Well, gee, I found it on YouTube. I guess this would be the definitive transcription. My transcription is from the Fast Folk recording. THE SAILOR'S PRAYER (Rod MacDonald) Though my sails be torn and tattered and the mast be turned about Let the night wind chill me to my very soul Though the spray might sting my eyes and the stars no light provide Give me just another morning light to hold CHORUS And I will not lie me down, this rain a-ragin' I will not lie me down in such a storm And if this night be unblessed, I shall not take my rest Till I reach another shore And though the only water left is but salt to wound my thirst I will drink the rain that falls so steady down And though night's blindness be my gift, and there be thieves upon my drift I will praise this fog that shelters me along. CHORUS Though my mates be drained and weary and believe their hopes are lost There's no need for their bones on that blackened bottom And though Death waits just off the bow, they shall not answer to him now He shall stand to face the morning light without us. CHORUS by Rod MacDonald ©1982 by Blue Flute Music from The CooP: The Fast Folk Musical Magazine November 1982
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/fast_folk/FFSE108.pdf (notes are slightly different from the recording) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLs-uwV1R4
Lyrics that are different from the Digital Tradition are bold. And here's a recording of the song on an album titled rod macdonald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiSW353Gd1s Looks like the transcription in Rise Up Singing is almost exactly what the songwriter sings. The DT and Bok-Muir-Trickett version is a bit "folk-processed."
|