Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the vineyard
But tonight, I am Nantucket bound
We took on diesel back in Montauk, yesterday
Left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here, I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone
So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep
I got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there, but where? God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I got people back on land who count on me
So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel
Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here
I was a bay man like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bay man anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the vineyard
But tonight, I am Nantucket bound
We took on diesel back in Montauk, yesterday
Left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here, I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone
So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep
I got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there, but where? God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I got people back on land who count on me
So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel
Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here
I was a bay man like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bay man anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh
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I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me "
Isn't this why we all go to work? Even with corporate downsizing, offshoring, trial lawyers, high taxes and whole host of things that have happened, we still get up and work anyway. While Billy Joel chose to write a song about fishermen, we are all fishermen in our own way and we do it for those who count on us.
v. tr.
To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat.
To fish in by trailing a baited line: troll the lake for bass.
To trail (a baited line) in fishing.
To sing in succession the parts of (a round, for example).
To sing heartily: troll a carol
While the song is about a fictional person, it decries the plight of the Long Island Baymen (known locally as Bubbies). The Baymen represent a dying breed of people who, like farmers, work the environment to provide for their families. Honorable men and women being forced out of their livelihoods as much by the creep of urban society and government regulation as the decline of fish stocks. Billy was always sympathetic to the hard working men who worked the sea, even getting arrested during a protest supporting the Baymen. At one point Billy had underwritten a plan by his young boat captain to use his boat (Alexa Ray, a 46' custom downeaster) as a commercial operation. As the two developed the plan, it became increasingly clear that the challenges facing a small commercial operation were greater than he had imagined. The idea was scrapped. It was not long after that this song came together.
Alexa is the name of Billy Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. The Alexa was Newman 46 fiberglass hull custom finished by Lee S. Wilbur and Co of Manset Me. [3] The hull was based on the Maine lobster boats known as a "downeaster," which should not be confused with the pleasure craft built by the Downeaster company.[4]