From the recording Working Sail
Along the coast the transition from sail to power must have been an exciting time.
This song tells the story of the last man standing, so to speak.
The railway has come, his village is growing, and the war has ended.
But ultimately, as we now know, the cost of increased efficiency and is overfishing and pollution.
He prophesises,
‘One day your oil will burn away, but the winds will always blow’
Lyrics
I am a man of working sail
of tide and time
of pots & nets & ropes & boats
And wood, and tar, and longlines
Married young and all for love
we grew up here together
our families entwined in time
and our love forever
The days spent with my father
and the men of the harbour.
I am a man of sail.
Wars won, tracks laid
the village now town
and coal and steam meant it would mean
that the masts came down
But through it all I kept the faith
my canvass, my spars
‘Hove to’ if it blew on this bay of ours
I gaze out on the ocean eyes fixed, with emotion.
I am a man of sail.
And I’ll take you down
show you around
Now I’m just an old man.
I am a man of working sail
Of wind the sea the sky
The sounds I hear that I hold dear, are waves and they pass by
No smell, no noise
come here me boys I’ll tell you what I know
One day your oil will burn away
But the wind will always blow
The plastic sea is seasick
And this coastline, nostalgic
I am a man of sail.