. The Yankee lay low down with gold
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke
now
She was broad and fat and loose in stays
But to catch her took the
Antelope two whole days
Chorus:
7. Then at length she stood two cables away
How I wish I was in
Sherbrooke now
Our cracked four-pounders made awful din
But with one
fat ball the Yank stove us in
Chorus:
8. The Antelope shook and pitched on her side
How I wish I was in
Sherbrooke now
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the main
truck carried off both me legs
Chorus:
9. Now here I lay in my twenty-third year
How I wish I was in
Sherbrooke now
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just
made Halifax yesterday
Chorus:
(Copyright Fogarty's Cove Music, Inc. )
Northwest Passage
Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.
Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie
The sea route to the Orient for which so many died;
Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones.
Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began
Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again
This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain.
And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west
I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest
Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea.
How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away.
To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again.
2nd set of lyrics
Ah, for just one time, I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea
Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea
Westward from the Davis Strait, 'tis there 'twas said to lie
The sea route to the Orient for which so many died
Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered broken bones
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones
Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began
Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again
This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain
And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking West
I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest
Who cracked the mountain ramparts, and did show a path for me
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea
How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them I left a settled life, I threw it all away
To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again
-
Ride Forever
I was born north of Great Slave, 1898
And I rode near all my life on a ranch near Devil's Gate
And I've seen this world about me bend and flip and change
Hey, it feels like rain -- that's a thunder cloud
We'll, I've been called a coward, but I've seen two World Wars
And I lost my son, Virgil, my Korean reward
And my Lucy died last summer -- you ask me if I cry?
Hell, I'll show you tears, they're all over this ground
They're falling from these blue Alberta skies
But I'm going to ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call, well it's only then
I might pull in the reins
They tell me I'm an old man, they tell me I am blind
They took my driver's license, this house ain't far behind
I say jump back all you big suits 'cause you've got something wrong
I ain't gone, no, I ain't gone
I am still breathing and I still have my pride
And I have my memories, your life, it never dies
Like the wind that blows in thunder
Or the stallion on the fly, I got it all
And I'm standing tall underneath these blue Alberta skies
And I'm going to ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call, well it's only then
I might pull in the reins
So I say to all you old men, don't let yourself get broke
If you think the world's gone crazy
And it's scratching at your throat
It's time to dust off that old saddle, get it on a horse
Kick up your spurs, we're gonna run like stink
We're gonna tear across these blue Alberta skies
We're gonna ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call it's only then
I might pull in the reins.
Robert Mackenzie
32 men on a Great Lakes boat
Quit the pier at Thunder Bay
28,000 tons of coal
On a cold November day
800 feet and 10 more long
80 feet across
The steel mills of Detroit
Our destination through the frost
At 2 AM on the 2nd
Waves were runnin' up to 40 feet
Winds were blowing 60 miles
Our engines crankin' heat
At 3:13 we took a wave
Our wheelhouse left behind
The radar slipped beneath the waves
And we were runnin' blind
Hear me call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
CHORUS:
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
A captain name of Phillips
Seekin' shelter from the storm
Turned us south of Bête Grise Bay
By way of Keewenaw point
But the wind was blowing at such a rate
We ended up driftin' north
A wave broke over a knife of rock
Six Fathom Shoal
Captain's last transmission read
32 men down
32 men down
Hear me call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home someday
CHORUS
Yes, I call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home someday
Holy Tears
Trapped inside a twisted world
I can't decide what is even real anymore
as though I ever knew
Tangled in these silhouettes
floating face down in a river of regrets
and thoughts of you
Holy tears
the linger on
Holding you
my light
forever gone
You believed she'd never leave
Rosy cheeked and oh so young
and full of flame
Here in this bed emptiness
Button by button I come undone
and only twenty-one
Holy tears
they linger on
Holding you
my life
forever gone
Gone like the words set free
You're gone in the venom lips that kiss me sweetly
Gone like frightened bird into the sky
Won't you take everything I ever had
and leave me to die as I cry
Holy tears
they linger on
Holding you
my love
forever gone
Possession
Listen as the wind blows, from across the great divide.
Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time.
The night is my companion and solitude my guide
Would I stand forever here and not be satisfied?
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after, I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes, dear...
Through this world I've stumbled
So many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word to find the truth enslaved.
Oh, you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath
Your words keep me alive
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes, dear…
Into this night I wander
It’s morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of the path I fear to tread .
Oh, into the sea of waking dreams, I follow without pride
'Cause nothing stands between us here and I won’t be denied.
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes...
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
All the fear has left me now. I’m not frightened anymore
It’s my heart that pounds beneath my flesh
It’s my mouth that pushes out this breath
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won’t fear love
Companion to our demons they will dance, and we will play
With chairs, candles and cloth
Making darkness into day
It will be easy to look in or out, upstream or down
Without a thought.
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won’t fear love
Peace in the struggle,
to find peace
Comfort on the way,
To comfort
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won’t fear love
I won’t fear love
I won’t fear love…
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