From the recording Blue Water
Many years ago my youngest daughter and I were walking by the Quinnipiac River here in Connecticut watching the oyster boats go by, when this song came to me. Back then the industry was seemingly dying, but happily it has come back from the brink.
Lyrics
Today the oyster boats are headed for the Sound
Looks like it’s gonna blow so dog your hatches down
We’re outward bound again this cold November day
Turn towards a bitter wind and feel the ocean sway
Ch: My Sally Anne, rock me on the water
My Sally Anne, I named you for my daughter
The morning sun will find us alone
On the ocean once more
A long way from home
Houses of gingerbread and clapboards by the shore
They watched the sailing ships as they went off to war
My father’s father felt the calling of the sea
Left a wife and infant son the way that mine left me
Ch:
Spindrift and autumn mist, the dories on the bay
God knows the life we knew has all but slipped away
Today the oyster boats are headed for the Sound
Tomorrow, who can tell? So dog your hatches down