1. |
Song of Svalbard
05:52
|
|||
|
We headed north out of Isfjord, bearing "as the crow"
A thousand tons of Danish steel, two hundred souls below
A circumnavigation of Svalbard's rocky fells
But what we've all come searching for, no tongue aboard can tell
And I miss you like I miss the stars, I miss the midnight blue
But I’ve heard the song of Svalbard, don’t you hear her calling you?
In Smeerenburg, by king's command, the whaling fleet made berth
To claim the Bowhead and the Right, dominion o'er the earth
For forty years the ovens blazed, the beaches slick with gore
Now Virgo harbours only ghosts, the whalefish are no more
High above Nordaustland lie the Seven Islands grey
And many a ship has ploughed the foam to see the walrus sport and play
As we sailed into Phippsøya with silver skies above
We saw the children in the morning, they're still leaning out for love
Beyond the blind horizon where the easterlies do blow
Amundsen and Nobile still beckon from the floe
Their faded flags are streaked and torn, their beards are balled with hoar
Their cries are borne upon the gale then lost forever more
On the island of Kvitøya there's a solemn granite stone
To mark the spot where Andrée came to lay his burden down
With fog so thick and bears so wild it'll chill you through and through
And when I set foot on those shores, Lord, I felt like dying too
From Skansbukta to Ny-London, Camp Millar, Longyearbyen
The rusted heaps of iron recall the gilded dreams of men
They came in top hat, tails and cane, they dined on quince and ling
And if you turn your head just right, you can hear the hammers ring
Oh, the cliffs of Alkefjellet and Bellsund's gentle breeze
Woodfjord and Kongsbreen they can bring you to your knees
The peaks of Struvefjella sing their silent praise to God
While every fleeting summer don't they bloom like Aaron's rod
And down below the waterline the able seaman pines
For that brown-eyed Pasay girl he left in tears behind
Then suddenly the truth shines through as the ship sails into port
That the heart is like a compass and love is our true north
We headed north out of Isfjord, bearing "as the crow"
A thousand tons of Danish steel, two hundred souls below
|
||||
2. |
In Deep
04:53
|
|||
3. |
The Polar Bear Bar Song
04:44
|
|||
|
There’s a little red ship on the wild Arctic seas
Where the winds blow so cold you can feel your blood freeze
But up on deck five you hear the sound of guitars
Up in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
Here comes Susan Adie, she runs a tight show
She gets into the malbec and anything goes
And Guy Esperon with his head in a jar
He drinks in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
Now old Scobie Pye, he never gets out
He’s working on engines day in and day out
But under the bell every night he’s a star
He holds court in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
Now big Phillip Hunter, he’s as chill as they come
He’s smooth in a kayak and cool with a gun
But out on the dance floor he’s fit to be tarred
He gets down in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
And here’s Mr. Morgan, we don’t know what he’s on
But he can dance the merengue from dusk until dawn
His interest in knickers is somewhat bizarre
And he peeps in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
There’s no greater hunter than Mario Spring
When he gets on a scent he can track anything
Brunettes and redheads, they don’t get very far
When he hunts in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
These three pretty fraulines, so sweet and so dear
But they can tear up the town when they get on the beer
From Oslo to Svalbard, hear them shout Wunderbar
Sie trinken in der Polar Bear, bonjour und hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
Way up in the Polar Bear Bar
There’s many fine comp’nies that sail the salt seas
Noble Caledonia and Old Silver Seas
Big Hurtigruten and don’t forget Quark
But they don’t have a Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Don’t have a Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
No they don’t have a Polar Bear Bar
Tomorrow it’s over, it’s the end of the cruise
The disembarkation and luggage pull blues
So come all you big drinkers, let’s say au revoir
We’ll meet in the Polar Bear, bonjour and hola there
Up in the Polar Bear Bar, Bear Bar
We’ll get lit in the Polar Bear Bar
|
||||
4. |
Winterway
02:59
|
|||
|
Better the water way
Better the wild and feckless path
Better to be, better to be free
To be open to the last
Don’t listen to me, I didn’t get a degree
I’m just one more blue light saviour at a vanity fair
Don’t take it from me, I didn’t get it for free
Show you the winter way
Show you the willed and wasted love
Teach you to be, teach you to see
To be over and above
Don’t give it to me, I never wanted to be
I’m just a plebe, another baby in an auto-da-fé
No reverie, no reprieve
We are a different breed
The new seed
Sing us a summer song
Sing us a song of open mind
Wish you to be, want you to see
Want you to rise and shine
Don’t come to me, I gave it all away
I’m off the hook, Moulin Rouge set a table for me
Don’t look at me, please don’t leave
|
||||
5. |
Jenny Lind
01:17
|
|||
|
Jenny Lind, there are those who say your charms are not all that
Just because you’re flat, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind, though you’ve never wooed a sailor with your curves
You’re a lovely home for murres, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind, many men have spied your shores then passed you by
But Jenny Lind, as sure as fish heads draw the flies
You’re easy on the eyes, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind, I have sailed from Baffin Bay to Molly’s Reach
You’re my favourite dirty beach, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind, though the fellas tell me you can be demanding
You gave my Zodiac a gentle landing, Jenny Lind
|
||||
6. |
A Blue Whale's Lament
03:37
|
|||
|
Today I heard you singing
As you floated o’er my hall
“Sally Brown” and “Blow Ye Winds”
And “on the bowline haul”
So many years have come and gone
Since you shouted them so bold
To hear them ringing once again
It made my blood run cold
And I had barely come of age
When your fathers came to kill
All fire and iron and bloody foam
Taking what they will
Harpooned by the thousands
Flensed and rendered down
‘til all my kin were nothing more
Than numbers in a count
I remember mast and sail
Yes, I remember true
And when your kind has passed away
I will remember you
They took my mate in ‘43
And she was with a calf
She’d carried it for ten long months
When they put her to the gaff
I think about her now and then
To me she was a queen
To you she was just fifty barrels
Of oil for margarine
I remember coal and steel
Yes, I remember true
And when your kind has passed away
I will remember you
Now summer fades to winter grey
Alone, I wander north
My dives they tend to shallow now
My breath a little short
From Marguerite to Whaler’s Bay
My voice echoes in the blue
With no one left to hear the call
I guess I sing for you
I remember diesel oil
Yes, I remember true
And when your kind had passed away
I will remember you
Oh, I remember mast and sail
Yes, I remember true
And when your kind had passed away
I will remember you
|
||||
7. |
The Beagle
03:59
|
|||
8. |
Leroy the Leopard
03:18
|
|||
|
Leroy was a Leopard seal, he lived at Damoy Point
A predator without a peer, you could say he owned the joint
Penguins, krill and table scraps is what most “Leps” ingest
But what made old Leroy special was his taste for human flesh, Leroy
Leroy, Leroy, Leroy
The terror of Lemaire!
Leroy
He came by his unnatural lust, his penchant for man-based snacks
When come upon this B.C. boy a-catchin’ Zodiacs
Now Matthew was a strappin’ lad, all full of beef and taters
‘til Leroy swum up stealthy-like and took him by his waders, Leroy
I’ll spare you all the grim and bloody details of Matt’s fate
The viscera, the high-pitched screams, I needn’t here relate
Gentoos, Leroy now eschews since he sampled Matthew’s meats
He roams the dark and rocky coves in search of sweeter treats, Leroy
The shores around Damoy were once a jewel in Lilibet’s realm
But since Leroy whet his appetite it’s a livin’ Leopard hell
So when you’re rounding Damoy Point and headed for the moat
Just keep one eye upon the stern and your hands inside the boat, Leroy
|
||||
9. |
Eternal Groove
02:38
|
|||
|
Pressed my wheels into your scar
Tried to make some time
And fell one more mile behind
While secretly above and below
You stitched and wove me
Into your eternal groove
Spoke your name aloud today
Tried to make it rhyme
And fell one more line behind
When suddenly from out of the blue
The old was new
You sang out your eternal groove
|
||||
10. |
Pourquoi Pas
02:39
|
|||
11. |
The Arctic Fox Song
03:57
|
|||
|
The fauna of the Arctic is a wonder to behold
Adapted to the crushing dark and unrelenting cold
Each animal a miracle of evolution’s hand
Resigned to bare existence in an unforgiving land
But there’s a little fellow who we often see around
He’s chipper and he’s cheerful, no, nothing gets him down
Immune it seems to the ennui that comes with life’s cruel shocks
Precocious, perspicacious, I give you Arctic Fox
Oh, the skies are clear and blue, or not
The wind blows cold, I say, so what
No how, no why, no when, no where
I’m an Arctic fox I just don’t care
The reindeer’s a phlegmatic chap who never wears a smile
Scratching out his meagre living mournful mile by mournful mile
He’s timorous and fearful, a total Arctic wus
No vim, no verve, no vigour, no Vulpes Lagopus
Now, Ursus Maritimus is a fearsome Arctic foe
He’s sullen and he’s friendless, he’s a fur ball full of woe
At any social gathering he’s like a dose of pox
But he’d be a bon vivant with just a dash of Arctic Fox
Yon pinniped upon the beach, thy lethargy’s innate
With so little raw ambition it’s no surprise you’re overweight
Sucking clams and farting in a thigmotactic pile
The Arctic fox could teach you how to live life with more style
And finally Homo Sapiens, our genius knows no bounds
A more endowed species, on this earth cannot be found
And yet we roam the world as though our shoes were full of rocks
Oh, we could learn a lesson from our friend brer Arctic Fox
|
||||
Kevin Closs Greater Sudbury, Ontario
Kevin Closs is a singer/songwriter from Manitoulin Island.
If you like Kevin Closs, you may also like:
Death Folk Country
by Dorthia Cottrell
The Windhand singer's second solo album unfurls reflections on life, lust, love, and loss.
go to album
Ruby Throat’s songs thrive on juxtaposition, setting gentle vocals against big, stormy riffs.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 17, 2015
go to album
New Life
by Goodtime John & Bonnie Prince Billy
Two collaborations between Irish singer-songwriter J. Cowhie aka Goodtime John and Will Oldham are mildly psychedelic in atmosphere.
go to album
The latest from UK artist MF Tomlinson sets sharp lyrics amidst a backdrop of acoustic guitar, lush keys, and soft percussion.
go to album
My Christmas Plea
by Matt Dorrien
Portland singer/songwriter delivers a gorgeous Christmas EP, fashioned in the lush style of classics by Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis.
go to album
Wealth of Sorrow
by Cahalen Morrison
Bright and skipping songs that foreground the sound of the banjo and fingerstyle guitar in music that feels timeless.
go to album
