My lovely new Gay Sea Chantey. Will write more on this Later. Meanwhile, check out the Live song video on Youtube!
From the YouTube video description: "A few months ago, I was practicing Irish tunes on my guitar one evening, when a strange thought popped into my head: 'I wonder what a gay sea chantey might sound like?' I have no idea what brought that up; but the next thing I knew, my brain had gone into story-quest mode, and this song began taking shape in my head.
"Tally-O" is, you might say, a piece of original slash fiction in song format. In my opinion, it's one of the best songs I've written to date, and one of the most daring and emotional. The story is completely fictitious, no resemblance to living or historical people, etc.; but there are some historical details thrown in. My Norwegian great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather were themselves ship's carpenters on merchant fleets; and my grandfather also joined a merchant fleet at an early age. The company of Smith & Thommesen, mentioned in the lyrics, was a business jointly founded and owned by a Norwegian and an Englishman; my ship's carpenter ancestors (abovementioned) both worked for them. The company's main gig was processing wood pulp for paper; but they also owned a merchant fleet.
Anyway, I've been seriously in love with this song ever since I began working on it; and I'm pleased to be able to upload it as a video just in time for Pride Weekend 2015. Undying love can happen for just about anyone, anywhere. Enjoy, and tusen takk! "While all these things are with us, love on earth can never die..."
Joseph Mangan is my name,
In Belfast born and weaned;
And straight from school at fourteen,
For ship's carpenter I trained.
And I had just turned twenty
When I packed and put to sea,
And served aboard a merchant fleet
From eighteen-ninety-three...
Chorus: Tally-O, Tally-O,
And a fog is on the line;
No man on land or sea could match
That northern light of mine.
Our captain was a Norseman,
Eivar Madsen was his name;
In a family of harpooning men,
From Bergen's port he came.
In the fleet of Smith and Thommesen
He'd learned the captain's art,
With the spirit of a seagull,
And a true sea-lover's heart...
(Chorus)
We met as kindred spirits,
And we loved straight from the start;
For the ocean was his first love,
But he netted all my heart.
We'd be joining through the night watch
As we groaned each other's names;
And his kiss would leave me glowing
Like the northern lights aflame...
(Chorus)
Six years we chased the tradewinds
From Singapore to Spain;
From Galveston to Bergen,
Charging through the wind and rain.
Then one night, I found him singing
From the fore deck to the skies,
And facing night's horizon
With a strange fear in his eyes...
(Chorus)
"How I love the earth and ocean,
And the moon that shepherds waves;
And this life we share with all that lives
That cycles past our graves.
See the dolphins greet the sunrise,
As the seagulls trawl the sky;
While all these things are with us,
Love on Earth can never die."
Then he said, "My brother Jurgen,
He has long supplied me strife,
For he thinks ill of my nature,
And he grudges me my life.
If I meet him in the harbor,
I may ne'er return to sea;
So before we make Bergen,
Give your strongest love to me."
(Chorus)
We landed at the Bryggen wharf
In Bergen's port next day;
Unloading goods as always,
When a stranger strode our way.
He'd breached the gate despite the guards,
To avenge some sense of shame;
With a new harpoon in his right hand
For my lover's throat he came.
(Chorus)
Now, the chief mate grabbed it from his hand,
And I joined him in a bound,
As Eivar reached out hands and voice
And tried to calm him down.
I thought we had disarmed him,
When he lunged forth with a start;
And in his left hand was a gutting knife
Run clear through Eivar's heart.
I howled my best for loaded guns
To arrest this devil's hate;
And guards rushed out with pistols drawn,
But they brought him down too late.
Then I dropped to Eivar's side to hear
The last he spoke to me:
"Don't stop to think of mourning, Joe;
My spirit flies beside ye."
(Chorus)
In the open sea we laid him,
Far beneath the ship bell's tones;
For no country on this green earth
I think worthy of his bones.
Now, I've had both lads and lasses;
I could keep any I choose--
But not one in ten thousand
Will ever fill my Eivar's shoes...
(Chorus)
Now, I love the earth and ocean,
From Belize to Malabar;
And Eivar's spirit on the winds,
For he is my northern star.
I watch the dolphins greet the morn,
As the seagulls trawl the sky;
And while all these things are with us,
Love on Earth can never die...
Tally-O, Tally-O,
And a fog is on the line;
Not a man on land or sea could match
That northern light of mine
Tally-O, Tally-O,
And a fog is on the line;
Not a man on land or sea can match
That Northern Star of mine.
