Rogue’s Gallery: The Art of the Siren, #20
Song: Bono: A Dying Sailor to His Shipmates (4:45 minutes)
from Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, ANTI- 2006.
Buy CD in Germany and elsewhere.
Image: Eleanor Hardwick: shipwrecks, voyage and nautical daydreams, September 22, 2008.
Lyrics:
Oh wrap me in my country’s flag
and lay me in the cold blue sea.
Let the roaring of the waves
my solemn requiem be,
And I shall sleep a pleasant sleep,
while storms above their vigils keep.My Captain brave shall read for me
the service of the silent dead,
and yay shall lower me in the waves,
when all the prayers are said.
And I will find my long, long home,
among the billows and the foam.Farewell my friends for many a league,
we’ve sailed together on the deep.
Come let us shake our hands,
I’ll sail no more, but shipmates wear for weep.I’m bound above, my course is run,
I near the port, my voyage is done.
Explanatory liner notes by ANTI-:
A haunting ballad of the 19th century whaling ships. As well as being musical, sailors often displayed great poetic ability, as in the lyrics of this powerful song.
