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Rolling Down to Old Maui

from Dog Paddle by SaltyPaws

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about

Rolling Down to Old Maui is a traditional sea song. It expresses the anticipation of the crew of a whaling vessel on its return to Maui after a season of whaling in the Kamchatka Sea.

The song's earliest known appearance in its current form was in Joanna Colcord's Songs of American Sailormen (1938), without a tune. However, the song is clearly related to the song Rolling Down to Old Mohee, collected from the 1858 log of the Atkins Adams.

lyrics

It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife we whalermen undergo
And we don't give a damn when the gale is done how hard the winds did blow
'Cause we're homeward bound from the Arctic Ground with a good ship taut and free
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls of Old Maui

Chorus:
Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys, rolling down to Old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic Ground, rolling down to Old Maui

Once more we sail with the northerly gale through the ice and wind and rain
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands we soon shall see again
Six hellish months we've passed away on the cold Kamchatka Sea
But now we're bound from the Arctic Ground, rolling down to Old Maui

Once more we sail the northerly gale towards our island home
Our main mast sprung, our whaling done, and we ain't got far to roam
Our stun's'l boom is carried away, what care we for that sound
A living gale is after us, thank God we're homeward bound

How soft the breeze through the island trees, now the ice is far a-stern
Them native maids, them tropical glades are awaiting our return
Even now their big brown eyes look out hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails, running 'fore the gales, rolling down to Old Maui

credits

from Dog Paddle, released July 17, 2013

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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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