A Smooth Collie in Prague
Our gallant ship
*Oh, the stormy winds do blow
With the landlubbers down below,
And the sailor-men a-climbing to the top
To haul in the riggin’-o.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Twas Sunday night, our sails were set,
We hardly cleared the land-o,
When we spied a mermaid-a-swimmin’ by,
A comb and a glass in her hand-o.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The captain plumbed with a lead and a line,
He plumbed for to reach the sand-o,
While the wind and the waves did toss and roar,
We knew we’d never see land-o.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Then three times ’round went our gallant ship.
And three times more went she,
And the mate and the cabin boy said goodbye
As we sank in the salt, salt sea,
As we sank in the salt, salt sea.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Traditional ballad called “The Mermaid” was ccollected and compiled as No. 62 B by John Jacob Niles. Original musical arangement was composed for voice, concertina, clarinet, and guitar and performed by Sanford Ross Bender.
Impromptu string & wind trio parade
Underneath a pale gray sky
Horses and riders
From another angle
I came here all the way for nothing
Jungle spirit
Giraffes in Iowa
The barest of minimums
This instrumental may sound plaintive, but the more I listen, start to hear it as the breath of victory that arrives after an exhausting ordeal. It is an “on the road” piece in which the clarinet is only a student rental instrument that I play at a time when coincidentally my recording equipment also happens to not be performing properly. The guitar and clarinet improvise with sympathetic melodies that will never sound the same again; like hearing an invisible owl floating through the mist. SRB