Tugboats

Words and Music by Bob Bossin
Performed by Stringband, who was Bob Bossin,
Marie-Lynn Hammond and Terry King
With guest vocalist Stan Rogers and
Alan Soberman, Stew Cameron and
Pineapple Frank Barth
Recorded at Thunder Sound, Toronto, Canada


TUGBOATS

She's a jackpot tug and her hull is wood
The runs are short and the coffee's good
She don't make the news like the Sudbury
But she's right by the mate and the skipper and me,
By the skipper and me, she's the best boat since the Beaver

We scratched the beaches all the way
From tedium down to monotony bay
I know every town by the lights they show
And the bays with the names only tugboats know,
Only tugboats know every cliff and cove.

Wilfred says, Wait and let it come to you,
Wilfred oughta know,
35 years on the Strait of Georgia towboats

You see three suns as a tugboat man,
The sun in the sky that they know on land
The sun in the water that the sailors see
And the sun in the wheelhouse brass, that's three,
And a jack is four, and a three-card run makes seven.

Thirteen days in some damn cove
You can't get shit on the radio
The skipper's sour and the cook's gone mean
Been twice through every magazine
Magazine and half the bloody Bible

Wilfred says, Wait and let it come to you,
Wilfred oughta know,
35 years on the Strait of Georgia towboats

When the tugboat days are done
I'll join the Beaver on her run
Yardin' the stars when they drift away
And towin' the sun on a golden chain,
On a silver line, drinking cups of coffee.

Wilfred says, Wait and let it come to you,
Wilfred oughta know,
35 years on the Strait of Georgia towboats

Wilfred says, Wait and let it come to you,
Wilfred oughta know,
35 years from Prince Rupert down to Flattery
Waitin' for the tide to turn
Waitin' for the tide to turn

From

http://maritimefolknet.org/tugboat.html

Incidentally, that is a fantastic page. Has some great songs on it including 'Tall Trees' by Mary Garvey. It is a beautiful piece of writing.