Lyr ADD: Water, Boys Water / Confluence

Subject: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: GUEST,trackhorse
Date: 05 Sep 16 - 01:41 PM

Sung by Salty Dogs Shanty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1e7SYl0jnQ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: cnd
Date: 05 Sep 16 - 02:56 PM

Honestly, I can understand most of it, but I don't have time right now to transcribe it. If no one else gets it, I could get it some time in the next week or so. Just bump it back up with a refresh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: GUEST,trackhorse
Date: 06 Sep 16 - 11:04 AM

Thanks, I'll check back

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: cnd
Date: 07 Sep 16 - 08:20 PM

Here's a start at least. I'm not totally sure about the "lock-in no. 1" part, but that's the best I could make sense of it.

The "All" verses repeat continually, so I stopped notating it after its first time. But it remains repeated after every line break.

Lead: Some claim that we are land-locked kids
All: Water, boys, water!
Lead: But I don't find that quite so clear
All: All around us, water
Lead: For nearly two blocks from my home, the Mississippi southward roams
All: Flowing to the sea (x3)

Lock-in Number One's not very large
It only holds one tub, one barge
But nine miles down the St. Paul part, that's where the heavy traffic starts



Stopped around a minute 25 seconds in.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: cnd
Date: 29 May 17 - 11:12 PM

Trackhorse: after much delay, I can now say I have finished transcribing the lyrics here for you (albeit, it took much longer than the week I promised). Hope you get to see them or you find them somehow. After the first stanza, the lyrics given are just the leaders, with the All choruses the same after each line break

Lead: Some claim that we are land-locked kids
All: Water, boys, water!
Lead: But I don't find that quite so clear
All: All around us, water
Lead: For nearly two blocks from my home, the Mississippi southward roams
All: Flowing to the sea (x3)

Lock-in Number One's not very large
It only holds one tug, one barge
But nine miles down the St. Paul part, that's where the heavy traffic starts

But 'cross the bridge the water falls
Yeah, but when it's cold, the water thaws
Then morphs into an icy sheet, yet that solid water keeps

Below the dam the waters dance
And wandering lovers seek romance
Looking for a love that lasts, where troubled water flowed by fast

Along the banks by Crosby Lake
A barred owl's call, you can't mistake
Who cooks for you, he'd like to know, as you watch his river go

Now half my life or more I'll spend
Living in this river bend
But someday soon I'll launch a craft, hope you may be a raft, and go

To Lake Itasca's shores I'd go
To dream upon that river slow
Imagine bridges, towns, and city scenes, St. Lewis, Memphis, New Orleans

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: cnd
Date: 04 Jan 20 - 03:13 PM

Found this song in my head the other day, and went back to listen to the song again. Found this comment on the video explaining the title of the song and its origins:

"This is called Confluence. It is a tune native to the Minneapolis/Saint Paul shanty sing scene, written by the person singing it in this video, Michael Shewmaker."

Shewmaker is a published poet, but his book, Penumbra, doesn't appear to have a song by this name in it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 09:20 AM

I am reminded of the old joke, Patience, jackass, patience. Sorry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: GUEST,DudeRuebenstein
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 07:44 PM

Hi! I've been involved in the Twin Cities' shanty sing and Morris dance/folk dance communities since I was a child, and Michael is a friend of mine. We have danced and sung together many times, and I was lucky enough to be in the room the first time this song was sung for a general audience of Morris dancers. Just wanted to create some addendums to this post for posterity.
The Michael Shewmaker you've identified as the author of "Penumbra" is NOT the same Michael as ours here in the Twin Cities. Also, the reference to the lock and dam #1 is a direct shout-out to the industrial significance of the Mississippi waterway to the Twin Cities; historically, it was used mainly for the transport of lumber (logs were floated from northern MN down the river, milled in the TC, and then transported further downstream), but has also seen barges of iron ore, flour and other milled goods, railroad supply, beer, trash to be incinerated, and, contemporarily, it hosts a hydroelectric dam at Saint Anthony Falls. The lock and dams allow barges to navigate the length of the waterway safely, by creating a kind of water elevator for the boats at the site of waterfalls. Lock and dam #1 is located between southern Minneapolis and the western bank of Saint Paul.
The title of the song, "Confluence," refers to the convergence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and, based on the context in the song, probably also refers to the confluence of Minnehaha Creek (a site much beloved by Twin Cities Morris dancers) with the Mississippi as well, just a mile upstream.
The land surrounding this confluence -- cherished as it is today by folk dancers, fishers, birdwatchers, weekend warriors, and recreationalists of all ages and walks of life -- is also a sacred site to the Dakota native peoples, and in that tongue is known as Bdote.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Water, Boys Water
From: cnd
Date: 18 Jan 21 - 11:48 AM

Thanks for the corrections Dude! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, too

Subject: Lyr Req: Flowing to the Sea
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 08:14 PM

Anybody know this song? It was sung this weekend by Vanessa Van Alstine.


Confluence, by Michael Shewmaker

Lead: Some claim that we are land-locked here
All: Water, boys, water!
Lead: But I don't find that quite so clear
All: All around us, water
Lead: For nearly two blocks from my home—the Mississippi southward roams
All: Flowing to the sea (x3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1e7SYl0jnQ

Subject: Lyr Add: CONFLUENCE (Michael Shewmaker)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 08:53 PM

Here are the lyrics Vanessa Van Alstine sent me - Confluence by Michael Shewmaker

CONFLUENCE
(Michael Shewmaker)

Lead: Some claim that we are land-locked here
All: Water, boys, water!
Lead: But I don't find that quite so clear
All: All around us, water
Lead: For nearly two blocks from my home—the Mississippi southward roams
All: Flowing to the sea (x3)

Lock Number One's not very large
It only holds one tug, one barge
But nine miles down from St. Paul's heart—that's where the heavy traffic starts

Below the dam the waters dance
And wandering lovers seek romance
They're looking for a love that lasts—while troubled waters flow by fast

Across the bridge the water falls
But when it's cold, the water stalls
Then morphs into an icy sheet—yet that glittering, solid water keeps

Along the banks by Crosby Lake
A barred owl's call, you can't mistake
Who cooks for you, he'd like to know—as you watch his river go

Now half my life or more I'll spend
Living in this river bend
But someday soon I'll launch a craft—boat, canoe, maybe a raft, and go

To Lake Itasca's shores I'd go
To dream upon that river slow
Past bridges, towns, and city scenes—St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans

Now we come here to this old bar
To drink of waters near and far
As while you sit and drink your beer—remember that there's water here

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD Confluence: Flowing to the Sea
From: GUEST,cnd
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 10:27 PM

Joe, we have a thread a thread for this song titled "water boys water" which I can link for you later

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Water, Boys Water / Confluence
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 03:21 AM

Thanks, CND. Now that you pointed it out, I combined the threads.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Water, Boys Water / Confluence
From: cnd
Date: 13 Apr 21 - 10:33 PM

Thanks for doing that, Joe. It's a song I think about a lot and enjoy despite having no real connections to it. I especially like the group singing style. It reminds me of sacred harp singing