SEND THE BOATS AWAY

Lynn Clark

Once, in seas of silver, fishermen would cast their nets
To take the bounty of the Sea: those men are fishing yet,
But now their boats are laden down with goods of lethal store,
And in these peace-times we should fear those sea-bound men-of-war.


Chorus:
(so) Send the boats away, my friends, (now) send the boats away.
We care not how we run them out, but send the boats away,
For if we choose to live in peace then who are they to say?
Let's take a stand, protect this land, and send the boats away.


Who will want those nuclear holes when those nets are raised?
To our oceans whose seas are filled with waste,
And fishing-boats of fisher-folk lie useless on the shore,
For bearing down upon them now are those sea-bound men-of-war.

Chorus

Once I slept easy in my bed, mind free from Holocaust,
But now it seems like nuclear-free Pacific zones we've lost,
For now the boats are laden down with goods of lethal store,
And in these peace-times we should fear those sea-bound men-of-war.

Chorus

Send them away

Send them away

Send them away.

[lyrics taken from Mudcat thread]

This song was very popular in Sessions when I first came to Qld years ago – and esp the heartfelt harmonising by Lonnie Martin and Helen Rowe – I find it hard to believe that the only YT version I can find is by a Teesider – but a goodun, nonetheless!!   

So here is the late Vin Garbutt singing Lynn Clark’s NZ plea for a Nuclear-free Pacific : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ElwvsTVMIk


R-J