I Hate the Sea

Und diese Umdichtung hab ich länger als zwei Jahre vor mir hergeschoben; wenigstens 2011 sollte sie noch fertig werden. Den zaudernden Schreibern unter uns kann ich jetzt verraten: Das Geheimnis ist: Nicht denken — hinschreiben. Irgendwie wird’s immer.

Tune: Carter Family: Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow, 1927.

http://ia700304.us.archive.org/21/items/CarterFamily-01-10/CarterFamily-BuryMeUnderTheWeepingWillow1927_64kb.mp3″

Chorus: I hate the sea, and I hate the ocean,
the sailors and the mermaids sicken me.
For fish and ships I’ve no emotion,
I’m their fiercest enemy.

1.: I was born in a land on firm ground,
where the buffalo run free.
Where I come from, we despise all sea-bound,
even in the rivers do we pee. — Chorus.

2.: Dirty sea-dogs do their laundry
singing shanties with a bonny glee,
but I’m a supporter of the Country
which is found in Nashville/Tennessee. — Chorus.

3.: On the sea, there grows no flower,
on her rocky islands grows no tree.
I never drink water, and I never shower,
I’m never clean, and you don’t think I’ll ever be. — Chorus.

4.: Every day I climb the mountain,
and I fall gratefully on my knee
to stuff my plug into your fountain,
and oh! how proud I am the sea hates me. — Chorus.

Image: Gil Elvgren: Sitting Pretty;
Sound: 78 RPMs & Cylinder Recordings on Internet Archive.