1. |
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THE OLD STATEN ISLAND FARMS
© Bob Wright
G D C G
It used to be the trees nestled up against the sea
C D
And the water from the springs ran cold and clear
G D
There were riches in the bay
C G
And the topsoil and the clay
C D
And the sun shined on the people living here
C D
You know it don’t seem fair
(chorus)
C D
That I’m surrounded by rows of houses
Em C
the places I used to love are gone
D
they’re gone the way of the wetlands
G
and the old Staten Island farms
then some ships came into view
and the native people knew
that life for them would never be the same
and the changes came so fast
they erased most of the past
I don’t know who to blame
(chorus) cause
and the villages and farms filled the gentle hills with barns
and the pastures flowed with cattle and with corn
and as good as they might do it
someone else would say improve it
people never can leave well enough alone
and now it all is gone
(chorus) and
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2. |
Alice Austen
03:05
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ALICE AUSTEN
© Bob Wright
Alice Austen, Alice Austen
won’t you play me a tune
my ship’s in the harbor
I’m leaving here soon
So grab hold of Bessie
And tune up to C
And play me a tune
Before I have to leave
So they got out the Dobson and a parlor guitar
On the Clear Comfort porch
On a night filled with stars
The tugboats slipped quietly by in the dark
As Alice and Bessie got ready to star
Alice Austen, Alice Austen
won’t you play me a tune
my ship’s in the harbor
I’m leaving here soon
So grab hold of Bessie
And tune up to C
And play me a tune
Before I have to leave
theres a breeze through the Narrows
that’s gentle and fair
it lifts up the spirits and sweetens the air
Bessie strums rhythm
And Alice picks lead
On a warm summer’s night boys
That’s all that you need
Alice Austen, Alice Austen
won’t you play me a tune
my ship’s in the harbor
I’m leaving here soon
So grab hold of Bessie
And tune up to C
And play me a tune
Before I have to leave
there’s an old photograph
I display it with pride
Of Alice and Bessie
On the porch side by side
I can still hear that banjo
As it floats in the wind
And I feel like I’m back
On the front porch again
Alice Austen, Alice Austen
won’t you play me a tune
my ship’s in the harbor
I’m leaving here soon
So grab hold of Bessie
And tune up to C
And play me a tune
Before I have to leave
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3. |
Erastina (Buffalo Bill)
02:36
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Erastina
© Bob Wright
(chorus)
Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill
how many buffalo did you kill
I can hardly wait until
I can go see Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill in a big ol’ hat
Flowin’ hair on down his back
Sits a horse like you kiss the wind
I wanna go see him again
(chorus)
Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill
how many buffalo did you kill
I can hardly wait until
I can go see Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill on a big ol’ steamer
Headed out to Erastina
Built himself a railroad track
I can’t wait till he comes back
(chorus)
Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill
how many buffalo did you kill
I can hardly wait until
I can go see Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill makes the horses dance
When they crank up the Cowboy Band
There’s not a dry eye to be found
When they go tenting on the old campground
Many are the hearts that are weary tonight
wishing for the war to cease
many are the hearts that are looking for the right
to see the dawn of peace
tenting tonight, tenting tonight
tenting on the old campground
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
Made it’s mark and had to go
Gave the people quite a thrill
To spend some time with Buffalo Bill
(chorus)
Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill
how many buffalo did you kill
I can hardly wait until
I can go see Buffalo Bill
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4. |
The Betsy of New York
02:40
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5. |
Commuters Tune
02:11
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6. |
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STARLIGHT KITTY AND MOONLIGHT NELL
© Bob Wright (key of D- capo 2nd)
adrift in a place
where the boys know their faces
and the smoke of the bars
hides their eyes
they could be who you wanted
without any traces
of malice
or traces of lies
(chorus)
then they’d dance at the Castleton
high on a hill
or wait
by the Silver Lake side
Starlight Kitty and Moonlight Nell
Come on boys let’s go for a ride
Well they walked everywhere
And the women would stare
As they walked hand-in-hand
Through the streets
And they welcomed the night
When the flicker of gaslight
Made them both beauties to see
(chorus)
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7. |
Sandy Ground
02:21
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SANDY GROUND
© Bob Wright
I came up here from Maryland
from a place they call Snow Hill
Where you have to be as white as snow
to exercise free will
I heard the oysters here were sweet
as any to be found
So I took a chance and I ran away
to live in Sandy Ground
(chorus)
so pull those tongs good and strong
and bring the boat about
there’s oysters on the bottom
and the tide is runnin’ out
ain’t no pearls to give the girls
no treasure to be found
but it’s oysters pays for supper
when you live in Sandy Ground
I love the tappin’ of the waves
underneath the hull
And I love the taste of salty water
and the laughing gulls
I wouldn’t trade the life I got
with any to be found
And I wouldn’t want to lead a life
without Sandy Ground
(chorus)
so pull those tongs good and strong
and bring the boat about
there’s oysters on the bottom
and the tide is runnin’ out
ain’t no pearls to give the girls
no treasure to be found
but it’s oysters pays for supper
when you live in Sandy Ground
the sun is fading in the west
I have to go my friend
you can see the light at Prince’s Bay
out there to guide me in
I’ll sleep tonight in my own bed
and when I lay me down
I’ll say a prayer of thanks
that there’s a place like Sandy Ground
(chorus)
so pull those tongs good and strong
and bring the boat about
there’s oysters on the bottom
and the tide is runnin’ out
ain’t no pearls to give the girls
no treasure to be found
but it’s oysters pays for supper
when you live in Sandy Ground
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8. |
Stapleton Beer
03:28
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STAPLETON
© Bob Wright
Prohibition killed the breweries
Their fate forever sealed
But when Volstead wasn’t goin
And the beer began a flowin’
All that was left was Piels ( expressions of major disgust :- )
There used to be so many
You could smell it in the air
In the houses and the taverns
And the hillside caverns
Everywhere was beer beer beer (cheers?)
But prohibition killed the breweries
Their fate forever sealed
And when Volstead wasn’t goin
And the beer began a flowin’
All that was left was Piels
Bechtels, Bachmann’s, Bischoff’s
Menken’s, Meuller’s, Griemes,
Rubsam and Horrmann
Had to hire extra barmen
Just to keep all of the locals in the line
But then prohibition killed the breweries
Their fate forever sealed
And after it was over
And the beer began a flowin’
All that was left was Piels
People drank it by the barrel
People drank it by the glass
They guzzled P’s and Q’s
Down with pickled eggs and ne
All of it had to pass
Because prohibition killed the breweries
Their fate unfairly sealed
By the crime th was a’showin
And the bootleggers a’rowin
And the money that was owin
To the neighborhoods a growin
And when Volstead wasn’t goin
And the beer began a flowin’
All that was left was Piels
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9. |
Cobh of Sorrow
02:39
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COBH OF SORROW (key of D-capo 2nd)
© Bob Wright
D G
She stood on the deck there and whispered her name
D C
Till the wind took it from her and nothing remained
D G
Just the shell of a body the crew put below
D A D
As they sailed past the Hook and they entered New York
(chorus)
A D
there’s a Cobh of sorrow filled deep with the names
A
of the people who vanished when they left Ireland
D G
where the waves break and scatter and clatter in vain
D A D
there’s a Cobh of sorrow filled deep with the names
they arrived in New York and the dead filled the holds
and the air there was thick with the leaving of souls
and the wagons pulled in and the wagons would go
up the hill to a hole in the forest
(chorus)
well there are no trees left there to mark where she lay
but the grass there is green and there’s soft rain some days
and her body’s a part of the land that she craved
and her soul is a part of the air there
(chorus)
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10. |
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11. |
Safe at Snug Harbor
03:46
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12. |
Kate Walker
03:47
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KATE WALKER (key of B)
© Bob Wright
B
The harbor is a busy place
E
Filled with boats and all those faces
B G#m F#
Lookin’ for a shelter from the storm
B
It may be safer that the open waters
E
But the dangers aren’t over
B F# B
We still need someone to guide us home
(chorus)
E B E B
mind the light Kate mind the light
G#m E
keep us protected in the night
B G#m
as long as its still burning everything will be all right
F# B
mind the light Kate mind the light
Katie Walker was a lighthouse keeper
A mile offshore on Robbins Reef
She toted kerosene throughout the night
For over thirty years she struggled
To keep the harbor safe from trouble
By making sure she kept it shining bright
(chorus)
So heres a toast for when she graced us
It took four men to replace her
And now the lights run automatically
But sometimes from a foggy ferry
Look hard at the light and
You might see her sitting
out there with her tea
(chorus)
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13. |
Brooklyn Bridge
03:09
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THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE (key of B-capo 4th)
© Bob Wright
B A B
I can see that old bridge there in the distance
A F#
Hard against the traffic and the tide
B A
while the men who laid her stones
B E
Are long reduced to bones
B F# B
I can still hear them crying in the night
(chorus)
E B
cause they’d load up the caissons with workers
A F#
and sink them in the muddy river bed
B A
and they’d leave all those men
B E
on the bottom till again
B F# B
another trolley dodger danced the Grecian Bend
over and over it happened
men were coming up and falling down
and they didn’t understand
when another healthy man
lay twisted like a shipwreck in the sand
(chorus)
say a prayer for the builders and the dreamers
say a prayer for the river and the bridge
but save your deepest thoughts
for all the lives it cost
and pray it doesn’t happen there again
(CHORUS)
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14. |
Aquehonga Moon
03:24
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AQUEHONGA MOON
© Bob Wright
C Em F
Aquehonga Moon Slowly rising up beyond the Hook
Fm C G C
Charming anyone who cares to look Aquehonga Moon
Aquehonga Moon Don’t you find a cloud and try to hide
I’ll still see you right before my eyes Aquehonga Moon
F C G C
Just look down from a north shore hill The harbor glows below
F C G C
Pearly bridges and high-rise lights Still can’t steal the thrill
Of the Aquehonga Moon Crossing over through a starry plain
As it comes to visit us again Aquehonga Moon
Aquehonga Moon
Everybody wants to wish on stars
But I know that mine don’t go that far
Aquehonga Moon
Aquehonga Moon
It really doesn’t matter who you are
You can find it hanging by a star
Aquehonga Moon
You don’t need any telescopes
Or have to pay a fee
Just look up and it’s floating there
Reflected in the sea
Is the Aquehonga Moon
Smiling softly in a silver sky
Just a glimpse of it can make me cry
Aquehonga Moon
I hope that I can go there when I die Aquehonga Moon
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15. |
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I DON’T THINK YOU’D CHANGE YOUR MIND
© Bob Wright (key of A- capo 2nd)
A D
Every day I try to figure out
G A
If the things I’ve done were right
D
And every time I start to think of you
G A
I’m up half the night
2nd
D A
It gets lonely here without you
D Bm
But at least you once were mine
A D
If I had to do it over
G A
I don’t think you’d change your mind
If the sun got any brighter
We would never see the stars
And if the nights got any longer
I’d still wonder where you are
(repeat 2nd)
So I get up and I lead a life
That is mostly full and fine
And the thoughts of how it could have been
Only sometimes cross my mind
(repeat 2nd)
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Bob Wright/ Harbortown New York, New York
He is a multi-instrumentalist, an award winning songwriter and Bob Wright songs are often mistaken for traditional songs because their immigrant roots run deep beneath the surface of America and back to the places they came from for nurturing and inspiration. They surface in a modern world, constructed with a modern sensibility and a comforting resonance with the past. ... more
Contact Bob Wright/ Harbortown
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