Great Big Sea Album

(written by Alan Doyle / Séan McCann / Chris Trapper)

When you're in love, there's no time and no space
There's a permanent smile on your face
Your friends all complain that you're going insane
But the truth is they're just afraid

CHORUS:
Hey, hey, hey somewhere
You threw your fear in the sea of no cares
Hey, hey, hey somewhere
You threw your fear in the sea of no cares

When you decide that what counts is inside
Your friends all say it's a lie
But there's no brighter light than the look in her eyes
When you're walking her home through the night

CHORUS

Let yourself go with the tide
There's an angel by your side tonight
Throw your fear in the sea

Back at the bar getting cynically stoned
Your friends are drinking alone
But it's funny, 'cause they don't even cross your mind
When she asks you into her home

CHORUS (x2)

(written by C. Hynes)

Every day-ay-ay-ay-ay yeah

Penelope works in the market
Down in the coconut trees
She's saving up all her money
To go to America across the sea

She once had an uncle
He lived in Detroit town
And they got all his post cards
But his body has never been found

To this day-ay-ay-ay-ay yeah
To this day-ay-ay-ay yeah
To this day-ay-ay-ay-ay yeah
To this day-ay-ay-ay yeah

She got a job as a domestic
Workin' for the minimum wage
To all her friends back home in Jamaica
They say, "You really got it made in the shade!"

But they don't see her sweat and grind
And her bended on her knees
She wishes she was back in Jamaica
Beneath the coconut trees

CHORUS:
Every day-ay-ay-ay-ay yeah
Every day-ay-ay-ay yeah
Every day-ay-ay-ay-ay yeah
Every day-ay-ay-ay yeah

CHORUS

Penelope's back in the market
She found what it was all about.
No, no, she doesn't regret it
She's just glad that she got out.

But others aren't so lucky
They're there 'til the day they die
Trapped in the steel and concrete
No beach, no moon, no sky

CHORUS

Every day, yeah (x2)

(written by Alan Doyle / Séan McCann / Chris Trapper)

You left in the morning
You left without a word
Did you get what you came for
Is this what I deserve
All I know is the silence
Was the loudest thing I'd ever heard

CHORUS:
Where do we stand, what am I supposed to do?
Give me the clearest indication
That I'm not alone with you
Reach out your hand, in a world I thought I knew
I need the clearest indication
The clearest indication from you

Did we have all we wanted
And let it slip away in time
Like a country divided
Fifty-one to forty-nine
Years ago, I suppose
We just can't seem to make up our minds

CHORUS

In times like these it's hard to see
With any kind of clarity
What's the point of wondering anymore
So much I just can't figure out
I'd love to know without a doubt
For sure, for sure

CHORUS

(Traditional - Arr. GBS)

Well, I came into a scolding wife a few short years ago
And ever since I lead a life of misery and woe
My wife she is a tyrant around the room and in
Ah, she'd sell me to the devil for a galss or two of Gin. (Alan's part)

Sure I'll get up and go to work as mild as any man
And she'll get up and dress herself and go and have her dram
And if I chance to say a word, it's well I know my doom
She'll follow me with the fire shovel up and down the room
(Bob's part)

CHORUS:
And if the devil'd take her I'd thank him for his pain
I swear to God I'll hang me self If I get married again
And if the devil'd take her I'd thank him for his pain
Oh, I swear to God I'll hang me self if I get married again

When I get home at breakfast time she'll tap me on the head
When I come home at dinner time I'll find her drunk in bed
When I come home at supper time my patients I must stop
'Cause she drank what's in the teapot and I must drink the slops (Darrell's
part)

CHORUS

Well, once I asked me scolding wife if I could go to bed
She scarce gave me an hour on the pillow to lay me head
When like a roarin' lion she came bustin' down the door
She caught me by the middle and threw me naked on the floor (Séan's part)

CHORUS

Now, me and my companions go to a public place
She'll search around the neighbourhood until she finds my face
She'll hoist me up and ridicule me for the company
Saying, "Petticoat is you master, and forevermore shall be." (All)

(written by Alan Doyle)

I don't mind confiding
That I make stupid mistakes
Been misled and misguided
And I'm easily led astray

You can dance with disaster
Never missing a step
Spinning faster and faster
Long after I've already slipped

CHORUS:
But in the middle of it all
You always break my fall
In the middle of it all
Over and over, again and again
You come through the door and I'm stumbling in
I'm twisted and tangled and soaked to the skin
You come through the door and I'm stumbling in

Pulled in every direction
I've a million regrets
And you're the perfect protection
When I'm down and in over my head

CHORUS

And there's bones in my closet
I've collected quite a few
God knows what causes
An angel to love a fool

An angel to love a fool

CHORUS

(written Frank Dwyer - Arr. GBS)

Oh, Gideon lived accross the bay
He's gettin' older now
His boat is big and strong and bold
She has a stalwart bow

But my father's boat was second hand
One someone'd used before
And after every fishing trip
My father always swore.

That someday he would save enough
To go to St. John's Town
And buy himself a big new boat
A boat like Gideon Brown
A boat like Gideon Brown

Confederation came around
And the days of old-age pension
He said, "Son, I'm saving every cent
And this you must not mention."

You save the baby bonus too
And things just might turn around
And we'll have enough to buy a boat
A boat like Gideon Brown

CHORUS:
She can punch ahead in any gale
And ride the fishing ground
I often thought how proud I'd be
In a boat like Gideon Brown
In a boat like Gideon Brown

Many years did pass away
And Dad began to fade
He didn't talk of boats too much
He said, "Son, I'm afraid"

If things don't soon improve
Then I'll be under ground
Before we ever get to see ourselves
In a boat like Gideon Brown

CHORUS

I sat and held his hand one day
He said, "Son, that policy
The insurance is all in your name
You're the beneficiary."

And when I'm gone, they'll pay you off
Then go to St. John's Town
And buy yourself a big new boat
A boat like Gideon Brown.

(written by Alan Doyle / Séan McCann / Chris Trapper)

Waiting for the nightingale to sing
Waiting for the harbour lights to dim
I've been on the outside lookin' in
While the widow in the window waits for him.

CHORUS 1:
But he won't be back
Can't you realize that?
And he's laughing at your sorrow

Waiting for a ship that won't come in
Waiting for a tear to reach her chin
I'm knockin', but she will not let me in.

CHORUS 2:
And he won't be back
Can't you realize that?
And he's laughing at your sorrow
How can I explain, your love is all in vain
While he wastes your precious hours
I could fill your days with flowers.

How can I replace the smile upon a face
Of a lover that I can never be
How can I begin to make you love again
And try to make you see

And he won't be back
Can't you realize that?
And he's laughing at
Your sorrow

CHORUS 1 + 2

(written by Bob Hallett)

It's of a bold young smuggler
From Fortune he did sail
He rode the waves from St. Pierre
And he never saw the jail

He filled her up with contraband
Perfume, smokes, and rum
He hoped the bog was thick enough
To make another run

CHORUS:
You can still see the sight on a winter's night
Of his wake in the light of the moon
If the wind turns right and you don't take fright
You can small that French perfume

But the Mountie boat was waiting
As he crawled up Fortune Bay
And when they hit the spotlight
It was like the light of day

He didn't bring her head 'round
When they told him to heave to
He opened up the engines
And he ran for Spanish Room

CHORUS

They said they heard him laughing
With the Mounties closing in
His engines screaming murder
And his face set in a grin

The seagulls started lifting
Like an angry banshee choir
He hit the rocks at 50 clicks
And the sky lit up with fire

It's of a bold young smuggler
From Fortune he did sail
He rode the waves from St. Pierre
And he never saw the jail

And when it's cold and foggy
On the rocks near Spanish Room
They say you hear him laughing
And you smell that French perfume

CHORUS (x2)

(Traditional - Arr. GBS)

In Yarmouth Town there lived a man,
He had a little tavern by the strand.
And the landlord had a daughter fair
A pretty little thing with the golden hair.

CHORUS:
Oh won't you come down, won't you come down
Oh won't you come down to Yarmouth Town.

One night there came a sailor man,
He asked the daughter for her hand.
"Well, I won't marry you," she said,
I have all I want without being wed.

But if with me you'd like to linger,
I'll tie some string all around my finger.
As you walk by, pull on my string
And I'll come down and let you right in.

CHORUS (x2)

Well, the very next day at closing time
The sailor man goes off to the strand
And as he walks by, pulls on that string
And she's came down and let him right in.

Well he's never seen such a sight before,
A string around her finger was all she wore!

CHORUS (x2)

So, all young men who to Yarmouth go
If you see those girls with their hair hung low,
All you got to do is pull their strings
And they'll come down and let you right in.

(Traditional - Arr. GBS)

From a barque in the Harbour I went roaming on shore
And stepped into a pub where I was oft' times before
And as I was sitting and enjoying my glass
Who chanced to walk in but a young Spanish lass.

She sat down beside me and kept squeezing my hand
And saying, "Sir, you're a stranger, not long to this land
Will you roam jolly sailor, would you roam along with me?
To some lonesome spot where nobody can see."

CHORUS:
"Don't you leave me jolly sailor," were the words she did cry.
Waiting and weeping and wiping her eyes.
"When you reach home in your own Newfoundland
Think of the young Spaniard who kept squeezing your hand."

I quickly consented with her for to roam
She lived by herself in a neat little home
She was brisk, plump, and jolly and her age scarce 19
And the name of that maiden I think was Irene.

One fine summer's morning, our ship, she set sail
And down by the seashore, lovely Irene, she came
Waving her pocket handkercheif and wiping her eyes
"Don't leave me jolly sailor," were the word she did cry.

CHORUS

"I'll bid you farewell, Love, on a fine summer's breeze
But, Love, don't forget me when you're crossing the sea
And when you are married, enjoying your bride
Think of the young maiden who layed by your side.

CHORUS

(written by Alan Doyle / Séan McCann / Chris Trapper)

It takes a lot to get to the top
And a little just to fall off quick
And I think I've seen you here before.

Sometimes you fly so high
So fast it makes you sick
You won the battle and lost the war

But I don't mind if you say,
Every time you talk to me
Every time we talk

CHORUS:
We came, we saw
We conquered and crumbled
In our own true way
We loved, we fought
We rocked and we tumbled
In our own true way

Well, I believe in Brotherhood
And the good of all mankind
But I admit it's hard to find

But, if you wanna talk
Just come and knock
It don't matter what the time
Solitude is no friend of mine

And I don't mind if you say,
Every time you talk to me
Every time we talk

CHORUS

It's hard to be from a rock in the sea
Livin' in a big, steel town
Finding unfamiliar faces all around.

You heard 'em tellin' stupid jokes
You heard 'em laugh every time you spoke
But you don't let nobody put you down.

But I don't mind if you say,
Every time you talk to me
Every time you talk to me
Every time we talk

(Traditional - Arr. GBS)

There's lots of fish in Bonavist Harbour,
Lots of fish right in around here;
Boys and girls are fishin' together,
Fourty-five from Carbonear.

Catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, dance around she;
Dance around this one, dance around that one,