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Description
When I was in college back in the eighteen, er, ... nineteen seventies, I worked for two summers on a Great Lakes iron ore boat. Same kinda boat as sung about in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." This song comes from that experience. Lotsa to say about that, but I 'll let the song speak for itself.
Disclaimers: mixed on headphones, and beware breathy vocal pops (gotta get a pop filter!)
Disclaimers: mixed on headphones, and beware breathy vocal pops (gotta get a pop filter!)
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Lyrics
Deckhand Blues
On a trestle overlooking Superior’s north shore
There’s a train rainin’ down a curtain of red Mesabi ore
Fillin’ up the hatches of a thousand foot-long boat
Now they trim her off, hose down the deck, she’s full, that’s all she wrote
Outta Silver Bay we’ll be headin’ south to the Indiana Mills
I can smell the wood smoke risin’ from beyond those Sawtooth Hills
Now its been a year since I said goodbye to my folks in West Duluth
Got the too-long-gone-on-a-steamboat Great Lakes deckhand blues
Deckhand blues
From crown of this dirty old hard hat
To the bottoms of my steel-toed shoes
Deckhand blues
The harbor lights keep beckoning bright,
But we’re only just passing through
Four days down to Gary and the burnin’ steel mill stacks
Through the sulphur haze, and the twelve hours days it’s my poor aching back
Cleaning struts and breathing dust, and my body feels abused
Got these too-long-gone-on-a-steamboat Great Lakes deckhand blues
Deckhand blues
Saturday nights when you can’t stop thinkin’
What your baby might be up to
Deckhand blues
She’ll be down at the dock ‘round 12 o’clock
But only if your dreams come true
Make way on the ladder ‘cuz the cook’s a little fatter and the mate’s not far behind
If we hurry we can make it, there’s a bar on the corner, gotta an hour till closing time
Just a small pond sailor, ‘bout the only job I’ve ever known
The money’s good but I worry about the girl that I left back home
If there ain’t a letter waitin’ for me at the Soo Locks headin’ down
I know a place to drown my sorrows if we ever get a trip to town
Deckhand Blues
Drinkin’ beers and bumps with the hookers and chumps
On the hard luck avenue
Deckhand blues
Now my head is reelin’ got a homesick feelin,
And I can’t stop thinking of you
On a trestle overlooking Superior’s north shore
There’s a train rainin’ down a curtain of red Mesabi ore
Fillin’ up the hatches of a thousand foot-long boat
Now they trim her off, hose down the deck, she’s full, that’s all she wrote
Outta Silver Bay we’ll be headin’ south to the Indiana Mills
I can smell the wood smoke risin’ from beyond those Sawtooth Hills
Now its been a year since I said goodbye to my folks in West Duluth
Got the too-long-gone-on-a-steamboat Great Lakes deckhand blues
Deckhand blues
From crown of this dirty old hard hat
To the bottoms of my steel-toed shoes
Deckhand blues
The harbor lights keep beckoning bright,
But we’re only just passing through
Four days down to Gary and the burnin’ steel mill stacks
Through the sulphur haze, and the twelve hours days it’s my poor aching back
Cleaning struts and breathing dust, and my body feels abused
Got these too-long-gone-on-a-steamboat Great Lakes deckhand blues
Deckhand blues
Saturday nights when you can’t stop thinkin’
What your baby might be up to
Deckhand blues
She’ll be down at the dock ‘round 12 o’clock
But only if your dreams come true
Make way on the ladder ‘cuz the cook’s a little fatter and the mate’s not far behind
If we hurry we can make it, there’s a bar on the corner, gotta an hour till closing time
Just a small pond sailor, ‘bout the only job I’ve ever known
The money’s good but I worry about the girl that I left back home
If there ain’t a letter waitin’ for me at the Soo Locks headin’ down
I know a place to drown my sorrows if we ever get a trip to town
Deckhand Blues
Drinkin’ beers and bumps with the hookers and chumps
On the hard luck avenue
Deckhand blues
Now my head is reelin’ got a homesick feelin,
And I can’t stop thinking of you
PeterB7858
Understated musical delight, John. Really like the guitar/banjo pan and the sparse arrangement. Your vocal work is a delight as always, especially the harmonies, and then the mando comes in at just the right time at the end. Classic JW! Don't worry about an slight recording imperfections on the vocals, you would sound good to me on a warped cassette :-) Much enjoyed, and thanks for the D/L. Take care, Peter.