St. John's
Glenn Simmons (SOCAN)

I did my best tryin' to be a rollin' stone
Just too good a time when I'm home
It's time to lay my head� lay my head down
So put me anywhere in St. John's town

PRE-CHORUS
Where the Southside looks down, down, down
Down on the town
If ya hear me
CHORUS
Light up the light, I'll ride out the night 'til I'm where the water's calm
Pray for the weather, heave up the mainsail
There's a good day comin' when you lay your head in St. John's
(I' been away, been away too long� I' been away, been away too long)

I haves too good a time when I'm home
Hey buddy, wha's ya at� wha's goin' on?

PRE-CHORUS AND CHORUS
CHORUS


The Memory Is Gone
Glenn Simmons (SOCAN)

She looked surprised to see me
And now my face must tell a lie
I'll choose my words carefully
How are ya? Oh, I'm doin' fine
And what about the children
And are ya still in love with him
You have to ask that nowadays
God how long as it been
But you know the memory is gone

It used to be in colour
But now it's barely black and white
I hope I don't insult her
If I just nod to be polite
There was a time when we� oh, excuse me
Guess it musta been somebody else
You still remember the look on my face
You know, I don't remember much myself 
Ha, you know the memory is gone

BRIDGE
I really don't remember
Well just a glimmer, maybe two
Too much distance for the memories to last
I guess so, if you say so
I'm glad we had this chance to talk
'Cause you remember so much more about the past

Yeah, like the time we spent together
So well we got along
It couldn'ta been much better
Oh well, I been away so long
And you know the memory is gone
Yeah you know the memory is gone 


Jolly Rovin' Tar
(Traditional)

Ships may come and ships may go as long as the seas do roll
Each sailor lad, just like his dad, he loves the flowin' bowl
A trip ashore he does adore with the girl that's plump and round
And when your money's gone it's the same old song� Get up Jack John sit down

CHORUS:
Come along, come along, me jolly brave boys� there's lots of grog in the jar
We'll plough the briny ocean with the jolly rovin' tar

When Jack gets in it's then he'll stair to some old boarding house
They'll welcome him with rum and gin and feed him on port stout
He'll spend and he will not offend until he's drunk on the ground
And when your money's gone, it's the same old song� Get up Jack John sit down

He'll stair onboard some ship bound down for Newfoundland
All the ladies there in Placentia Bay, they love that sailor man
He'll go ashore, all on a tear, and he'll buy some girl a gown
And when your money's gone, it's the same old song� Get up Jack John sit down

When Jack gets old and weatherbeat, too old to roam about
They'll let him stop in some rum shop 'til eight bells call him out
He'll raise his eyes up to the sky sayin' "boys, we're homeward bound"
And when your money's gone it's the same old song� Get up Jack John sit down


The Baby Sleeps
Glenn  Simmons (SOCAN)

Walk me in the dewy evening air
The grass has gently shed a tear
The baby sleeps
By the light of just a fire
The stars ignite desire
The baby sleeps

Breathing just a sigh
Turn the light out from her eyes
Shhhh...
By the firelight we'll prance, we'll dance, we'll diddle-e-i
Under evening sky
The baby sleeps

Saddle up the moon she rises
Waltz me to a tune she glides
And the baby sleeps
Hear the singer wrap the stars around her finger
Go ahead and swing her
The baby sleeps

We can dance until the sun begins to shine
And in the mornin' thank the world
We got a fiddle and a drum
And an old guitar to strum
We'll dance to meet the sun
As the baby sleeps

BRIDGE
Walk away your worries, walk away your woes
Let's spend the night in never-never
Where sleepy baby goes

We can dance until...



The Fable (The Queen and Taxes)
Glenn Simmons (SOCAN)

It's a story as old as the oldest land
And the moral is still related
A beautiful princess took his hand
And the whole world celebrated
The one from up above
Set it spinning upon its axis
And made it clear to all who hear
That the Queen doesn't pay any taxes


It was Johnny and Jill that when up the hill
And they didn't come down with water
Along with God's will and no birth control pills
They had 16 sons and a daughter
Feel the hunger hurt
As royalty relaxes
Thanks Jack, and thank you Jill
But the Queen doesn't pay any taxes... na na na...


BRIDGE
She's got her problems but I don't care
I'd gladly solve them if she'd take mine
And make me a millionaire


It's a lesson unlearned throughout history
A poor father once said to his poor son
I'm as old as can be and it's too hard for me
To be blowing things out of proportion
Boys need room to breathe
As they set out to grind their axes
It's all for one, not one for all
And the Queen doesn't pay any taxes... na na na...


Feller from Fortune
(Traditional)

Lots of fish in Bonavist Harbour
Lots of fish down in around here
Boys and girls are fishin' together
Forty-five from Carbonear

CHORUS
Catch-a-hold this one, catch-a-hold that one
Swing around this one, swing around she
Dance around this one, dance around that one
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum-dee

Sally goes to church every Sunday
Not to sing and not for to hear
But to see the Feller from Fortune
What was down here fishin' last year

Sally got a bouncin' new baby
Father says that he doesn't care
'Cause she sees the Feller from Fortune
What was down here fishin' last year

Back down by the Shore
David Fitzpatrick (SOCAN)

Surrounded by the concrete, caught up in the race
They say that when it's finished it'll be a nice place
Movin' so fast you can hardly see a thing
Work, get a paycheque, what's it all mean

The smog in the air, enough to make you choke
It's like lookin' down a chimney and suckin' up the smoke
Cars to my left, cars to my right
I gotta get home� can't take another night

CHORUS
The world came crashing through my door
I'm goin' back down by the shore

Thirty more minutes, then it's time to go
Gotta get a grip� keep it in control
With my hand on the wheel and my foot to the floor
All the way east 'til I hit my front door

I'll breathe in the air that makes me feel right
Count the stars in the dipper when I'm caught up in the night
When I'm out on the ocean, sailing on a wave
The city blues are gone when I'm out around the bay

CHORUS
The world came crashing through my door
I'm goin' back down by the shore (I'll find it)

Back out in the woods, casting out my line
Now I'm doing fine� I'm never have a bother
The birds and the sea, they make me feel free
Send me down on one knee
I'm surrounded by the water

CHORUS
The world came crashing through my door
I'm goin' back down by the shore

Not a worry anymore� being back down by the shore
I've found it
Yeah I'm back down by the shore
Back down by the shore
Yeah I'm back down by the shore


The Village Belle
Glenn Simmons / D'Arcy Broderick (SOCAN)

A Place out on the ocean I go now and then
Way out on the ocean to be with my best friend
There was no finer, and oh I know her well
We kissed along the water... she was the Village Belle

Softer than a whisper I used to breathe her name
I would never leave her; she would be the same
There was no finer, and oh I know her well
We kissed along the water... she was the Village Belle

In the springtime or lying in the snow
Or comin' around the harbour when the wild wind used to blow
There was no finer, and oh I know her well
We kissed along the water... she was the Village Belle
There was no finer, and oh I loved her well
We kissed along the water... she was the Village Belle


Big Bow-wow
(Traditional)

From Yarmouth Harbour we set sail
The wind was blowin' the devil of a gale
All our ring tails set and our bafflin' was in peak
And our dolphin striker is a-ploughin' up the deep

CHORUS
With a big bow-wow
Tow row row
Fol dee rol dee ride all day

Our captain comes up from down below
He looks aloft and he looks alow
He looks alow and he looks aloft
Sayin' coil those ropes boys, fore and aft

Then back to his cabin he quickly crawls
Unto his steward he loudly calls
Go bring me a glass that will make me cough
For it's better weather here than it is up aloft

It's we poor sailors standin' on the deck
With the blasted rain pourin' down our necks
Not a drop of grog will he to us afford
But he damns our eyes with every other word

Now there's one thing we sailors crave
For him to find a watery grave
We'll shove him down in a dark deep hole
Where the sharks will have his body, and the devil take his soul


The Ryans and The Pittmans
(Traditional)

I'm a son of a sea-cook... I'm a cook on a trader
I can dance, I can sing, I can reef the main boom
I can handle the jigger and I cuts a fine figure
Whenever I gets in the boat's standing room

CHORUS
We'll rant and we'll roar like true Newfoundlanders
We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below
Until we strikes bottom inside of two sunkers
When straight through the channels of Toslow we'll go

If the voyage is good, in the fall I will do it
I have three pounds ten for a ring and a priest
And a couple of dollars for white shirts and collars
And a handful of coppers to pay for the feast

Farewell and adieu to ye fair girls of Valen
Farewell and adieu to ye girls in the cove
I am bound for the West to the wall with the hole in
And I'll take her from Toslow the wide world to roam