Wellerman
Trad, arr. Craig McLeish
There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy O’ Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, my bully boys, blow
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing is done
We’ll take our leave and go
They had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He’d take that whale in tow (huh)
Soon may the Wellerman come…
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale’s tail came up and caught her
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down low
Soon may the Wellerman come…
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain’s mind was not on greed
For he belonged to the Whaleman’s creed
She took that ship in tow
Soon may the Wellerman come…
For forty days or even more
the line went slack then tight once more
The boats were lost were only four
And still that whale did go
Soon may the Wellerman come…
As far as I’ve heard the fight’s still on
The line’s not cut and the whale’s not gone
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew and all
Soon may the Wellerman come…
Ave Maris Stella
– Josquin Desprez
– Edvard Grieg
Ave maris stella,
Dei mater alma
atque semper virgo,
felix caeli porta.
Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen caecis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.
Vitam praesta puram,
iter para tutum:
ut videntes Iesum
semper collaetemur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto,
tribus honor unus.
Amen.
Weest gegroet, Sterre der zee,
gezegende Moeder Gods,
die altijd maagd bleef,
gelukkige poort tot de hemel.
Bevrijd de geboeiden,
schenk het licht aan de blinden,
ban uit het kwade dat wij deden
en bemiddel al het goede voor ons.
Geef ons een rechtschapen leven,
wijs ons de veilige weg,
zodat wij ons eeuwig verheugen,
wanneer wij eenmaal Jezus zien.
Geloofd zij God de Vader,
roem aan Christus de Allerhoogste
en aan de heilige Geest,
gelijke eer aan de Drieëenheid.
Amen.
Water
Anders Edenroth
Water
In the mind of a melting snowman
In the sound from a whistling kettle
In the gently alightning crystal of ice
In the dewdrops of a colourful petal
Water
To live everyone must have water
To give not to deny each other
To bring from source to mouth
Just like the food of love from a nursing mother
Water
Sweet as an angel’s kiss
Salt as her falling tears
Droplets in patience wearing away
The mountains of time for billions of years
In the shape of a cloud evolving
In the gleam when your skin perspires
In the curse of a lost and foundering ship
In the silent face Narcissus admires
Water
To kill for in a global battle
To chill well in a plastic bottle
To find between air and earth
Both cold and wet, says Aristotle
Water
Mild as a mermaid’s song
Wild when the oceans roar
Never been born and never been buried
Infinite waves caressing the shore
Water
Never weather-beaten sail
Charles Hubert H. Parry
Never weather-beaten sail
more willing bent to shore
Never tired pilgrim’s limbs
affected slumber more
Than my wearied sprite
now longs to fly out of my troubled breast:
O come quickly, sweetest Lord,
and take my soul to rest.
Ever blooming are the joys
of Heaven’s high Paradise
Cold age deafs not there our ears
nor vapour dims our eyes:
Glory there the sun outshines
whose beams the blessed only see:
O come quickly, glorious Lord,
and raise my sprite to thee!
Psalm 46
Jan Pzn. Sweelinck
Dès qu’adversité nous offense,
Dieu nous est appuy et défense,
Au besoin l’avons esprouvé,
Et grand secours en luy trouvé.
Dont plus n’aurons crainte ne doute,
Et deust trembler la terre toute,
Et les montagnes abysmer,
Au milieu de la haute mer.
God is voor ons een veilige schuilplaats,
Een betrouwbare hulp in de nood.
Daarom vrezen wij niet, al wankelt de aarde
En storten de bergen in het diepst van de zee.
Laat de watervloed maar kolken en koken,
De hoge golven de bergen doen beven.
Go to sea no more
Trad, arr. Adriaan Kegel
When first I landed in Liverpool,
I went upon a spree
Me money alas, I spent it fast,
got drunk as drunk could be
And when me money was all spent,
it was then I wanted more
But a man must be blind to make up his mind
to go to sea once more
Once more, boys, once more…
And as I roamed the streets about,
I met with rapper Brown
Well I asked him for to take me on,
he looked at me with a frown
“Last time you was signed up,” says he
“With me you chalked up no score
But I’ll give you a chance,
and I’ll take your advance,
And I’ll put you to the sea once more”
Once more, boys, once more…
So hee ships me on board of a whaling ship,
bound for the Arctic seas
Where the winds they blow through the frost and the snow
my Jamaica rum it would freeze
But worse to bear, I’d no weather gear,
I’d spent all me money on the shore
it was then that I wished that I was dead,
or safe with the girls on the shore
Ashore, boys, ashore…
So come all ye young seafaring lads,
and listen to my song
When you come off them long trips,
I’d have you do no wrong
Take my advice, drink no strong drink,
don’t go sleeping with no whore
Get married instead, spend all night in bed
and go to sea no more
No more, boys, no more
Go to sea no more
Get married instead and spend all night in bed and go to sea no more
Fear a’ Bhàta
Trad, arr. Adriaan Kegel
Fear a’ bhàta, na hóro eile
So fare thee well love,
Where’er thou be
How often haunting the highest hilltop,
I scan the ocean, your boat to see,
Will it come tonight, love, will it come tomorrow,
Or ever come, love, to comfort me.
Fear a’ bhàta, na hóro eile…
They call thee fickle, they call thee the false one,
And seek to change me, but all in vain,
For thou art my dream all through the dark night,
And every morning I scan the sea.
Fear a’ bhàta, na hóro eile…
Beyond the sea
Jack Lawrence/Charles Trenet, arr. Alexander L’Estrange
Somewhere beyond the sea
Somewhere, waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere beyond the sea
She’s there, waiting for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straight to her arms, I’d go sailing
It’s far beyond a star
It’s near, beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We’ll meet beyond the shore
We’ll kiss just as before
And happy we will be, beyond the sea
And never again, we’ll go sailing
Somewhere, waiting for me
How happy we’ll be, beyond the sea
We’ll meet, yes we’ll meet beyond the shore
We’ll kiss just as before
And happy we will be, beyond the sea
And never again, I’ll go sailing
No more sailing
So long, sailing
Goodbye, farewell my friend,
No more sailing
PAUZE
We are
Bob Chilcott
We are more alike than we are unalike, my friends
I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy
Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.
The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white
I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world,
not yet one common man.
I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I’ve not seen any two
who really were the same.
Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different,
lying side by side.
We love and lose in China,
we weep on England’s moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.
We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we’re the same.
I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
Full Fathom Five
– Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
– Ralph Vaughan Williams
Full fathom five thy father lies:
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding, dong, bell.
Hark! Now I hear them — Ding, dong, bell.
Isle of Eigg
Robin Laing
‘Twas in the merry month of May, when balmy winds first blow
I met my love in Arisaig where rhododendrons grow
I met my love in Arisaig in the shadow of Craig Mor
The sun shone on the Isle of Eigg, far from the silver shore
And in the months that followed, our love and friendship grew
Warmed by the summer sun and a love that was so new
We walked amongst the hills and heard the crashing ocean’s roar
The sun shonе on the Isle of Eigg, far from the silvеr shore
Autumn came to Arisaig with colours fair to view
Birds were flying south again, soon we’d follow too
A sad song echoed in the hills, Lochaber no more
The sun shone on the Isle of Eigg, far from the silver shore
‘Twas in the merry month of May, when balmy winds first blow
I met my love in Arisaig where rhododendrons grow
I met my love in Arisaig in the shadow of Craig Mor
The sun shone on the Isle of Eigg, far from the silver shore
Komm Trost der Welt
Christian Lahusen
Komm, Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht!
Wie steigst du von den Bergen sacht,
Die Lüfte alle schlafen,
Ein Schiffer nur noch, wandermüd,
Singt übers Meer sein Abendlied
Zu Gottes Lob im Hafen.
Die Jahre wie die Wolken gehn
Und lassen mich hier einsam stehn,
Die Welt hat mich vergessen,
Da tratst du wunderbar zu mir,
Wenn ich beim Waldesrauschen hier
Gedankenvoll gesessen.
O Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht!
Der Tag hat mich so müd gemacht,
Das weite Meer schon dunkelt,
Laß ausruhn mich von Lust und Not,
Bis daß das ewige Morgenrot
Den stillen Wald durchfunkelt.
Kom, troost van de wereld, jij stille nacht!
Hoe rijs je lichtvoetig uit de bergen op,
en de luchten slapen allemaal;
slechts een schipper zingt nog, moegezworven,
over de zee z’n avondlied,
ter ere van God in de haven.
De jaren vervliegen zoals de wolken
en laten me hier eenzaam staan,
de wereld heeft me vergeten.
Daar trad u op wonderbaarlijke wijze tot mij,
toen ik hier bij het ruisen van het woud
in gedachten verzonken zat.
Kom, troost van de wereld, jij stille nacht!
De dag heeft mij zo moe gemaakt,
de verre zee wordt reeds donker;
laat mij uitrusten van het vermaak en de nood,
totdat het eeuwige morgenrood
fonkelt door het stille woud.
Waddenzee
Ernst Toch, vert. Rimke de Groot
Waddenzee!
En de haven van Texel
En het gat naar de Noordzee
En de toren van Vlieland
De boot naar Terschelling
vertrekt niet uit Holwerd maar Harlingen
Wieringen, Eierland, Landerum, Stortemelk
Ja! Brakzand!
Kobbeduinen, Pieterburen
Under the Sea
Howard Ashman/Alan Menken, arr. Philip Lawson
The seaweed is always greener
in somebody else’s lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea
Under the sea
Darlin’ it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore, they work all day
Out in the sun, they slave away
While we devotin’
full time to floatin’
under the sea
Down here all the fish is happy
as off through the waves dey roll
The fish on the land ain’t happy
They sad ‘cause they in the bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
they in for a worser fate
One day when the boss gets hungry
guess who gon’ be on the plate
Under the sea
Under the sea
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea, we off the hook
We got no troubles,
life is the bubbles
under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here naturally
Even the sturgeon n’ the ray
they get the urge an’ start to play
We got the spirit,
you got to hear it
under the sea
The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass
And they’re soundin’ sharp
The bass play the brass
The chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul
The ray, he can play
The ling on the strings
The trout rockin’ out
The blackfish, she sings
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it’s at
An’ Oh, that blowfish blow!
Under the sea
When the sardine
begin the beguine
it’s music to me
What do they got? A lot of sand
We got a hot crustacean band
Each little clam here
know how to jam here
under the sea
Each little slug here
cuttin’ a rug here
under the sea
Each little snail here
know how to wail here
That’s why it’s hotter
under the water
Yeah, we in luck here
down in the muck here
under the sea