Lyr ADD: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)^^^

Subject: The Genie Sea (or 'C')?
From: GUEST,ALM
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:27 PM

Don't know which, if any, of these titles is correct, but I hope some catter out there does. I was told about this song and had it sung in my ear in a small but loud pub in Galway. I knew then it was a gem but I can remember neither the tune or any of the lyrics or who has recorded it.

All help appreciated.

Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:31 PM

The Jeannie C  Written by Stan Rogers of Nova Scotia (1978).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: GUEST,ALM
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:40 PM

Malcolm,

That's what I call a quick response. Thank you very much. It is no wonder I could'nt find the song!

Regards, A.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From:
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:58 PM

Actually, Stan Rogers is from Ontario. His family roots are in Nova Scotia.

YEs, the Jeannie C is a wonderful song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Jun 01 - 03:47 AM

Actually Stan was from Hannon... a little farming community outside of Hamilton...

But I'm picking nits...

Had a great breakfast with his mom, Val, one day, coming back from the festival of friends... she showed me the poarch that Al, Stan and Garnet build... and the picture window that Garnet put Stan out through one day...

Ain't sibling rivalry grand??!!??

LOL!!

Stan used to tell a great story of an old salty fisherman who approached him once after a gig... grabed his shoulder in a gnarled, scared old hand and said to him, about the song The Jeannie C, with red-stained eyes "I've been fishing man and boy for 40 years and your song says things I don't even dare think about"

Now THAT'S a song writer!

Here's to ya Stan! I felt ya there when we did Mary Ellen Carter tonight!

see ya after!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 02 Jun 01 - 08:13 AM

My apologies to Stan for mis-locating him!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Jun 01 - 09:28 AM

Well, I'm glad folks were able to coach the "Genie Sea" out of the bottle. Still, someone might have suggested a few appropriate lines, great possibilities!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 01:26 PM

The song is in his songbook Songs from Fogarty's Cove. I'll see if I can dig it up at home.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 01:40 PM

I have it right here beside me...

What else do you want to know?

;-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 02:04 PM

I'd like to pick a few more nits off the DT and offer some corrections for the version at the url above...

The line is
"We set out this day in the bright sunrise"
Not 'sunshine'

And the other line should read
"Now it's well you know WHAT the fishing has been"
not 'how', but 'what'...

next...
"I'll never know what it was we struck"
'Just what we struck" completly ruins the meter of the line...

One more...
"No LEAK I found from bow to hold"

I'm sure Stan would appreciate if the archive reflected what he actually wrote...

:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: GUEST,Shiona
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 05:49 PM

Just saw your message and thought I'd get in touch. But I see others have let you know the real title, the Jeannie c. A friend of mine sings it from time to time. Take it you've found the words and music then? Enjoy.....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Genie Sea (or 'C')
From: kendall
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 06:23 PM

Being an old salt who loved the Explorer the boat that I captained, I have a hard time singing this one. Especially this line, Sure, I could have another made in the boat shops down in Dover,
But, I would not love the keel they laid
Like the one the waves roll over.

Subject: Tune Add: THE JEANNIE C. (Stan Rogers)
From: MMario
Date: 27 May 03 - 10:13 AM

X:1
T:The Jeannie C.
C:Stan Rogers
N:'Songs from Fogarty's Cove'
I:abc2nwc
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:D
z4zF|F4-F A,|B,6|B,2B,2A,2|A,4z2|
w:Come all_ ye lads, draw near by me
z4zE|F4-F (G/2 F/2|E3)E3D-|D B3A2-|A4z2|
w:That I_ be__ not for_-sa-ken_
z4A2|B4A2|F2z2zE|E F- F4|B,4z2|z2zB, (D E)|
w:This day was lost the JEAN-NIE_ C. And my_
(E F E4)| (3(CB,A,-) A,3G,-|G,2B, D- D2-|D2z2F2|E4-E D|
w:living__ has___ been_ ta-ken__ I'll go_ to
F4 (3(FED-)|D3D3-|D4z2
w:sea no___ more_

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Willie-O
Date: 27 May 03 - 01:13 PM

I couldn't sing this for years after Stan died. It's just so jeezly true...

Maybe it's time.

Maybe.

BTW, it's also been recorded by (Cilla) Fisher and (Artie) Tresize.

W-O

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST,Rick in MT
Date: 05 Mar 08 - 12:42 PM

I have Fogarty's Cove, but the chords shown for "... this day was lost the Jeannie C." are eluding me: Bm, A, A/G, G.

Does anyone have a fingering or transition of that phrase from the Bm through to the G? What I do now, is hang on the Bm, and the hit A, then the G, similar to the first line in the verse.

Thanks!

Rick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST,Kiwi_Bob
Date: 19 May 10 - 03:55 AM

Does anyone else think "from bow to hold" is strange. I mean, it's kind of like saying "from deck to stern", which doesn't make much sense. Which is not to disparage Stan's writing -- he was genuinely great.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 May 10 - 09:14 AM

Kiwi Bob-

"from bow to hold"?

I agree that the line makes little nautical sense. I usually sing "from stem to stern."

There are a few other word substitutions that one might use as Clinton has suggested above but it is a fine and compelling song.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Midchuck
Date: 19 May 10 - 09:24 AM

Unfortunately, my son ruined this fine song for me, forever.

A long while back, we were listening to it, and in the pause after "John Price is drowned and slipped away," Ian said "...so we can split his sandwich."

I'll always think that when I hear the song. Nothing can be done.

Peter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: DonMeixner
Date: 19 May 10 - 05:17 PM

I don't have a problem with "From bow to hold.". How else to rhyme with "Heart stop cold?". But even so I have no trouble with the line.
If the boat struck something while under way, either dead on or along the side the evidence of the impact would like stop at the widest part of the boat.

I never built anything like a Cape Island boat which I assume the Jeanie C to be but I have built a small number of Lobster boats, three Inshore Shrimpers, a Scalloper and a Sword Boat. In every case the hatch trunk to the hold was just about a midships and at the widest part of the hull. If I searched from the fo'c'sle to the hold and found every seam pouring in I wouldn't bother with any further search and I'd get on the pumps. He could have said " ...from Bow to station 6 watertight bulkhead...." but that would have told us nothing and not rhymed with anything.

I have loved this song for years and only recently decided to start performing it.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: kendall
Date: 19 May 10 - 07:26 PM

Don is right in my opinion.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 May 10 - 10:25 PM

Don-

You may have a nautical point (one which hadn't occurred to me) but your rhyming point doesn't hold water, (How else to rhyme with "Heart stop cold?"), the end of the first and third lines are not in this song consistently rhymed.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: THE JEANNIE C (Stan Rogers)
From: DonMeixner
Date: 19 May 10 - 10:56 PM

Come all ye lads, draw near to me
That I be not forsaken
This day was lost the JEANNIE C.
And my living has been taken
I'll go to sea no more

We set out this day in the bright sunlight
The same as any other
My son and I and old John Price
In the boat named for my mother

Now, it's well you know how the fishing has been
It's been scarce and hard and cruel
But this day, by God, we sure caught cod
And we sang and laughed like fools

I'll never know just what we struck
But strike we did like thunder
John Price gave a cry and pitched overside
Now it's forever he's gone under

A leak we've sprung, let there be no delay
If the JEANNIE C. we're saving
John Price is drowned and slipped away
I'll patch the hole while you're bailing

But no hole I found from bow to hold
No rock it was that got her
But what I saw made my heart stop cold
For every seam poured water

My God, I cried as she went down
That boat was like no other
My father built her when I was nine
And named her for my mother

And sure, I could have another built
In the boatshop down in Dover
But I would not love the keel they laid
Like the one the waves roll over

So come all ye lads, draw near to me
That I be not forsaken
This day was lost the JEANNIE C.
And my whole life has been taken

Subject: Lyr Add: THE JEANNIE C (Stan Rogers)
From: DonMeixner
Date: 19 May 10 - 11:10 PM

Verse 1

Come all ye lads, draw near to me
That I be not forsaken
This day was lost the JEANNIE C.
And my living has been taken

I'll go to sea no more

Verse 2

We set out this day in the bright sunrise
The same as any other
My son and I and old John Price
In the boat named for my mother


verse 3

Now, it's well you know how the fishing has been
It's been scarce and hard and cruel
But this day, by God, we sure caught cod
And we sang and laughed like fools


Verse 4

I'll never know just what we struck
But strike we did like thunder
John Price gave a cry and pitched overside
Now it's forever he's gone under


Verse 5

A leak we've sprung, let there be no delay
If the JEANNIE C. we're saving
John Price is drowned and slipped away
I'll patch the hole while you're bailing


Verse 6

But no hole I found from bow to hold
No rock it was that got her
But what I saw made my heart stop cold
For every seam poured water



Verse 7

My God, I cried as she went down
That boat was like no other
My father built her when I was nine
And named her for my mother


Verse 8

And sure, I could have another built
In the boatshop down in Dover
But I would not love the keel they laid
Like the one the waves roll over


Verse 9

So come all ye lads, draw near to me
That I be not forsaken
This day was lost the JEANNIE C.
And my whole life has been taken



The Rhyming pattern in verse 1 not counting the refrain

1 ABAB
2 ABAB Correct the line to sunrise and the pattern works.
3 ABCB
4 ABCB
5 ABAB
6 ABAB
7 ABCB
8 ABCB
9 ABAB

Seems to me there is a solid rhyming pattern.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 May 10 - 08:32 AM

Don-

Thanks for posting the verses. They make the discussion more clear.

I live your wording change in verse 2, which is also the way I'd come to sing it without realizing it was a change.

Now in verse 4, what would John Price have cried that might rhyme with "struck"? ;~)

I do prefer more rhymes as a rule, including the internal rhymes in such lines as "But this day, by God, we sure caught cod." I'm still thinking over the original verse 6. I'm still not convinced it's a keeper but Stan evidently was and that deserves extra points.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST,keith A o Hertford
Date: 20 May 10 - 10:11 AM

Any suggestions what she struck, if not a rock?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 May 10 - 12:23 PM

Keith-

One suggestion from a previous discussion was a semi-submerged derelict wreck or a large log. There's no reference to a rogue wave which could also do a job twisting an old boat and separating its seams. 'Tweren't a rock!

She might have run afoul of a metaphor; they can also do a job on an old ship.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST,Don Meixner
Date: 20 May 10 - 02:57 PM

Rather than over think and rewrite an already fine song why not leave it alone and sing it as it was writen?

D

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 20 May 10 - 03:36 PM

Seeing this thread reminds me that we have Dan McKinnon guesting at Herga folk club on Monday.... (and also that we has Nathan Rogers as a guest last June).

Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 May 10 - 04:42 PM

Don-

You can decide to do that and it's fine if you want to try to persuade others to do the same.

Just don't expect everyone to do as you wish.

And if anyone records the song they should get a formal release and pay royalties to Fogarty Cove.

Charley Noble

Subject: DT Corr: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 09:59 PM

I'm preparing lyrics for this song for the upcoming Rise Again Songbook, so I thought I'd correct the DT along the way. Here's what I hear on the recording. Corrections underlined.

THE JEANNIE C. (from DT, corrected) (Stan Rogers) Come all ye lads, draw near to me That I be not forsaken This day was lost the JEANNIE C. And my living has been taken      I'll go to sea no more We set out this day in the bright sunrise The same as any other My son and I, and old John Price In the boat named for my mother Now, it's well you know what the fishing has been It's been scarce and hard and cruel But this day, by God, we sure caught cod And we sang and we laughed like fools I'll never know what it was we struck But strike we did like thunder John Price gave a cry and pitched overside Now it's forever he's gone under Now a leak we've sprung, let there be no delay If the JEANNIE C. we're saving John Price is drowned and slipped away So I'll patch the hole while you're bailing But no leak I found from bow to hold No rock it was that got her But what I found made my heart stop cold For every seam poured water My God, I cried as she went down That boat was like no other My father built her when I was nine And named her for my mother And sure, I could have another made In the boat shop down in Dover But I would not love the keel they laid Like the one the waves roll over So come all ye lads, draw near to me That I be not forsaken This day was lost the JEANNIE C. And my whole life has been taken copyright Fogarty's Cove Music @sea @wreck "For the fishermen of Little Dover, Nova Scotia." -- 1978 filename[ JEANNIEC JN

THE JEANNIE C. (current DT) (Stan Rogers) Come all ye lads, draw near to me That I be not forsaken This day was lost the JEANNIE C. And my living has been taken I'll go to sea no more We set out this day in the bright sunlight The same as any other My son and I and old John Price In the boat named for my mother Now, it's well you know how the fishing has been It's been scarce and hard and cruel But this day, by God, we sure caught cod And we sang and laughed like fools I'll never know just what we struck But strike we did like thunder John Price gave a cry and pitched overside Now it's forever he's gone under A leak we've sprung, let there be no delay If the JEANNIE C. we're saving John Price is drowned and slipped away I'll patch the hole while you're bailing But no hole I found from bow to hold No rock it was that got her But what I saw made my heart stop cold For every seam poured water My God, I cried as she went down That boat was like no other My father built her when I was nine And named her for my mother And sure, I could have another built In the boatshop down in Dover But I would not love the keel they laid Like the one the waves roll over So come all ye lads, draw near to me That I be not forsaken This day was lost the JEANNIE C. And my whole life has been taken copyright Fogarty's Cove Music @sea @wreck "For the fishermen of Little Dover, Nova Scotia." -- 1978 filename[ JEANNIEC JN

Any other corrections?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 12:59 AM

I have the Chris Gudgeon biography of Stan Rogers. It has lyrics to all the songs. Concerning this song, it says, "Note that these lyrics, while different from those in the album notes, reflect the actual words Stan sang on the record." So it seems one has a choice between what Rogers sang on the record, and what got into the liner notes.

Joe Offer's "DT, corrected" version is almost exactly the same as Gudgeon's version (not surprising, as both were trying to reproduce what was sung on the record). But in verse 4, line 1, Gudgeon has "I'll never know what it was we struck". Verse 6, line 1, Gudgeon has "leak" instead of "hole". In line 3 of that verse, Gudgeon has "me" instead of "my".

I don't have a recording myself, so I can't weigh in with an opinion.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 02:53 AM

Hi, Gerry. Thank you very much. I edited in two of the three changes you suggested. The "me" is a matter I wonder about. When a singer sings "me" as dialect for "my," I generally type "my" and let the reader decide how to pronounce it.
I read somewhere that's the proper way to do it, but I'm not 100% certain it is.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 10:15 AM

Just in case anyone is interested, and the 'completists wish to have the information, I have noted the extra fifth verse below that Stan sang at the Bermuda Folk Club in 1978.
I have the songs and intros on a recording and so the record is authentic...and I was there!
It was my privilege to book Stan, at the recommendation of Priscilla Herdman. She was in Bermuda to play the folk club and was learning '45 years' and played me a cassette of Stan singing....from what I remember, I walked over to the phone and called him straight away...

No clue why this verse didn't make it onto the album, or if he sang the full version in subsequent 'live' performances...

He introduced the song with great gravity and referred to it as a 'new one'

Enjoy....

verse five....

Then said my son "Oh Dad, come quick and see"
To the engine well he's pointing....
Cold water from the spiteful sea
The old 'make and break' is anointing

In the intro, Stan explained what a 'make and break' engine is....and gave life and perspective to the song so that it came alive as he sang it....
One of the most memorable moments of my musical life...

Cheers
Peter Sumner
San Francisco

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Jeannie C. (Stan Rogers)
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 10:53 AM

Pete, in the biography 'An Unfinished Conversation', I seem to remember that it reports that Stan said he simply forgot to include the 'missing' verse during the recording session.

Unfortunately, I lent my copy to someone several years ago, and I'm buggered if I can remember who I lent it to, so I can't check my facts, but I'm almost certain that it's the case.

I also have a copy of a copy of a copy of a recording on DAT tape of the Bermuda Folk Club concert, the original of which Garnet gave to Archie Fisher, Archie gave a copy to a mutual friend at the BBC, and she gave me a copy. I'm certain that, IMMSMC, Stan sang the 'full' version including the 'missing' verse. Unfortunately I no longer have a cassette player, so I can't check that out either. Maybe it was the very concert you speak about?

I do clearly remember that, on the tape, Stan gives one particularly obstinate heckler a serious slap-down. Brilliant!

All the best from sunny N. Lincs.