Fish(y) Songs

[Elias Graves]

OK, we covered birds. Let's look at fish songs.

 

The Fish (Yes)

Don't Kill the Whale (Yes again. I know, a whale isn't a fish but this isn't biology class.)

Fish and Whistle (John Prine)

Down By The Seaside (Zeppelin. Fish are mentioned. "Do the people hear, What the little fish sayin)

 

EG

[elsongs]

"Fish Heads," Barnes and Barnes

 

cn73Wtem0No

[King_For_A_Day]

Barracuda by Heart for an obvious one

 

Dead Shrimp Blues - Robert Johnson

'I woke up this mornin'

and all my shrimp was dead and gone..."

 

Rock Lobster - B-52s

yeah, I know, crustaceans and all...

[eddieboston2]

Two words: Jimmy Buffett:

 

Fins: pretty much the whole song

 

He Went To Paris:

 

Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilin's And drinks his Green Label each day Writing his memoirs, losin' his hearin' But he don't care what most people say

 

 

Margaritaville: "Smell those shrimp, they're beginnin' to boil"

 

A Pirate Looks at Forty:

 

I have been drunk now for over two weeks, I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks, But I've got stop wishin', got to go fishin' I'm down to rock bottom again, With just a few friends, just a few friends...

 

 

He has an album called "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean"

 

And of course, Land Shark Lager

[Elias Graves]

Nice. Anyone written a fish(y) song?

 

EG

[elsongs]

Nice. Anyone written a fish(y) song? EG

 

Yeah, I wrote a song for a local alternative band called Skwish Kricket for a movie that never got made ("Fishman: The Movie"). You can visit their MySpace page to hear the theme song, "I Like Fish." The movie was supposed to be a comedy, so don't expect totally profound lyrics with this one

 

http://www.myspace.com/skwishkricket

[eddieboston2]

Here's one I wrote a while back. It's a sea chanty based on the true story of Howard Blackburn.

 

My father was a fisherman, as his father before;

Their sails are both furled now, they're not fishing no more.

But I can't stay on dry land; I've a seafaring soul,

So I joined the Grace Fears, out trawling the shoals.

 

CHORUS:

They that go down to the sea in ships,

Only they know the song I sing.

They mount up to Heaven.

They go down again.

Living the life of the wind.

 

The clouds on the masthead showed a good sign;

Me and Tommy took our dory and we hove out our line.

But the angels weren't smiling that January day,

And the wind changed direction and drove us away.

 

And the storm kept on rising, snow stole away our sight.

We lowered our anchor to wait out the night.

But as the snow stopped falling, as the morning came on,

Me and Tommy said nothing: The Grace Fears was gone.

 

CHORUS

 

I took off my mittens to untie the line,

And Tommy started bailing as we fought off the brine.

I lost my gloves overboard, and my friend lost his will,

And I felt the blood stop flowing as we fought off the chill.

 

But I kept on rowing, as my friend closed his eyes:

"Just a little nap," he said, as the cold took his life.

I raised the useless claws where my hands used to be.

I said, "Lord please save me! Make calm the sea."

 

CHORUS

 

The saints and the angels looked down on those claws

And laughed 'cause they all know an impossible cause,

But a Gloucesterman knows, if he knows his own name,

Not to ever stop rowing, though it may seem in vain.

 

Six days and 60 miles, till my arms said, "No more."

But there on the horizon, the Newfoundland Shore.

I yelled to the ocean, as I lifted my arms,

"Try what you will, I still live on!"

 

© 2005 Eddy Boston

[gismo recording]

"John the Fisherman" by Primus