#00259
Rolling Down To Old Maui (Jody Hale) w/lyrics, MIDI & videos

         #110: YouTube video by newfiefiddler ©2006.
                      ~ Used with permission ~

midi file alt : midi file

midi file alt : midi file

It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife,
We whaler men undergo,
And we don't give a damn when the gale is done,
How hard the winds did blow;
'Cause we're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
With a good ship taut and free,
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum,
With the girls of old Maui

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

Once more we sail with the northerly gale,
Through the ice and wind and rain,
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands,
We soon shall see again;
Six hellish months we sailed away,
On the cold Kamchatka Sea
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

Once more we sail with the northerly gale,
Towards our island home,
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam;
Our stun's'l bones is carried away,
What care we for that sound,
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound.

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

How soft the breeze through the island trees,
Now the ice is far astern,
Them native maids, them tropical glades
Is a-waiting our return;
Even now their big brown eyes look out,
Hoping some fine day to see,
Our baggy sails run 'fore the gales,
Rolling down to old Maui.

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.

####.... Author unknown. Variant of a 19th century American traditional whaling song, Going Down To Old Mohee, popularized by Stan Rogers ....####
See more songs by Stan Rogers.

The YouTube video above features an excellent acapella performance by Jody Hale of Too Good Arm and Grand Falls-Windsor, NL.

See more songs by Jody Hale.

This is an example of a fo'c's'le (forecastle) shanty or fore bitter which was usually sung by resting sailors gathered about the fore bitts (a wooden structure for tying down lines) near the bow where the crew quarters and anchor chains were located.

The original lyrics to this shanty were first found in the 1858 ships log of the whaling barque Atkins Adams out of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The words were fit to this melody sometime in the 1930's. An original melody was subsequently discovered but wasn't nearly as popular.

From Wikipedia:
Stuns'l - studding sail or studsail is a sail used to increase the sail area of a square rigged vessel in light winds. Traditionally pronounced stuns'l, it is an extra sail hoisted alongside a square-rigged sail on an extension of its yardarm. It is named by prefixing the word studding to the name of the working sail alongside which it is set.

The YouTube video below features an excellent 12-string guitar performance of a variant arranged by Tony Archibald from Port St. Mary on the Isle of Man.



         #834: YouTube video by threelegsoman ©2009
                    ~ Used with permission ~





line
Index Page
GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador



line

~ Copyright Info ~
~ Privacy Policy ~

Confirm Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional Here