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I was born and raised in a Newfoundland outport,
Where a man is as tough as the sea;
Where tradition lives on in the hearts of the people,
It was taught by my Grandpa to me.
Raised in a family with thirteen children,
Back then it was hard just to live;
But my grandfather was always beside me,
Giving something although he had nothing to give.
He could build you a house, a boat or a cradle,
He could build a kid's jumping-jack toy;
And the care he would put into building a pine box,
If someone in our small town had died.
How I love my Grandpa, he meant the whole world to me,
How I love my Grandpa, I sailed around the world on his knee.
He told me how he fought in the war for his country,
He fought so all men would be free;
And he would say, "Son, I wish when you get old,
You'll never have to fight like me."
And he'd always be singing Let Me Fish Off St. Mary's,
About the girls down in Harbour Le Cou;
I can still see him smiling, I guess he remembered,
The years when he fished down there, too.
How I love my Grandpa, he meant the whole world to me,
How I love my Grandpa, I sailed around the world on his knee.
He taught me that Sunday was the Lord's day of rest,
No manner of work should be done;
Went to church in the morning, ate dinner at noon,
Took a nap in the parlour at one.
But progress has changed all the Newfoundland outports,
Where your grandparents lived just next door;
For now they all live in some government manor,
Before they're ten years over three score.
How I love my Grandpa, he meant the whole world to me,
How I love my Grandpa, I sailed around the world on his knee.
Yes, I sailed around the world on his knee.
Recorded by Labrador Black Spruce [1989-1999] (Ashuanipi Wish, trk#5, 1995, Black Spruce Music, Labrador City, Labrador, produced by Nando Speranza).
See more songs by Labrador Black Spruce.
From Wikipedia:
Jumping-Jack - toy whose origins date back thousands of years. The jointed jumping-jack figure is a cross between a puppet and a paper doll, and the figures are generally made from wood. Their limbs are jointed and tied to a pull string. When the string is pulled and released, the arms and legs move up and down.
Outport - bay or harbour other than the chief port of St. John's; the inhabited coastal strip or settlement of such an inlet of the sea; out-harbour.
