Tuesday, May 09, 2006

 

THE WRECK OF THE JIMMY B. sung by Gordon Lightfoot

Twas the seventh of May
we had traveled all day
down the lake they call Pac-if-a-goo-me

Our spirits were high
not a cloud in the sky
we were getting to San Fran so surely

From galley to head
really kicking the lead
but the captain was getting a bit surly

"There's a storm brewing mates
when we get to the gates
of the golden bay near Salsalito

We've traveled this far
not by train, air or car
all on water to here from Toledo

But the oceans turned white
while day changed to night
and our engine is working like jello"

So he went down below
at a break in the blow
when he tasted last nights burrito

No one had the wheel
and a wave hit the keel
and the boat went all kinda curely

The captain it's said
didn't exit the head
when the gales of November came early.

Comments:
O captain my captain,
what hath happened?
When on the stormy sea
sank the Johnsons on the Jimmy B.

With his nuptuals drawing neigh
the cries of Johnsons rising high...
Whilst thy family soon arrive,
with their cries from the doomed steamer rising high?

Oh the legendary passage of the Jimmy B,
What hath become of thee?
It was such a fine setting
To celebrate Jim & Jen's wedding.
 
There were strange things done
in the springtime sun
by the party that cruised so bold.
Those river trails
have their secret tails
That would make your blood run cold.
The San Fran lights
have seen queer sights,
but the queerest they ever did see,
was that day on the bay
when I lost my way,
and sank the Jimmy B.

Now the Jimmy B. was from Manistee
where a sweet wind always blows.
Why it left its home on the big lake to roam,
God only knows.
We were heading due West
for a wedding fest
and provisions were plenty and free.
But a wave tossed my salad
and left me quite palid.
Thus sank the Jimmy B.
 
oh if Robert Service could only have been on the trip...it may have ended up that he wrote about the Cremation of the Jimmy B
 
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