Lyr Add: Seaview Bells

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seaview Bells
From: mg
Date: 13 Dec 11 - 11:04 PM

I wrote it but it was based on a true story in Chinook OBserver about a girl finding some cowbells and her mother or grandmother telling her to put them down and that they had been used for calling home the men. mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seaview Bells
From: maeve
Date: 13 Dec 11 - 10:10 PM

This is a favorite of mine, Mary.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seaview Bells
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Dec 11 - 09:13 PM

It's a great song MG - can you identify the songwriter, or does the songwriter prefer to remain unidentified?

The entrance to the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border is very treacherous. If you look, you're likely to find shipwrecks in the area. On the Washington side, you will find beautiful Cape Disappointment, which is not a disappointment at all. On the Oregon side is Astoria, a lovely little city. The movie Goonies was filmed there. Wikipedia says Astoria was named after robber baron John Jacob Astor - I didn't know that.


Thanks, MG.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seaview Bells
From: mg
Date: 13 Dec 11 - 09:04 PM

oh thanks...we are thinking of putting this our supposed but very delayed columbia bar CD

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seaview Bells
From: GUEST,Joy bennett
Date: 13 Dec 11 - 08:58 PM

thanks Mary --just sitting here with Moe Bowstern--she's here at a Johnson Girls rehearsal -- and we were just singing this song -- thanks for all the great music!

Subject: Lyr Req: SEAVIEW BELLS
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 03:38 PM

SEAVIEW BELLS -- about Columbia Bar/mouth of Columbia River

Back and forth the cowbells ring; onward swings the light,
Hoping that our signals bring our husbands home tonight.
The Seaview bells are ringing as they do in storm and gale,
Ringing for the safe return of every lonesome sail.

I recollect my marriage day, the day I was a bride,
The vows I made that wed me to the turn of every tide.
The wind can blow him east and west, likewise north and south,
And what a time he has to find the river's angry mouth.

I leave the children in their cribs hungry and unfed,
The cows loose in the pasture the chickens on the shed.
The wind is roaring, breaking off the branches of the trees.
I struggle up the hill and face the thunder of the seas.

I ring until my hand is numb and every muscle aches.
I'll ring until his time has come, whatever form it takes.
I'll ring to send him courage, to face the ocean's swell.
I'll ring until I know I hear the answer of his bell.

It's true I live in Seaview and I'm called Eliza Jane.
When the storms blow in their fury, my duty is so plain.
I'll hitch up my woolen petticoats and climb the hill again
And join the other womenfolk in calling home their men.