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Nantucket Sleigh Ride Lyrics
Good bye, little Robin-Marie
Don't try following me
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause you know I'm coming home soon
My ships' leaving on a three-year tour
The next tide will take us from shore
Windlaced, gather in sail and spray
On a search for the mighty sperm whale
Fly your willow branches
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
Starbuck's sharpening his harpoon
The black man's playing his tune
An old salt's sleeping his watch away
He'll be drunk again before noon
Three years sailing on bended knee
We found no whales in the sea
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause we'll be in sight of land soon
Fly your willow branches
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
Don't try following me
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause you know I'm coming home soon
The next tide will take us from shore
Windlaced, gather in sail and spray
On a search for the mighty sperm whale
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
The black man's playing his tune
An old salt's sleeping his watch away
He'll be drunk again before noon
We found no whales in the sea
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause we'll be in sight of land soon
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
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This has got absolutely nothing to do with drugs. Mr Starbuck was first mate on the Pequod - the whaling ship in the novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.
The Nantucket Sleighride of the title is how whalers referred to their boats being dragged along behind a harpooned whale.
Kinda pisses on your drugs theory, doesn't it?
@Massapequa HA! The song was actually about the whaling ship Essex and Owen Coffin who was eaten by his shipmates. Robin Marie was his girlfriend that he left for a three year whaling tour onboard the ship Essex.
@Massapequa HA! The song was actually about the whaling ship Essex and Owen Coffin who was eaten by his shipmates. Robin Marie was his girlfriend that he left for a three year whaling tour onboard the ship Essex.
Massapequa has got it nailed.
It wasn't the thene to World in Action but Weekend World.
Hmmm...?...close, but I think there is more to it. On the LP, the song is dedicated to "Owen Coffin". I suggest googlin' his name & reading of his mis-adventure while Whaling
Hmmm...?...close, but I think there is more to it. On the LP, the song is dedicated to "Owen Coffin". I suggest googlin' his name & reading of his mis-adventure while Whaling
still dont really get this: Fly your willow branches Wrap your body round my soul Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
Me neither
Me neither
At this point in the song they are out at sea, and my take of the fast drum beats is they are dealing with storms and heavy seas and the rigors of sailing. Then we get this musical interlude with a different nature, like he's dreaming of being elsewhere.
At this point in the song they are out at sea, and my take of the fast drum beats is they are dealing with storms and heavy seas and the rigors of sailing. Then we get this musical interlude with a different nature, like he's dreaming of being elsewhere.
My take is, the flying willow branches are some type of whip and he and maybe others are getting spurred to row faster. He's afraid and hurting and he starts disassociating with his body. He imagines his soul, at peace within, someplace far away, but his body is split...
My take is, the flying willow branches are some type of whip and he and maybe others are getting spurred to row faster. He's afraid and hurting and he starts disassociating with his body. He imagines his soul, at peace within, someplace far away, but his body is split off so it's not even his body at this point.
The reeds are bagpipes (which have reeds built into them). Bagpipes and drums are traditional at funerals, and this line is him fantasizing about his death, where he's lying on the soft sheets of a coffin, and the bagpipes and drums are laying down their tunes on him.
Was this not the theme to World In Action in the late '70's?
I first heard this acouple of months back on the Howard Stern Show coming out of the break, and had to look up.
"Starbuck's sharpening his harpoon The black man's playing his tune An old salt's sleeping his watch away He'll be drunk again before noon"
. This sounds like a heroin addict is getting his fix while he listens to black music. Kinda backs up my theory that the greatest songs are written on and about drugs. Great song.
@justasimpleguy YOU are backing up your theory lol Nothing about drugs AT ALL
@justasimpleguy YOU are backing up your theory lol Nothing about drugs AT ALL
Who is Robin-Marie?
And what is this line saying about her?
And I know your the last true love I'll meet
Robin Marie is his wife/gf. He loves her deeply.
Robin Marie is his wife/gf. He loves her deeply.
Here is what I think about this verse is about Fly your willow branches Wrap your body round my soul Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
Here is what I think about this verse is about Fly your willow branches Wrap your body round my soul Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
drum cards are used in making small threads from wool to spin on a spinning wheel to make long threads to be used to weave cloth on a loom. Reeds are used on looms to drive the cross threads across the perpendicular threads. When the weaver is going very fast the reed guiding the long thread across appears to...
drum cards are used in making small threads from wool to spin on a spinning wheel to make long threads to be used to weave cloth on a loom. Reeds are used on looms to drive the cross threads across the perpendicular threads. When the weaver is going very fast the reed guiding the long thread across appears to fly through the other cross threads. This part if pretty far fetched but what else could the reeds and drums be? Did she suddenly become a musician? probably not.
I think he is telling her to hold on tightly to his memory and spend her time weaving cloth for soft sheets for him for when he returns. I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet means he loves her so much that no one else could ever be his true love after her. It also implies that he knows he is going into a dangerous place and he is trying to convince her (and himself) that he will return and they will be together when he returns.
whaling was a dangerous job
A wife or daughter
A wife or daughter
The Willow is the tree most associated with the moon, water, the Goddess and all that is feminine. It is the tree of dreaming, intuition and deep emotions. http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/willow.htm
@Massapequa and Simple guy - I know this is a very old thread, I came here to look up the lyrics because I just saw Corky Laing play last night. You're kinda both right. Yes, there are specific references to Moby Dick. But the whole song IS a metaphorical tale about drug abuse, especially the poignantly great line "And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet." Think about, wow. During the show Corky talked about why he wrote the song, dedicating it to all his rocker friends who "lived too fast and died too young." We all heard it from his own mouth, so that's that.
@sybil11155 Corky did nt write this. Felix P. and Gail Collins wrote it!!!
@sybil11155 Corky did nt write this. Felix P. and Gail Collins wrote it!!!