BB song index

Bill Black SONGS

page updated 12/11/09

NOTE TO SINGERS:
Problem: You find a song you like. You can't sing it in the original key.
Solution: Email me (zouki (at) earthlink dot net) and I'll send you a version transposed to whatever
key you want!

INDEX OF SONGS ON THIS WEBSITE

ANTHEM FOR SEPT. 11

BALLAD OF THE "MAERSK ALABAMA"

BANKS OF THE FAIR SUSQUEHANNA

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

CAPE COD COYOTE

CAT SONG

CHESAPEAKE PILOT

CRY OF THE UNBORN

DOGGIE IN THE MOONLIGHT

EXILE

FOG SONG

FOUR VOICES, ONE GOD

HOLD THE HARVEST

I CAN'T GET THE OLD MAN TO DANCE!

IRELAND

JUST POINT MY FEET TOWARDS TEXAS

KATIE MIND THE LIGHT!

KNEEL WE BY THE MANGER

LET'S ALL CELEBRATE XMAS!

MERCHANT MARINER'S HYMN

MORNING

MUSIC'S THE VERY BEST THING

NATION BLESSED WITH HEROES

NEVER TRUST THE SEA

NEW BEDFORD'S BRAVE CATALPA

OH LORD AND CREATOR OF LIFE

OLD FRIENDS NEVER LIE

OLD NEIGHBORHOOD

PERSONALLY OPPOSED

PINK FLAMINGOES

PRIDE OF PIMLICO

ROCKAWAY LOVELY ROCKAWAY

SAINT RAYMOND'S

SKY ROAD

SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS SONG

SMALLER THAN A ROSE

SONG FOR ULSTER

STRANGER

TANKERMAN'S SHANTY

TO START A NEW LIFE

WEDDING BLESSING

WILL YOU POINT OUT MY WIFE IF YOU SEE HER?

WORCESTER FIREMEN

ANNE DEVLIN

I consider myself moderately well-versed in Irish history, at least to the extent of being familiar with names, but I had never heard
of Anne Devlin (1780-1851) until I came across a chapter about her in a book about Dublin. The story immediately suggested itself
to me as worthy material for a song. I hope you agree!

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:33)

ANTHEM FOR SEPTEMBER 11TH

Dedicated to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice on that day, which indeed we will never
forget. May God hold them and their families in the palm of His hand.

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:54)

LET'S ALL CELEBRATE XMAS!

Guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart (or wherever you keep your cockles) this undenominational
holiday season!

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:57)

BALLAD of the "MAERSK ALABAMA"

My tribute to Captain Richard Phillips and the crew of the "Maersk Alabama". The pirates who attacked this US-flag
ship off the Horn of Africa really got more than they bargained for, including the opportunity to provide target practice
for some Navy Seals!

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:32)

BANKS OF THE FAIR SUSQUEHANNA

The Susquehanna River website says:

It winds its way south from Otsego Lake near Cooperstown, New York, through the northern and central ranges
of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania. By the time it meets the Chesapeake Bay, the Susquehanna River
has flowed 444 miles. With an average daily rush of 22 billion gallons of water, the Susquehanna is the largest
contributor of freshwater to the Bay.

Factual but not descriptive of this lovely river, which meanders through much picturesque country on its way to the
bay. (Some of my maternal ancestors were farmers in the Afton/Nineveh area of Chenango County, NY, through
which the Susquehanna flows. I didn't know this when I wrote the song.)

Some of the country the river flows through was once active coal-mining country - a few of the mines remain, but many
are closed down. In their heyday, however, the mines provided work for generations of immigrant laborers and their
sons and grandsons. This song is dedicated to all of them, especially the Irish contingent.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:09)

BLACKBERRIES

This a more-or-less "art song" that I composed many years back and recently revised. It didn't originally have anything to do
with Texas and I'm not sure how or why it does now.

The success of this piece would seem to depend on it being performed in the right place at the right time, by the right singer
(not too much to ask, right?)

No MP3 of this yet but the MIDI file will give you an idea of how the song sounds.

lyrics

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MIDI (4:14)

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

They will always be necessary in this troubled world. God be kind to them all and keep them safe as they go about their task.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:19)

CAPE COD COYOTE

We never had coyotes here on the Cape until a few years back. Nobody is quite sure how they got here but they're here now, and
evidently here to stay!

lyrics

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full MP3 (6:08)

CAT SONG

This is one of the first songs I ever wrote. We had at least two cats at the time and I guess I was inspired by the way they could
manage to go off into a groove somewhere, regardless of what was going on around them.

I love dogs too, but they're not anywhere near as introspective (or "mysterious") as cats seem to be. What you see with a dog is what
you get; with a cat you get what the cat wants you to get. All clear?

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:27)

CHESAPEAKE PILOT

They say you should write about what you know, so this song is based on my background in the deep-sea shipping business. If you're
not sure what a ship pilot does, this song will help you understand. (So far the song seems to be very well received, for which I am grateful!)

This song is dedicated to the memory of a pilot, Capt. Lyn Deibert, who lost his life boarding a vessel in stormy seas off Cape Henry VA
in February 2007.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:29)

CHILD'S DREAM

This was composed during the "bossa nova" craze of the late Sixties and early Seventies, when everyone was in love with Brazilian music
and performers like Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto were so popular.

The funny thing is that - unlike 99 percent of other musical fads - bossa nova and samba are really excellent music, and they have manifested
a great staying power over the years to prove their worth.

So this and "Little Girl" are my intended contributions to a great durable musical genre. Viva bossa nova!

lyrics

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MIDI (3:15)

CITY SNOW

This is an older song, composed during a New York blizzard (1972?) while I was recovering from a dislocated shoulder (which gave me an
excuse for sitting around looking out the window a lot).

I still like snow, but after the Cape Cod winter of 2005, I think I've seen enough to last me a few hundred years.

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:56)

CRY OF THE UNBORN

If you think that the Roe v Wade decision was a great contribution to human happiness, this isn't the song for you.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:17)

DOGGIE IN THE MOONLIGHT

This is a romantic ballad that will I hope be meaningful to anyone who has shared life with a dog. A certain "willing suspension of
disbelief" would come in handy as you read through the lyrics but never forget that even the dumbest dog is roughly 2.78 times
smarter than any human.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:14)

DUBLIN ANGELS

This song is dedicated to the women of Dublin, all "of a certain age", who will always represent to me the kindness and civility that
may be in the process of disappearing forever (and not only from Dublin).

So this is for Rosie, and Chrissie, and Kitty, and Fanny, and all the other ladies about whom it may truthfully be said: their likes will
not be seen again.

lyrics

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full MP3 (7:09)

DUBLIN CITY

Words of this song can be found (with no music or attribution as to author) in Maureen Jolliffe's "Third Book of Irish Ballads"
(Mercier, Cork, n/d). The tune is mine.

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:36)

The EXILE

I mention in the commentaries to other songs that many songs that I write are based on a composite experience, so that the protagonists
in the songs are not individually real but are a synthesis of different real people.

This is certainly true of this song, which is a snapshot of the life of an young immigrant who is in the process of realizing that his time in
America has not met - and maybe will never meet - his expectations. I've encountered a lot of people like this over the years, and you
probably have too.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:16)

FOG SONG

This could be a great song in the right hands (or throat). Feels like San Francisco but actually based on New York.

lyrics

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MIDI (3:22)

FOUR VOICES, ONE GOD

The story of the Four Chaplains who perished so heroically aboard the ship "Dorchester" in February 1942 has always been an inspiring
one, but as years pass fewer and fewer people remember the incident or the incredible sacrifice made by these heroic men of God. This is
my attempt to rekindle interest in the subject before it disappears from our national consciousness entirely. (There's an excellent website for
those interested in finding out more about the Four Chaplains.)

lyrics

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full MP3 (7:29)

HOLD THE HARVEST

This is a song version of a poem by Frances "Fanny" Parnell (1848-1882), the "Patriot Poet" who was the sister of the Irish patriot Charles
Stuart Parnell and every bit his equal when it came to agitating for land reform in 19th-century Ireland. Fanny spent most of her time and
energy working for the Irish cause in the United States, living in New Jersey with her American mother (whose father was one of the
commanding officers of the USS Constitution). Fanny died of heart failure in New Jersey but is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in
Cambridge, Mass.

Verses 1-3 of this version were quoted in "History Ireland" magazine, Spring 1999 edition; verse 4 quoted in an article by Willie White in
the Carlow Nationalist [newspaper], Jan.14 [1999] edition)

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:21)

I CAN'T GET THE OLD MAN TO DANCE!

If you've ever attended a dance, Irish or otherwise, where there were some older folks in attendance, you should be able to appreciate this
little waltz!

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:37)

IRELAND

One of my first "formal" composition efforts. I'm not sure if it's a folk song or an "art" song, but I hope you'll be able to enjoy it on either
level! (Note: due to the welcome political changes in Northern Ireland, this song has undergone considerable revision in recent years.)

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:06)

JUST POINT MY FEET TOWARDS TEXAS

This song began its existence as I was flying over Eastern Virginia headed to Camp Lejeune NC, the largest Marine base on the
East Coast. My son was stationed there at the time.

The rights and wrongs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be debated for many years, but I don't think there's any dispute - in
the US at least - about the heroic role being played by our military personnel on the ground over there. This song is dedicated to all
of them. Blessed indeed be the peacemakers!

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:30)

KATIE MIND THE LIGHT!

While I was doing some research on an aspect of New York harbor history, I came across the remarkable story of Katie Walker,
who served as keeper of the Robbins Reef lighthouse for 33 years until she retired in 1919.

The Robbins Reef lighthouse still stands in New York harbor, but it's been unmanned (or, in this case, unwomanned) for many
years. New Yorkers who commute back and forth to Staten Island know the lighthouse very well, even if they don't know its name,
since it stands less than a mile from the ferry terminal in St. George. Its days as an "lighted aid to navigation" are apparently over
but the building will (I hope) be there forever!

There are several versions of Katie's story on the Internet, including the version written in 1999 by Captain T.P. Harris for the
SailNortheast website. It's called Mind the Light - the Story of Kate Walker. Another source is the article on the National Lighthouse
Museum website.

(Note that I use both "Kate" and "Katie" in the song - artistic license and all that!)

lyrics

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full MP3 (6:32)

KNEEL WE BY THE MANGER

Another of my contributions to the Christmas repertoire. I also have done a TTBB choral version of this.

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:41)

LITTLE GIRL

Another "bossa nova" wannabe! Great music came out of Brazil in the 1960's and 1970's, and the nice part is that it's still heard
and appreciated today.

lyrics

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MIDI (2:19)

MERCHANT MARINERS' HYMN

The sailors who sacrificed so much during their service in the Merchant Marine during World War II never (to the best of my
knowledge) had their own "service song" to commemorate what they had done. This is my contribution to the memory of these
brave but largely forgotten heroes.

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:23)

MORNING

I'm not a "morning person" in the sense of jumping happily out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to take my cold shower and morning jog.
I'll put up with morning but I'll do it under protest. And forget about cold showers and jogs. Anyway this song should help
elucidate my feelings.

lyrics

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MIDI (3:11)

MUSIC'S THE VERY BEST THING

My tribute to the traditional musicians of past, present, and future who have brought so much to my life and will continue to
bring their gifts to the world long after I'm gone.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:29)

NATION BLESSED WITH HEROES

A tribute to the heroes, military and otherwise, that we see in action every day. Please God we will never take them for granted!

lyrics

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full MP3 (7:35)

NEVER TRUST THE SEA

A song in John Conolly or Stan Rogers style (I hope) about those who make their living from the sea. When I wrote this song, we
weren't aware of the fact that there were actual fishermen in our (my wife's) family. Since they fished out of Kilkeel (County Down),
I had to change the lyrics from "My family were fishermen from the WESTERN coast of Ireland" to "NORTHERN coast". Otherwise
the sentiments are the same.

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:00)

NEW BEDFORD'S BRAVE CATALPA

This song is based on a true story, an amazing one at that, concerning the 1876 rescue of some Irish Fenian prisoners from an
Australian jail by a New Bedford whaler named "Catalpa". It's a great story and would probably make a wonderful movie or
action cartoon (or whatever they're called these days.)

Here's the plot:
"On a sunny afternoon 127 years ago today, one of the most brazen rescue missions in history was launched from New Bedford.
Setting out in a whaling ship called The Catalpa, Capt. George Smith Anthony was determined to spring six Irish rebels from the
notorious Australian prison, Fremantle Gaol, where they had been incarcerated by the English."
- Peter F. Stevens, The Voyage of the Catalpa: A Perilous Journey and Six Irish Rebels

There's a lot of information on this topic on the Internet, but a concise article on the rescue can be found at:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/catalpa_rescue

lyrics

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full MP3 (6:54)

NOTHING LEFT

This is an older song and seems even to me to be a little depressing. I don't recall any particular circumstances that would have
required me to write a "Stormy Monday" song like this but anyway here it is.

lyrics

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MIDI (1:46)

OH LORD AND CREATOR OF LIFE

My words (religious) to the Irish traditional song "Ar Eirinn ni nEosfainn Ce hI" ("For Ireland I'd Not Tell Her Name").

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:56)

OLD FRIENDS NEVER LIE

When you say one thing and mean another, is that irony? If so, this song is loaded with it (vitamin C and selenium too).

lyrics

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full MP3 (1:49)

OLD NEIGHBORHOOD

"A trip down Memory Lane..." (as Joe Franklin - remember him? - used to say).

I was very lucky to grow up in a great neighborhood (the Fort Hamilton section of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn) and this is my tribute
to it. (By the way - it hasn't changed a heck of a lot in 50+ years!)

I always thought this would be a great song for Tony Bennett but then I'm always thinking dopey thoughts.

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:29)

PATSY ANN

If you're ever lucky enough to visit Juneau, Alaska, you might come across the statue of a dog down by the harbor. That dog is
Patsy Ann, a bull terrier of sorts who was the official greeter of the city for many years. (Here's a link to a website that has more
information.) She's well deserving of this modest musical tribute!

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:24)

PERSONALLY OPPOSED

This song is dedicated to all the politicians who are "personally opposed" to something but vote for it anyway because their
party tells them to. There are a lot of these invertebrates around and this song is dedicated to them. I hope it doesn't hurt their
feelings.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:47)

PINK FLAMINGOES

This song celebrates the back roads and blue highways of America. It's a great country, but sometimes you have to get off the
interstate to see it (taking the train is another good way).

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:05)

The PRIDE of PIMLICO

This is a great little song from Colm O Lochlainn's "More Irish Street Ballads" (Pan Books, 1978, out of print but copies
probably available online somewhere). The words were written by Arthur Griffith, father of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.
There's no melody given or alluded to in O Lochlainn's book, so I made one up. Not among the gems of the literature but
(I hope) adequate to the task!

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:16)

ROCKAWAY, LOVELY ROCKAWAY

Geography lesson:
Rockaway is a peninsula in the southern part of Queens County in New York City. It's located between Kennedy
Airport and the ocean, and is now (as it has been for many years) mainly a residential area. It's a very popular
place in the summer, and its long sandy beaches are always crowded.

We were talking to our friend Pat O'Brien a while back, and Pat mentioned that Rockaway was the first place he
had stayed after coming to America. From years back until fairly recently, Rockaway was predominantly an Irish
neighborhood, and for many other Irish immigrants it was the first stop on their journey into American life.

I had never heard a song about Rockaway before, so I thought it might be time to write one before the Irish
connection was even more of a memory than it is now. This song is dedicated to Pat and Kay O'Brien (Kay's
from the Bronx, but that's another story!)

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:39)

SAINT RAYMOND'S

Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx is one of the largest in the city. Over much of its recent history,
the Bronx has had a largely Irish population, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that many of the names
on the stones of Saint Raymond's are Irish ones.

This song commemorates the fact that there are three great fiddlers - Michael Coleman, James Morrison,
and Johnny Cronin - buried in Saint Raymond's. (Andy McGann has since been laid to rest there too,
but he was still with us when this song was composed.)

There are doubtless hundreds more musicians and friends of traditional music buried in Saint Raymond's
as well, and this song is dedicated to all of them. May they all rest in peace until that Big Session in the
Sky gets rolling!

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:57)

SEAN SULLIVAN

This is a song based on a composite of experiences of young Irishmen getting involved in situations they
probably would have avoided if they had known better (or been in a different place at a different time).
It's a sort of an updated version of "The Kerry Recruit". It's an old sad story and it's hard to say if it's
finally come to an end or not.

This is a long song, but then again, most wars are long wars. And at least the song has a (more or less)
happy ending.

lyrics

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full MP3 (9:50)

SKY ROAD

In the westernmost part of Ireland - a place way out in County Galway called Connemara - there's a road that runs
for miles along the cliffs looking over the ocean. It's difficult to describe how beautiful it is out there along the
Sky Road - or how easy it would be to fall in love!

lyrics

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full MP3 (3:47)

SMALLER THAN A ROSE

This song was inspired by an article in the newspaper about an incident that took place outside a local "women's
health facility" (or whatever the euphemism du jour was at the time) some years back. The details were pretty graphic
and I don't repeat them in the song, but I hope my words will help capture some of the sadness of the event.

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:33)

SONG FOR ULSTER (Where Do We Go From Here?)

Every time that it appears that a real honest-to-God peace process has taken hold in Northern Ireland, something
comes along to throw cold water on it - a parade, a bank robbery, yet another killing for no apparent reason, and
so forth. Sooner or later everyone will get it right, but you have to wonder how much more the good people of
Northern Ireland - Catholics and Protestants alike - will have to suffer before that day comes. But progress is
definitely being made!

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:01)

STRANGER

Ships have always been considered mysterious and romantic (although when you have to stand on a pier
somewhere at 4:00 am on a cold January morning waiting for one to tie up, the mystery and romance might
not be too obvious).

lyrics

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MIDI (2:15)

The TANKERMAN'S SHANTY

There are lots of great sea songs around, some of them traditional and some of them composed. My friend
Tom Goux is a great fan and performer of these songs, and has introduced many folks to them in the course
of his career as solo musician and choral conductor.

It occurred to me at one point that the world of today's shipping doesn't supply a lot of material for the
creation of new shanties - fortunately there are plenty of old ones around. But I thought it might be fun to
try an "updated" shanty, more "relevant" to the 2008 sea-going experience!

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:23)

TO START A NEW LIFE

This is my light-hearted perception of the Irish emigrant experience. I have a great deal of respect for the men and
women who left the security (if not necessarily the comfort) of their native land to come to America, never knowing
whether they would be successful and/or happy in this country so different in so many ways from their own.

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:55)

sample MP3

TOM DUNNE

Like many of my songs, this one is based on a composite of different experiences. The hero is a fictional character.
but I hope that there's enough reality about his life as described in the song to make it seem as if we've met him before.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:32)

The TUG THUBAN

I guess the idea is not necessarily to wait until you're closing in on 60 years of age to fulfill a lifelong dream,
especially one that involves intense physical labor.

But I had always wanted to work on a tugboat, and when the opportunity presented itself, I leaped at the chance.

"Thuban" is a little tug that operates in the waters around Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay, towing an oil
barge and occasionally a gravel scow back and forth from the Vineyard to New Bedford and other exotic ports.
In fair weather it's nice work; in foul weather it's awful. But, as the saying goes, somebody has to do it.

My career as a tug deckhand was short-lived but - as my wife says - at least I can say I tried it!

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:47)

VETERANS' HYMN

Composed specifically in honor the veterans of Falmouth, Mass. on their special days (Memorial Day and
Veterans' Day).

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full MP3 (2:24)

WEDDING BLESSING

This is my personal effort to provide a substitute for the "Wedding Song" that always seems to be performed
(usually badly) by one of the bride's cousins - you know the one: she was a flower child back in 1969 and still
has the beat-up no-name twelve-string guitar (and a tattoo) to prove it. (AND she has every Peter Paul and Mary
LP ever made.)

lyrics

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full MP3 (2:48)

WILL YOU POINT OUT MY WIFE IF YOU SEE HER?

This is a song with an honest-to-God title, i.e. the words were actually spoken by a living human being that you know
and I know and we'll say no more about it except to note that this is not a work of fiction, merely of embellishment,
as many better men than I will confirm. ("Rick" is a clever pseudonym designed to protect the good reputation of the
protagonist.)

lyrics

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full MP3 (5:43)

A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS SONG

A tribute to a special kind of Christmas we've all been through at least once in our lives!

lyrics

notation (to be posted)

full MP3 (5:55)

The WORCESTER FIREMEN

On December 3rd, 1999, a devastating fire in an abandoned warehouse in Worcester, MA, took the lives of six brave firefighters.

This song is a memorial to these men, and by extension a statement of gratitude to all the brave firefighters who selflessly put their
lives on the line for us every single day.

lyrics

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full MP3 (4:13)