Lament For The Landlocked Whale
by Yankee Clippers
on Hauling Home (1994)
When I signed on with Brigham Young
The Dolphin Inn with the laughter, rung
Of tarrs who had sailed from the marble-head piers
along side of me for the past nine years.
Years, years, the past nine years.
Still, I stowed my gaff and my hardweather coat
with my red topped boots in a two-wheel boat
and I humped 'em over land 'till my back would break,
dockin' at the shores of the Great Salt Lake
The Lake, lake, the Great Salt Lake
We built our barques by the desert sea
hewing masts and yards from the cottonwood trees
until at length we were fit for to sail
and search the horizon for the inland whale
The whale, whale, the inland whale
And it's many a leviathan that landed soon
at the end of a Buffalo-horn harpoon
and with Mormon rum, to each a toast we'd make
as we hauled 'em from the waters of the Great Salt Lake
The Lake, lake, the Great Salt Lake
There were Sperm and Humpback, Grays and Wrights
We'd chase 'em all day and try them out all night
as the desert came to bloom, like a rose
to the music of the men crying "There she blows!"
She blows, blows, there she blows
Then at last to the wind all our shouts were lost
not a man on board knew full the cost
but we brought our bows about and we beat for the shore
knowing only that we would be back no more
No more, no more, we'd be back no more
And soon the fish and the kelp and the shark
followed the whale as he vanished from the dark
For we broke the chain, we swamped the scales
when we emptied the lake of the landlocked whales
The whales, whales, the landlocked whales
Now we've better fuels for heat and for lights
and we've spandex to keep the corset tight.
and and we've little need for the oil and the bone,
and the big fellow ought to be left alone
Alone, alone, to be left alone
So come on all you sailors, the waves you ride
Take no more whales from the oceans, wide
but trade your lances for plows to wield
and go inland to till the fields
The fields, fields, go and till the fields
Song Comments (1)
On Lament For The Landlocked Whale by Yankee Clippers
By RE Anderson
Posted