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Tracks: 1. running out of time 2. making good time 3. house of cards 4. Blue Goose Saloon 5. swill 225 6. boatmen 7. Seldom Seen and his macho crew 8. the only tune Liam played 9. funky old town 10. what happened to this world 11. any old man 12. edge of town 13. guy like me |
Seldom Seen and his macho crew Listen to sample
As a result of the Grand Canyon floating/music trips that Trudy and I have participated in with Moki Mac River Expeditions, I became a member of the Grand Canyon River Guides, the benefits of which include receiving the "Boatmen's Quarterly Review", their quarterly magazine. The fall 2009 issue included an interview with Vaughn Short, who has been described as the "poet laureate of the Grand Canyon". Reprinted with the interview was this poem, which I immediately recognized as being eminently appropriate as a song lyric, so I came up with a melody to Vaughn's poem, and there you have it. The poem tells the story of a Grand Canyon raft trip in the 70's when the Bureau of Reclamation was using most of the Colorado's water to fill in behind the newly built Glen Canyon dam. The poem was originally published in "Raging River, Lonely Trail" from Two Horses Press in 1978, which is full of wonderful verse and comes highly recommended.
Will – guitar, mandolin, vocals, harmony vocalsLyrics:
They say the river can’t be run
The water’s down – It can’t be done
But if anyone can shoot it through
It’s old Seldom Seen and his macho crew
So load on the Coors, lash it down
Might as well be happy if we’re going to drown!
Roll up the bow line! Push out the boat!
With all this beer, it may not float
But the boats stay up! We’re on our way!
Will we see House Rock by the end of day?
At Badger Rapids the boatmen curse
The rocks stick up and it couldn’t be worse.
So they walk the bank, and they rant and swear.
They shake their heads and they tear their hair.
Then they jump on their boats and bounce on through.
But one hangs up! Now what’ll we do?
We push and shove and heave on rope.
The water pours in – there’s not much hope.
We pull and tug ‘til the boat’s unstuck
With a little work and a lot of luck!
Next we come to old Soap Creek,
The boats they bounce and the oar locks squeak.
The boys row hard and make the run,
But the sun hangs low, the day most done.
Chorus:
There were Kim and Mark – the Crumbo two,
A couple of Bob’s and guy named Stu,
Making up that macho crew.
And a kid named “Coke” was swamping.
On we push to old House Rock,
Everyone climbs out and it’s quite a shock.
The boatmen say “We need time to think.
Let’s stop here for a night to drink.”
Early in the morning, to the boatmen’s despair
The water’s still low and the rapid’s still there
So they ponder and study and fret and stew,
Then climb in their boats and row right through!
The days they pass and the going’s slow,
The wind is up and the water’s low.
We stop at the Little Colorado to take a swim,
Our time’s half gone and it’s looking grim.
At Carbon Creek we feed the pet raven Sam,
While we curse the Bureau and we curse the dam.
Swamper throws a mudball at that old black crow,
Stuart says, “Now we’re jinxed for down below.”
Shove off next morning with mileage to make,
But the Bureau is stingy – won’t give us a break.
We’re way behind schedule, but little is said,
Until someone yells, there’s a rapid ahead!”
Mark goes first, rowing right on track,
Then he turns around and he shouts back,
“To the right of the standing wave, then take it straight!”
But the skipper goes aground, and the problem’s great.
Chorus
The boatmen row back and the going’s tough,
The rocks are big and the water’s rough.
They all pitch in and they tie on rope.
The boat swings free – once more there’s hope.
Six days gone, we’re still at Hance.
The people swear there’s not a chance,
But the boatmen do it, possible or not –
Shoot their eight-foot boats through a six-foot slot!
Eight days gone and the girls get prettier,
The beer tastes better and the men are wittier.
But time is running out and the food is low,
I’m beginning to think it’s time to go.
Old Seldom climbs out and so do I.
Left before sun-up without saying good-bye,
Climbed the walls of that canyon grand,
Left the people sleeping there on the sand.
What happened to the people down below?
I can’t say, and I may never know.
They might have pushed right on through,
In the able hands of that macho crew,
Or might be they stranded way up high,
Top of a rock where the water rushed by,
And sitting there, I greatly fear,
They slowly perished for want of beer.
Chorus
There were Kim and Mark – the Crumbo two,
A couple of Bobs and a guy named Stu,
Making up that macho team,
That rowed the boats for Seldom Seen.
