Wave Over Wave

Click Here for wife's monologue.

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sheet music

(a similar tune, Quare Bungle Rye)

Me name's Able Rogers, a shareman am I,
On a three-masted schooner from Twillingate Isle;
I've been the world over, north, south, east, and west,
But the middle of nowhere's where I like it best.

Where it's wave over wave, sea over bow,
I'm as happy a man as the sea will allow;
There's no other life for a sailor like me,
But to sail the salt sea, boys, sail the sea;
There's no other life but to sail the salt sea.

The work it is hard and the hours are long,
My spirit is willing, my back it is strong;
And when our work's over then whiskey we'll pour,
We'll dance with the girls upon some foreign shore.

I'd leave my wife lonely ten months of the year,
She made me a home and raised my children dear;
But she'd never come out to bid farewell to me,
Or ken why a sailor must sail the salt sea.

I've sailed the wide oceans four decades or more,
And oft' times I've wondered what I do it for;
I don't know the answer, it's pleasure and pain,
With life to live over, I'd do it again.

Wife's Monologue (Spoken In original stage version.)
            Well, I can't complain. I haven't had it as hard as some, God
knows. And for the bit of time that you've been around in the past
sixteen years, well, you've been a good man. I remember the year we
were married ... it was a good year. You were workin' for my father
and it seems to me that I had you all to meself every minute of every
day ... and all the sweet long hours of the night. I think that was the
happiest year of my life.

            But, by the spring of the following year, (just after my
birthday, it was) you got to be itchin' after something and in no time
at all you'd gone down and you'd signed up on the Mary Eleanor.
It was then that I knew I was married to a sailor. I couldn't even bring
myself to go down and say goodbye to ya.

            Now, I'm not complaining. We've always had a roof over our
heads and we've never wanted for very much. I always said, now,
that I never had it as hard as May. Her husband, Jack, well, he'd
only be home one or two days out of every year ... that's when he
was workin' on the coastal boats. My dear, when he'd come home on
the Prospero she'd have to go down there and get 'im
because he was too blind drunk to make his way home by himself.

            And I'll never forget the night I was over at Nan's ... the night
Poppy Rogers came home. Poppy Rogers, gone eleven years. We
hadn't heard a word from him. We didn't know what had happened to
him. Sure, we'd give him up for dead! Well, that night, Nan just look
out of the window and she saw him comin' up the path and all she
said was, "Put the kettle on, Frank's home".

            But I do wish you'd been here with me when Gary died. My
God, that was a hard winter. The flu ... epidemic proportions they'd
said on the radio. I remember the night Mom and I laid him out. Oh,
your mother came over, too. I think Gary was her favourite, really.
Anyway, that night I sat up with him. I sat up in that big ol' chair your
brother made and I must have dozed off 'cause around 4 or 5 o'clock
in the morning I woke up and just for an instant you were there. You
were bendin' over and kissin' his cheek.

            Well, you were back in port six months later and you gave me
Kevin and Kevin had the croup. He coughed and he bawled for a
solid year straight. He had me raftered. He had me clear drove off me
head. And then the following year you were only home for a week. I
got Rose out of that visit.

            But you've always sent me lovely presents. Sometimes a year
goes by and I have no word, no letters or such, but always bits and
pieces from here, there, and everywhere. A lovely shawl arrived for
me in the mail today ... three yards of beautiful coloured silk. I
wonder where it's from ... Spain, Morroco, some place I've never
been to. Ahh, it's gorgeous. It puts me in mind of warm winds and
people speakin' in foreign tongues. But, sure, where am I gonna wear
it? I suppose, now, I'll put it on when I go out in the garden diggin' up
a few turnips or makin' a bit of soap outta lye.

            Well, I'll go and light the candle for ya now. It'll always be
here in the window to guide ya home ... I'll always be here for you,
God willing.

            You know, for the bit of time that you've been around in our
married life, well, you're the only man I've ever had ... you're the only
man I've ever wanted!

####.... Jim Payne (1983). Monologue by Janice Spence ....####

See more Jim Payne songs.

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Notes On Guitar Tabs:
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All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.

Me [G] name's Able Rogers, a shareman am I,
On [C] a three-mas-[G] ted schooner from [Am] Twillingate Isle
I've [C] been the world [G] over, north, [C] south, east, and [G] west
But the [C] middle of no-[G] where's where I [Am] like it [D] best.

Where it's [C] wave over [G] wave, sea [C] over [G] bow,
I'm as [C] happy a [G] man as the [Am] sea will al-[D] low
There's [C] no other [G] life for a sai-[C] lor like [G] me
But to [C] sail the salt sea, [G] boys, [Am] sail the [D] sea
There's [C] no other life but to [D] sail the salt [G] sea