Lyr Add: The Mary (Jon Campbell)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary (Jon Campbell)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 May 23 - 08:28 PM

Joanne,

I puzzled over the "Congo" as well and never asked Campbell what he meant.

I'm thinking it was simply a turn of phrase that he enjoyed. :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary (Jon Campbell)
From: GUEST,Joanne Rideout
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 08:19 PM

I have been learning Jon's song The Mary because I love it so much. But even as a native New Yorker I find one phrase confusing, and no amount of googling so far has cleared it up. The phrase, "From the Congo to the kills," is what I'm stuck on. I get the Dutch word "kills" which refers to bodies of water, and several cities with that word in their names. But am I missing something? I've never heard of anyplace in NY named or nicknamed "the Congo."

Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed on this.   

Joanne

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 03:54 PM

Not the reigning authority, but certainly an admirer. This is the first of Jon's songs that I felt would work better as a straight nostalgia song, rather than warping it further if that were possible. Maybe I just have too strong a memory of the old coastal tankers and freighters that used to make their way up the Kennebec River, and was too lazy to write my own song. If I ever decide to record it, I'll touch base with Jon and see what he thinks.

I do have several of his cassettes, some of which are released on his CD KEEP ON FISHIN' and available from Wooden Ships Music Catalog: www.woodenshipsmusic.com

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: GUEST,celtaddict
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 02:51 PM

Well, Charley, I have learned never to ask about a song without checking the DT, but I see by a Forum scan you seem to be the reigning authority on Jon Campbell's underrated and fantastic songs. I have spent years trying to convince people to learn and sing his songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: GUEST,celtaddict
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 02:05 PM

Charley, I play fast and loose with songs I like, or ones I don't like, myself. But I much prefer Jon's original version. I do not hear the images of the uses the steel might see as cynical at all. I found them poignant in Jon's quixotic way, and the mix of lofty and earthy just fits Jon's sand-and-ashes voice and delivery. His songs have so often gone from the ridiculous and sublime in a line; this is one effective way of capturing real life. His wit defies belief on occasion, and the puns about shaving, under the smile, sketch a glimpse of a minute immortality.
I gather you know Jon. Do you have his earlier recordings? (The assorted tapes?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 10:59 AM

Well, that last line with "Mary still go lightly" isn't working for me; it conjures up discordant images from Breakfast at Tiffany's, which may well have been Jon Campbell's intention. What I'm trying now for both the last verse and the chorus is:

Chorus:
D7---------------------C----------------------G
In my mind I see her, steaming round the bend,
-----D7-----------------------------------C--------------------D
Her bow cuts through the water, her journey knows no end;
----G-----------------C--G-------------------------D--G
She plows on down the river, at the closing of the day,
--------------C-----------------------------------D------------------D7
And may the Mary find safe harbor, as she glides across the bay.

My apologies to Jon for deciding to do his song straight.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 05:30 PM

Well, I've still been working on this one and besides some additional wording changes I've decided to add an optional chorus, from the last four lines of the last verse. Here's how she runs now:

The Mary-3

(Original words by Jon Campbell
As recorded on CD KEEP ON FISHING, © 2000
Adapted by Charlie Ipcar, 3/10/03)

G---C---G-------------C-G-------------------------D--G
She was built back in the forties, to help out in the War;
D--G---C-------------------------------D--------------------------
She was just a coastal tanker, never ventured far from shore;
-----G-C--G------------C---G-------------------------------D----G
And if you saw her on the Hudson, you'd wonder what she's for,
D-----G--C-------------------------------------D------------G-D7
Cause she looked a lot like what she was, a floating di-no-saur.
----------------------------------------------C----------------------G
And she'd take a load of benzene from Bayonne to Hac-ken-sack,
--------D7---------------------------------------C------------------D
And the bunker down to Brooklyn, and the high-test coming back;
--------G------------C----G----------------------------------D--G
See the Captain up there ringing bells, like a trolley on the track,
-------C-----------------------------------------D---------------------D7
As she curves around the headland, and he swings her bow on back.

Chorus:
D7---------------------C----------------------G
In my mind I see her, steaming round the bend,
-----D7-----------------------------------C--------------------D
Her bow cuts through the water, her journey knows no end;
----G-----------------C--G-------------------------D--G
She plows on down the river, at the closing of the day,
--------------C---------------------------------D------------------D7
And may the Mary still go lightly, as she glides across the bay.

She'd scatter schools of Whitefish when her screws began to turn,
She'd always blow a smoke ring when her stack began to burn,
And you'd have to shut the engines down before she'd go astern;
Now all those tricks to handle her, no one else will learn;
While up there in the wheelhouse there's the silence of the bell;
No passage to Poughkeepsie, from the Congo to the Kills;
Though the Captain knows the vessel, from the radar to the keel,
And a man's a man for all of that, a ship is merely steel. (CHO)

The Coast Guard says her days are done, to the smelter she must go,
To be guardrails out in Iowa, or to plow New Hampshire snow,
And she'll go where they are wanting steel, her last trip has been made;
They'll be cutting up the Mary; just a million razor blades;
But in my mind I see her, steaming round the bend,
Her bow cuts through the water, her journey knows no end;
She plows on down the river, at the closing of the day,
And may the Mary still go lightly, as she glides across the bay. (CHO)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 10:40 PM

Gareth, this song won't save the world but it makes a nice song to sing as our ship of state spins three times around.

Thanks for your appreciation. I think Jon Campbell is a fine songwriter, although sometimes he does go off the deeper end. My basic deal with Jon is when I radically reprocess one of his songs, I offer him one of my own to chew on. If I even record this song with my group, I'll ask his formal permission for what we're doing, and see that he is credited for the original words.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Gareth
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 05:20 PM

Well Charley, apart from saying its good, and apt, what more can I say !!!!

Other than I have filed the text away of course.

Gareth

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mary-Coastal Tanker Song
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 04:53 PM

Well, no comment so far. I guess I should have labeled this a BS thread with some archane title.

I'm not happy with the last line in the first verse and suggest the following change as a more concrete image:

G--C--G------------C----G----------------------------------D--G
See the Captain up there ringing bells, like a trolley on the track,
D-G--C-----------------------------------------D-----------------G-D7
As she curves around the headland, and he swings the bow on back.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MARY (Jon Campbell)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 12:10 PM

Here's another song by Jon Campbell about an ancient coastal tanker he was familar with, at the end of her days. The first set of words are transcribed from the CD. John waxes cynical in his last verse, in his digression about the Mary transformed into razor blades, and I'm offering a more sentimental set of words, and a few other small word changes (copy and paste into Word/Times/12) for chord placement):

THE MARY

(Words by Jon Campbell as recorded on CD KEEP ON FISHING, © 2000
Tune: reminds me of Stan Rogers' "Lock-keeper")

She was built back in the forties, to help win in the War;
She was just a coastal tanker, never ventured far from shore;
And if you saw her on the Hudson, you'd ask what she was for,
Be-cause she looked a lot like what she was, a floating dino-saur.
And she took a load of benzene from Bayonne to Hac-ken-sack,
And the bunker down to Brooklyn and the high-test coming back;
See the Captain up there ringing bells, like a trolley on the track,
With the scale built up like calluses, and the fire in the stack.

She could scatter schools of Whitefish when the screws began to turn,
And she'd always blow a smoke ring when the stack began to burn,
And you'd have to shut the engine down before she'd back astern;
I guess now all the tricks to handle her, no one else will learn;
Now up in the wheelhouse is the silence of the bell;
No more passage to Poughkeepsie from the Congo to the Kills;
Though the master knows the vessel from the radar to the keel,
And a man's a man for all of that, a ship is merely steel.

And the Coast Guard says her days are through, to the smelter she must go,
To become guardrails out in Iowa, or to plow New Hampshire snow,
And she'll go where they are wanting steel, her last trip has been made;
They'll be cutting up the Mary; she's just a million razor blades;
And at dawn some sunny morning her next trip shall begin,
As she rides the crest above your lip, the trough below your chin,
And she's at last a shiny cutter riding in a foam so sleek,
And may the Mary still go lightly as she sails across your cheek.

Words by Jon Campbell
As recorded on CD KEEP ON FISHING, © 2000
Adapted by Charlie Ipcar, 2/18/03
Key: G (7/C)

The Mary-2

G---C---G--------------C-G------------------------D--G
She was built back in the forties, to help win in the War;
D--G---C-------------------------------D--------------------------
She was just a coastal tanker, never ventured far from shore;
-----G-C--G------------C---G-------------------------------D--G
And if you saw her on the Hudson, you'd ask what she was for,
--D-------G--C-------------------------------------D--------------D7
Be-cause she looked a lot like what she was, a floating dino-saur.
----------D---------------D7--------------C----------------------G
And she took a load of benzene from Bayonne to Hac-ken-sack,
--------D-------------------D7------------------C------------------D
And the bunker down to Brooklyn and the high-test coming back;
-----—G------------C----G----------------------------------D--G
See the Captain up there ringing bells, like a trolley on the track,
D---G--C-----------------------------------------D----------D7
With the scale built up like calluses, and the fire in the stack.

She could scatter schools of Whitefish when the screws began to turn,
She'd always blow a smoke ring when the stack began to burn,
And you'd have to shut the engine down before she'd back astern;
Now all the tricks to handle her, no one else will learn;
While up in the wheelhouse is the silence of the bell;
No passage to Poughkeepsie, from the Congo to the Kills;
Though the master knows the vessel from the radar to the keel,
And a man's a man for all of that, a ship is merely steel.

And the Coast Guard says her days are through, to the smelter she must go,
To be guardrails out in Iowa, or to plow New Hampshire snow,
And she'll go where they are wanting steel, her last trip has been made;
They'll be cutting up the Mary; just a million razor blades;
But in my mind I see her, steaming round the bend,
Her bow cuts through the water, her journey knows no end;
She plows on down the river, at the closing of the day,
And may the Mary still go lightly, as she sails across the bay.

Any comment?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble