Songs for Saturday: The Flowers of Bermuda

[mdlbear]

For the last several days, my "earworm of..." (it wouldn't be "choice", would it? It chose me) has been Stan Rogers' shipwreck song "The Flowers of Bermuda". Since it's Saturday, and I didn't have anything else planned, here you go -- "The Flowers of Bermuda - YouTube" [Lyrics on mudcat.org].

For background, see this excellent article in 'How Legends Are Made: Stan Rogers, “The Flowers of Bermuda,” and Air Canada Flight 797' in Sing Out!. Note: the "Continue to page N" links are broken -- use the little numbered links on the next line. Or if you're lazy,

Page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5.

THE FLOWERS OF BERMUDA (Stan Rogers) Chorus cho: He was the captain of the Nightingale Twenty-one days from Clyde in coal He could smell the flowers of Bermuda in the gale When he died on the North Rock shoal Just five short hours from Bermuda's isle In a fine October gale O there came a cry, " Oh, there be breakers dead ahead From the collier Nightingale No sooner had the captain rought her round, Then came a rending crash below Hard on her beam ends groaning, went the Nightingale And overside her mainmast goes "O captain are we all for drowning," Came a cry from all the crew "The boats be smashed! How are we all then to be saved? Tthey are stove in through and through O are ye brave and hardy colliermen Or are you blind now and cannot see O the captain's gig still lies before ye whole and sound And it shall carry all of we away But when the crew was all assembled And the gig prepared for sea 'Twas seen there were but eighteen places to be manned And nineteen mortal souls were we But cries the captain," now do not delay Nor do you spare a thought for me My duty is to save you all now Save ye all now if I can see ye return quick as can be Oh, there be flowers in Bermuda Beauty lies on every hand And there be laughter ease and drink there for every man But there is no joy for me For when we reached the wretched Nightingale What an awful sight was plain O the captain, drowned, was tangled in the mizzen chains Smiling bravely beneath the sea Copyright Fogarty's Cove Music

I may have to learn the chords for it now. And maybe hear something else in my head when I'm trying to sleep?

Comments

[acelightning73]

The plot reminds me of "The Mary Ellen Carter"

[mdlbear]

The first part, anyway.

[acelightning73]

Well, our ship sank, and the captain went down with her. Now, I've been to Bermuda, and there are plenty of flowers and tropical fruit drinks and things. I was on my honeymoon, and we rented the mopeds everone uses on the island, and I got horribly sunburned.

Do you know the Crosby Stills & Nash song "Guinevere". It contains a verse about riding their horses "down by the bay". THe hotel we stayed in had a large lawn that did slope down towards the harbor, and there were ornamental trees and shrubbery everywhere. Another line from the song, "Peacocks wandered aimlessly, Underneath an orange tree" - and when I first heard the song, the memory of the sight of that beautifully maintained laws popped up.

("Guinevere drew pentagrams, Like yours, m'lady, like yours; Late at night, when she thought no one was watching at all, on the wall.) (It's a "me" song from my adolescence.)
The song says "Guinevere had green eyes" and "Guinevere has golden hair" - and before I started to dye my hair purple, it was mostly blond. And "Guinevre drew pentagrams" - I had just been initiated as a Witch at that point