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THE BALLAD OF CAPTAIN COOK

Avast ye swarthy sea dogs! step aboard "Endeavour" for a voyage of discovery and danger on the high seas!

The harp solo has now been redubbed and is on the MP3 songlist (-:

VOCALS, GUITARS, BASS, DRUMS, DIDGE, HARP - SLOWPAW STEVE T.

CHORUS - WE'RE SAILING AWAY FOR THREE YEARS AND A DAY
WITH NO-ONE TO CHASE YOU OR JAIL YA.
NOBODY KNOWS, WHEREVER WE GOES,
BUT THE MAN WHO WAS BORN A SAILOR.

IN THE WIND AND THE RAIN DOWN FROM MARTON HE CAME,
YEARNING TO SAIL ON THE SEA.
ON A WHITBY COAL SHIP HE SERVED HIS TIME,
THEN JOINED THE ROYAL NAVY.

THE AMERICAN WAR CALLED, HIS DUTY UNSTALLED,
HE STUDIED THE STARS AND THE SEA.
HE MADE MANY MAPS AND SOON CALLED BY THE CHAPS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

CHORUS

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS THERE LAY HIS FIRST TASK,
"ENDEAVOUR" WAS LOADED AND READY.
WITH BANKS AND BLOCKS AND HARRISON'S CLOCKS,
THE COURSE WE MADE WAS STEADY.

WITH PORTABLE SOUP WE DANCED ON THE POOP,
INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
TAHITI THERE LAY AND THEN ANCHORS AWEIGH !
THE SHIP SHE LAY IN MOTION.

THE NATIVES WERE FRIENDLY IN THIS PARADISE,
THE SAILORS THEY LOVED ALL THE WOMEN.
FOR THE PRICE OF A NAIL THEY'LL GIVE YOU THEIR TAIL,
UNTIL TO NEW ZEALAND WE'RE HEADING.

CHORUS

FROM POVERTY BAY THE OLD SHIP FOUND ITS WAY,
FROM ANAURA BAY TO AUCKLAND.
THEN CAME TO GRIEF OFF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF,
BUT KEPT GOING WITH THE HELP OF ALL HANDS.

THE SHIP WAS CAREENED ON A VERY STRANGE SHORE,
LAND THEY WOULD CALL AUSTRALIA.
THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS THEY KEPT WELL AWAY,
ONLY KANGAROOS WANTED TO KNOW YA !

CHORUS

WITH MANY MORE SHIPS AND WITH MANY MORE TRIPS,
THE CAPTAIN WAS SOON A GREAT HERO.
BUT ONE ISLAND HE VISITED BECAME HIS UNDOING,
THE LAST PART OF THE STORY I'LL TELL YA...

THEN CAME THE DAY THE LORD TOOK HIM AWAY,
A STORM TURNED US BACK TO HAWAII.
THEY CAVED IN HIS HEAD, WE LEFT HIM FOR DEAD,
HIS CREW WERE ALL WEEPING AND CRYING....

WE SAILED AWAY ON THAT SAD FATEFUL DAY,
NO CAPTAIN ABOARD TO GUIDE US.
HIS MEMORY WILL ALWAYS BURN IN OUR HEARTS,
HE'D ALWAYS BE THERE TO INSPIRE US !

CHORUS

All words and music Copyright Steve Trowbridge February 2014. From forthcoming album "Folk of Oak".

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Comment by Calim on March 10, 2014 at 5:08am: great song !! :D

Comment by Slowpaw Steve T on February 6, 2014 at 12:56am: many thanks for your comments! (-:

the Harrison clocks in the story are very significant, many ships were lost at sea due to bad navigation, only until they had a reliable sea clock to tell the exact time in Greenwich and the same time anywhere in the world could they navigate accurately, this success in navigation opened the gates for trade and safer passages for goods and troops around the globe, this helped Britain build her Empire and colonise many otherwise distant and difficult places to navigate to. (-:

Comment by Spike on February 5, 2014 at 4:42am: Cookin'!

I tried dancing on the poop once - it tends to get stuck between your toes and your feet stink afterwards.

Comment by Nancy kat on February 5, 2014 at 4:20am: Yup and once the Hawaiians found out the men were not God's it was curtains for the Captain and crew! Steve good work bringing this history to light again! Meowwww

Comment by darryl kernaghan on February 5, 2014 at 12:51am: nicely done steve

Comment by Slowpaw Steve T on February 4, 2014 at 10:37pm: There is a very funny human nature story i read in one of Cook's biographies - whilst on Tahiti, which was paradise compared to Georgian England and many months on board ship, the men got very friendly with the women, the Tahitian men seemed happy enough with this especially as the visitors had one vital commodity which the island lacked - iron. The girls were soon exchanging their favours for pieces of the metal and nails which the sailors removed from the ships, and got to such a state that bits were falling of the ships as over time nails were surreptitiously removed, Cook immediately called a stop to this of course, boys will be boys! (-;

Comment by Slowpaw Steve T on February 4, 2014 at 9:39pm: cheers RTZ !

Jim i have two concert class Didges, one in E and the one in the song is in D. (-:

Comment by RTZGUITARS on February 4, 2014 at 7:42pm: Interesting Steve A historical Sea Shanty. nice work

Comment by Jim Morris on February 4, 2014 at 2:32pm: Real nice Slowpaw. Good didge work. My Cigar Box didge doesn't sound near as good!

Comment by Slowpaw Steve T on February 4, 2014 at 8:09am: many thanks for your great comments! hope to get the album finished soon , will post up a preview on launch day (-: