As McGrath says:

"The power of the song lies in the way that it's not actually just about a bunch of mates heading off on their travels. It's about the way life sooner or later takes things and people we value away, and then it's our turn, because that's how the world goes."

I couldn't agree more. One of the reasons I actually learned this song was as a farewell to one of Roll & Go's members who was bound and determined to leave Maine and seek his fortune ten thousand miles away in Guam.

And anyone who wants to sing this song should, in my opinion, go back to the original words first (do your homework) and decide for himself/herself if they want to sing the song exactly as the poet composed the poem, or whether make some changes or incorporate changes by others with appropriate credit. You know, poets sometimes revise their own poems as well. Singers are hardly unique in this practice.

One of the reasons I sing the first verse is that I think it's essential for introducing the song. I don't sing the last verse because I think it compromises the message that I'd like to get across, ultimate abandonment and anger from the loss of old friends.

It's a great song!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble