The Landlubber's Lament
by Barry Munro, September 2002
Sung to the melody of Jim Payne's "Wave Over Wave"
- To hear the original music:
We left St. John's harbour as giddy as geese
The moon was a waxin' and we were at peace
To Trinity Bay we set sail through the night
And awake in the morning to our heart's delight
Chorus:
Oh, it's debt upon debt piling up on us now,
We're having such fun as the bank will allow
We're out for adventure, to see what we can
We sail to the outports around Newfoundland
Oh we all love our travel around Newfoundland
From there round the isle we proceeded to see
The quaint little towns that just cling to the sea
The townsolk are friendly, so eager to please
And invite us ashore for some "lassie" and cheese
Chorus
We scurry down gangplanks to our zodiacs
And stumble aboard with our packs on our backs
Somes fall in the water and others get wet
But the fog and the drizzle raise nary a sweat
We go to see dances, we go to sing songs,
We go to hear stories about all the wrongs,
Of the fishery lost and the young folks that fled
And the tales burn a hole in your heart and your head
Chorus
We see Bona Vistas along every shore
And every port there makes us want to see more
We head up the coast to the Labrador shore
And into the tickle at Battle Har-bor
We're toasted and feted wherever we go
They put on a big spread and give us a show
We raise our shrill voices with Kovacs and Payne
And had we the money, we'd do it again.
Chorus
The end is approaching, though weathered and worn
Our adventurous spirit, it never got torn
We wanted to stay aboard the Polar Star
And may get our wish, 'cause we can't pay the bar!
But Martin stood steadfast and called to the crew,
"The paid ones can leave, but hold onto those few,"
His stare was so icy and the way that he said it,
I pulled out my Visa, and paid it with credit!
Chorus
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