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Anne's Lament

from Swallow the Anchor by SaltyPaws

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about

The first time I heard this song by Tom Reid, (I Want To Go Down To The Sea {Alzheimer's Song}), I burst out crying. My first boyfriend's mother, Anne Wood, was struggling with Alzheimer's dementia, and had been placed in a nursing home. Long before, she had taken me into her family and treated my like a son. She has now passed, but I still have a difficult time singing this song without tearing up.

lyrics

Who is the gentleman that sits by my bed?
He says that he knows me so well.
But I'm certain that I've never seen him before
Though somehow his face rings a bell.

He's showing me pictures and telling me lies,
But there's someplace that I'd rather be.
So I drift away to the sound of his voice,
I want to go down to the sea.

I wish that our Patrick would hurry back home.
He's been away such a long time.
For he had to go, stop Hitler, you know.
He's somewhere on the front line.

But I'll keep the flame burning bright in the hearth
While he fights to keep us all free.
He'll come back from the war, and buy a new car,
And he'll chauffeur me down to the sea.

I'll put on my best Sunday dress for the day,
Bright ribbons to tie up my hair,
And I'll wait by the gate for me mother to come.
All the longing is so hard to bear.

We'll build castles so high, that they'll reach to the sky
And the ice cream will all be for free
And we'll dance in the sand to an old-time brass band.
I want to go down to the sea.

Instrumental

Now I sit all alone at the end of the room,
And gaze out the window all day.
For I know that me father will be coming soon,
He promised to take me away.

And sometimes I cry over nothing at all,
Still nobody listens to me.
When I close my eyes, I can hear the gulls call.
I want to go down to the sea.

credits

from Swallow the Anchor, released September 30, 2021

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SaltyPaws Punta Gorda, Florida

When you think of wandering minstrels, do you ever think they might live on a boat? SaltyPaws is a sailing acoustic duo, living aboard their catamaran, sailing and singing the Atlantic eastern seaboard. You'll hear guitar and 5 string banjo, spiced with harmonica and concertina. Wherever the boat is in port, you'll find Bentley and Jim joining a jam, at an open mic, or busking a street corner. ... more

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