Canoe Songs
By
Lenny Everson
rev
1
Copyright Lenny Everson 2011
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****
For Dianne, my paddle partner
***
Where Pines Touch The Stars
Tune:
“Flow Gently Sweet Afton
From the Poem “Where Pines Touch the
Stars”
On
the [G]ridges,
the [Am]old
pines are [D]touching
the [G]stars
Sifting
the [Em]galaxies,
[Am]tickling
[D]Mars
[Am]
Long after[Em]
fire-out, at the [C]edge
of the [D]lake
I
[Em] watch
the [Am]path
their [D]silhouettes
[G]take
Late
at night, when the small talk grows thin
The campfire is doused,
and the dark washes in
I find a soft place well down by the
shore
To watch the old pines scrape the cosmos once more
Down
here, in new forest, in the slow growth of wood
Our tents crowd in
where the shanties once stood
In the change of the seasons, in the
movement of sky
The old pines watch as the decades slide by
The
waves slap steadily on another island rock
The tents are full of
shuffling and talk
The canoes, just mounds of silence and dark
An
owl hoots softly, somewhere in the park
Long
after fire-out, at the edge of the lake
My eyes trace the lines
that silhouettes make
Sifting the galaxies, tickling Mars
After
midnight, out here, where pines touch the stars.
****
April River Song
Tune:
“The Merry Ploughboy”
From poems: “Bubbles In The Flotsam Of
Time” &
”The Maps Are Tucked In A Big Plastic Pouch”
Chorus
[G]Let’s
go be part of some [D]river again
Be[C] bubbles in
the [D]flotsam of[G] time
We’ll[D] put all
promises on hold and then
We will paddle to the [C]end of
our [G]rhyme.
The
wind is singing some [D]wild hero’s song
Our [C]paddles are
[D]varnished and [G]bright
The [D]canoe is ready; the evenings
grow long
And the thermometer is [C]rising [G]tonight.
Somewhere
the ice pulls away from the shore
Somewhere the rivers break
free
Somewhere April is calling the names
Of you, my love, and
of me
It’s
not that the house isn’t friendly and warm
It’s not that the
water’s not cold
But I hear the wind come singing our names
To
watch another springtime unfold.
Ah,
Love, we’re a couplet in the epic of time
So what if the waters
are cold?
We’ll follow rivers to the end of our rhyme
And
paddle until we get old
****
August River (Dry)
Tune:
Sloop John B.
From the Poem “Around the bend”
We
[D]come
to the river bend dragging the canoe and then
We see that the way
ahead’s just as [A7]dry
My
[D]crazy
friend and me were optimists, you [G]see
Though
[C]everybody
said [A7]this
year things were [D]dry
Chorus
So
lift, lift and drag Humming the Dry River Rag
Sweat, strive, and
never, ever yield
Bless us optimists our lifejackets, paddles,
and lists
Voyageurs of the burning summer fields
Got a
pack upon my shoulder the canoe sits on a boulder
Just enough
water down there to moisten a frog
It looked good on my map I’m
a gullible chap
Maybe I’ll just sit here and study this log
One
car’s way upstream I wish I had ice cream
The other car is
waiting far ahead
From the fields the crickets laugh in the
shade a cow and calf
But we prefer the noonday sun instead
It
rained two days ago the water shouldn’t be this low
Three hours
was all I thought it would take
Find a foothold and then lift
the canoe again
I don’t like the way my knees are starting to
shake
The
poem was based on an experience on the Salmon River in Ontario one
August.
Eventually, at a bridge, we gave up and Vance jogged back
to get the upstream car.
****
May You Paddle Bravely
Tune:
“Done Laid Around” (“Gotta Travel On”)
From the poem “May
You Paddle Bravely”
[C]May
you paddle bravely the sunlight on your sleeves;
May the wind be
light enough[C7] to [F] barely tremble [C]leaves
May you gladly
wear the coat that the future [C7]weaves
[F]May you
[G7]paddle [C]on!
May
the summer find you on the waters you desire
May you spend the
evening sitting by a fire
May your campsite always be just
what you desire
May you paddle on!
And
when the morning sun makes diamonds of the dew
May your day be
full of rivers to canoe
May your portage partners be willing,
strong, and true
May you paddle on!
When
those rivers take you to where you want to be
May your heart be
singing wild and brave and free
May you know the miracle of
water, sky, and tree
May you paddle on!
Welcome
to the turning point where adventures start.
May you find the
wisdom that the days impart
May there be laughter always in your
heart;
May you paddle on!
****
Love in a Canoe
Tune:
“Crawdad Song”.
From the Poem “I Have Longed for You”
[D]On
a little river I longed for you, in our canoe
On a little river I
longed for you, in our [A7]canoe
[D]On a little river I [D7]sang
for you, [A7]kingbird in the maple, too
We were [D7]young with
[A7]our can[D]oe
Sun
above us hot and bright, above our canoe
Sun above us hot and
bright, above our canoe
Sun above burning white: resting in the
shade seems right
Haul in our canoe
Oh,
the risks that lovers take when they canoe
Oh, the risks that
lovers take when they canoe
Chances circumstances make; lying in
the shade awake
Beside our canoe
Scattered
seed of summer blows, past our canoe
Scattered seed of summer
blows, past our canoe
Scattered seed of summer blows, learning
now what nature knows
As we canoe
****
To the Natural Buzzes
Tune:
Botany Bay.
From the Poem “To the Natural Buzz”
To
the [G]natural buzzes and [D7]bites of [G]June
I donate [C]my
blood for [G]free
And [C]leave on the portage from lake to
[G]lake
Some of the [C]tastier [D7]parts of [G]me
CH
Here’s
to the clouds of blackflies all day
Here’s to the mosquitoes at
night
For them and the deerflies that nibble my knees
I try to
do what is right.
In
ecological terms, I guess
I must be a very nice guy
With many
bugs fed and very few squished
No matter how often I try
Some
part of nature’s quiet and peace
I’m gonna take home, I
guess
My soul inspired, but my body mass
Is somehow a few
liters less
In
honor of wilderness insect time
I give what I can, and then
Deep
in thoughts and covered with spots
I graciously head home again.
****
Free
Tune:
Slewfoot.
From the Poems “All the Hills of April” & “So
We Tumbled”
[G]Snows
have melted; the water’s runnin’ free
All the creeks of April,
[D]headin’ to the [G]sea
We say goodbye to clock, goodbye to
pension plan
And get out on the water, [D]while we [G]can
For
our hearts, have caught the breeze
In April skies, in April
trees
Ignore the ice, in fronta the canoe
If you go in April,
that’s what you gotta do.
CH
Cause
we [D]paddle on the lakes, [G]drift along the
streams
Call us people, [G]chasin’ after
dreams
[D]Paddles and canoe, [G]you and me
I
guess we’re a couple, just [D]tryna be[G] free
Blown
across the landscape, under summer sky
Out on the water, days roll
by
Scraping over riffles, poling through the reeds
Dragonflies
settle, on the water weeds
Set
the little tent, on some flattish rock
Have some stew and tea, a
bit of quiet talk
Shadows grow long, the forest gets dark
Fire
burns down, to a final spark
Waking
up to rain, but clearing up by ten
Chance to get out, the old
canoe again
October lakes are dark, October creeks are cold
But
October hills are bright with, leave of shining gold
****
November Song
Tune:
“Ye Banks and Braes o Bonny Doon”
From poem, “Too Early the
Wind is Dancing with the Night”
The
[G]wind is [D]dancing [G]with the [D]night
The [G]canoe out[C]side
is [G]wrapped and [D]still
By [G]nine the [D]rain is [G]dressed in
[D]white
And [G]waltzes [C]on the [D7]darkened [G]hill.
Chorus
In
Nov[G]ember I [Bm]put my [G]things [Bm]away
[D]Canoe and [Bm]paddles, [Em]packs and [D7]tent
I
[G]gather [D7]memories at [G]end of [Am]day
And
[Bm]wonder [C]where the season [G]went.
In
the basement, paddles varnished now
Reflect the gathered summer
gear
The packs are hung, the shelves collect
The sorted flotsam
of the year.
In
November I put my stuff away
Canoe and paddles, packs and
tent
Lake and river, quiet bay –
I wonder what the season
meant.
November
dances with the year
Trees surrender to the snow
Winter’s
lovely, but I fear
I hate to see the season go.
In
November I put the gear behind
Canoe and paddles, packs and tent
I
sort my memories in my mind
And wonder where the season went.
****
Summer Song
From
the Poems “Downwind Dance” & “Little Waves”
Tune of
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”,
slowly, without the chorus.
To
the [G]downwind dance and cabaret of water, wind, and sky
To the
sunshine ballroom [C]of the lake came my canoe and [G]I
So many
lakes, so many lakes beneath the summer skies
So many lakes, so
many lakes, but [C]oh! so [D7]few [G]Julys
We
waltzed on tumbling whitecap wave, bobbled past shoreline
tree
Pirouetted when an island swell whirled it to its lee
So
many lakes, so many lakes beneath these summer skies
So many
lakes, so many lakes, but oh! so few Julys
To
the great applause of aspen leaf we rolled to granite shore
Quickly
bowed then made our way out the portage door
Another lake, another
lake, beneath this summer sky
Another lake, another lake, another
brave July
Little
waves like the passing days slid by my canoe
I was part of lake
and sun and the summer too
Now I find what is, is just part of
what is true
I love those brave Julys
The
wise canoeist paddles on for the wise canoeist knows
That this
land will soon be deep in winter snows
Too many lakes, too many
lakes beneath the summer skies
The months and years like little
waves go slowly drifting by
To
the downwind dance and cabaret of water, wind, and sky
To the
sunshine ballroom of the lake came my canoe and I
So many lakes,
so many lakes beneath the summer skies
So many lakes, so many
lakes, but oh! so few Julys
Leaves
underfoot, on a portage trail
Looking for infinity or the Holy
Grail
Wind in the treetops, an end-of-season song
But a few
days to remember, all the winter long
****
The One-Pine Inn
From
the poem “One-Pine Inn”
Tune “Oh, Susannah”
The
[G]evening water’s still as space and [A7]clear as London
[D7]gin
I [G]sit beside the fireplace [Em]down at the
[D7]One-Pine[G] Inn
The[G] residents murmur quietly and
[A7]inspect my tender [D7]skin
Ap[G]proving of the evening meal
[Em]served at the [D7]One-Pine [G]Inn
Chorus
[C]Peace
and [G]quiet, as the [A7]night comes [D7]in
As
[G]much as you could ask for, [Em]down at the
[D7]One-Pine[G] Inn
There’s
dirt beneath my fingernails and hair on my unshaved chin
But
nobody seems to really mind here at the One-Pine Inn
The supper
is stew, as usual served in a sooty tin
But it’s hot and
filling and what I need for my stay at the One-Pine Inn
I had
to park my own canoe and drag my own stuff in
And after midnight
it gets right chill, here, at the One-Pine Inn
But the Management
responds to all complaints with an awkward lunar grin
And serves
an after-dinner round of peace again, at the One-Pine Inn
****
Night, Fire and Spark
Tune:
The Leaving of Liverpool.
From the Poems “Come and Share” and
Primal Scream””
There’s
a [G] chill that reaches [C]to the [G]bones
As evening skies grow
[D]dark
And [G]shadows grow [C]among the [G]trees
And reach
a[D]cross the [G]park
Chorus
You
are flame, I am spark
And in the velvet night
In torch and
touch and sudden flame
We find, then hold on tight
Come
and spend this night with me
There’s ashes on the wind
In our
tiny tent, we'll find
Where love and time begin
Darkness
changes everything
It brings new rules and laws
Enforced by
stealth and silence
With teeth and ivory claws
Come
and spent the night with me
We’ll listen to the dark
Beneath
the vault of endless sky
For you are flame, I am spark
In
the night's shadow world
In its endless deep
We hide by fire,
and hope
We can escape in sleep
But
the tent it trembles in the wind
And we shift in dreams
Half
thinking that we caught the sound
Of some primal scream
Come
and spend this night with me
There’s ashes on the wind
In our
tiny tent, we'll find
Where love and time begin
Chorus
And I
am flame, you are spark
And in the velvet night
In torch and
touch and sudden flame
We find, then hold on tight
****
Out on the Lake
Tune:
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”.
From the Poem “That’s Why
They Invented Canoes”
The
[G7]mosquitoes come at daybreak and I sip them in my tea
And
[C]then they take their turns to [G]get a drink of me
I breathe
them and I eat them and I squish them on my skin
I’d [C] sooner
be [D7]out on the [G]lake!
Chorus
In
the middle of the lake and out far out from the shore
All them
biting bugs cannot find me any more
Think about it and you’ll
see that’s what canoes are for
That’s why they made canoes!
When
I stagger on the portage with a canoe upon my head
A million
bastard blackflies think I’m their daily bread
I walk with spots
in front of me and wrists and ankles red
I must get onto the lake
In
the evening the deerflies come slowly circling in
While I put up
the tent they tear off chunks of skin
A few are crawling on my
neck and there’s one behind my shin
Maybe I’ll go out on the
lake
Way
out on the lake there’s just two loons and me
I’m happy to
tell you that’s the way life should be
A touch of wind, the sun
above, and one canoeing refugee
A happy guy, that’s me
****
Seeds
Tune:
“Green Grow the Lilacs”
From Poem “On Favoured Ground”
At
the [G]edge of the lake tall aspens blow
Stealing the light from
the [C]weeds just below
[G]Each lives or dies the [G7]best that it
[C]can
A [D7]life lived by [G]chance and a [Am]life with[D7]out
[G]plan
Dandelions
in the clearing toss seeds to the winds
Each seed floating blindly
as its journey begins
A toss of the dice – soil, rock, or sand
No choice at all where it might land
I
came to a campsite, by canoe and with map
Lay myself down for an
afternoon nap
Saw a seed drifting, as lonesome as me
Just as
lonesome, but not quite as free
‘Cause
I like to think I’m an organized man
And don’t go canoeing
without a good plan
I’ve thought out each portage and checked
out each lake
Considered each ounce of the stuff that I take
Late
that evening in a quickening wind
I watched from my tent as
thunder rolled in
Each flash of the light from out of the
sky
Nowhere to hide for this wondering guy
And
sometimes I think, when I’ve finished a route
If ever I bothered
to puzzle it out
This September canoeist might seem, at best
Just
one more seed, not quite at rest
For
flowers of summer toss seeds to the winds
Much the same way my
journey begins
River to portage then down to some lake
Not
knowing the why of the plans that I make
Yes
sometimes I feel, when I’ve finished my route
If ever I bothered
to think it all out
This wandering paddler might seem, at
best
Just one more seed, not quite at rest
****
Sources of the Music:
Generally it’s (at this time) possible to get versions of the tunes from the web by searching the song name and adding “mp3”, “youtube”, or“video”, as in “The Merry Ploughboy youtube”. Often you get a sample to advertise a ringtone download.
The Merry Ploughboy was an English song that was converted to an IRA anthem, and is more often known as “Off to Dublin in the green, in the green”. I found it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBUrZRvvECU and http://www.imeem.com/ulsterwolf/music/tMxcQU6g/wolftones_the_merry_ploughboymp3/.
Sloop John B may be found at http://ingeb.org/songs/wecomeon.mid and http://www.last.fm/music/The+Beach+Boys/+videos/+1-o_wm-evvGQE
Slewfoot I found at http://thebluegrassshack.blogspot.com/2008/03/slewfoot-video.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT5kU-Ff0s0
Gotta Travel On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVBRa6fPhG8 and http://www.truveo.com/I-Gotta-Travel-On/id/44453504
Botany Bay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEAvMp6oq_U
Ye
Banks and Braes o Bonny
Doon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzFWgHIsgYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXAYFwhmQgY&feature=related
Crawdad Song http://www.musiclegacy.com/MIDI/crawdad.mid
Battle Hymn of the Republic, or John Brown’s Body http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEAEcca9pRk http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/h/bhymnotr.htm
Flow
Gently Sweet Afton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43tXtJ3WdQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SedzNxOv9Wc&feature=related
The Leaving of Liverpool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP_ghwhEfhI&feature=related
Green Grow the Lilacs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GUdYa3Bpg&feature=related
The Origin of the Songs
Over a number of years I wrote some eighty poems about canoeing.
This year I selected some poems and converted them into song lyrics suitable for guitar, ukulele, or inebriated, a cappella.
Since I haven’t yet learned to write music, I casually borrowed tunes from any songs no longer under copyright protection.
If you don’t recognize the tunes, you can probably find them online or at the local library.
I’ve provided guitar chords, or at least those that seemed to work for me.
Feel free to change the tune, chords, and/or the lyrics to suit yourself.
The Using of the Songs
I really don’t care how you use the songs, and don’t ask for any payment. But if you print any of the lyrics, make sure I get credit, as in “lyrics by Lenny Everson,” or “based on lyrics by Lenny Everson.”
You might want to add a chorus or use a different tune to a song. No problem.
Old Tunes, New Words
Bless old tunes with no copyright attached. It’s a long tradition to pen new lyrics to old tunes. “Amazing Grace” was based on an old Scottish folk song, and “Danny Boy” used an earlier Irish tune.
In the U.S. civil war, when the North borrowed a church tune to write “John Brown’s Body,” the South responded with a parody of the lyrics. Then someone wrote new lyrics to the same tune and called it, “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” And that was long before small kids heard it as “John Brown’s Baby” or teens sang “The Burning of the School.”
Those kilted highlanders with skein dhus (black knives) in their socks, (playing the great highland bag-pipes to drown out my screams) may hunt me down for borrowing one of his tunes but truth is, Bobbie Burns lifted the tune to “Ye Banks and Braes o Bonny Doon” from ‘The Caledonian Hunt’s Delight.” So there.
The list is long, and I have no hesitation in walking off with old tunes for another go-round.
***END***