Hey!  Where have you been all day? Well, you don’t actually have to answer that question, but in this song the guys had better have a good reason for being gone all day.  (Turns out they have a number of excuses for being gone but the girls think they’re all full of carp. Yes, carp!)  This is a walkaway or stamp-and-go shanty which fits right in with our interpretation.

Hielan' Laddie

Dean crafted this song for Bounding Main and we are pleased to share it with you.  The lyrics tell a familiar tale…boy meets girl, boy can’t afford to marry girl so boy goes out to sea for years at a time, girl gets tired of waiting for boy and gets swept off her feet by another boy who does the proper thing and stays on land. Sadly our boy ends up alone at sea.  So, depending on your view of sailing and marriage, this song has either a sad ending or a happy ending! Either way, the beautiful melody is sure to haunt you.

Soloist: Dean Calin

Call of the Sea

This song has something for everyone!  Travel to exotic places where sailors meet exotic women. Exotic women who steal from sailors and make them want their mommies!  Give sailors enough free time and they will pretty much sing about anything.

Soloist: David Yondorf

Saltpeter Shanty

(Traditional)

Christie heard this song when Bounding Main performed in Germany and decided to put it in her carry-on and bring it home with her.  Good thing she did as we love it! This is a good old fashioned shanty that reminds us all to…actually, what is this song telling us? Clearly we are to pull down below but what exactly are we pulling and how far below does it go?

Soloist: Christie Dalby

Pull Down Below

(Original: © Jack Forbes)

This contemporary maritime piece demonstrates that we still have active waterways and people still want to write music about it!  This is a fun song that uses both old and new maritime lingo. In fact, we’re off to look-up some of those new phases right now!  (TEU…what is a TEU???)

Soloist: Dean Calin

Rolling Up, Rolling Down

Ahh, a working song about people who don’t really want to work.  Those on deck want to get off their shift and go below before the storm strikes.  We’d also prefer to be below deck when a storm strikes. And by that we mean we’d rather be snuggled up in a hotel, pub, or even a bank vault when a storm hits. Actually, come to think of it, we’ve done all three. So strike the bell already and get on with it! 

Strike the Bell

Part of the folk tradition is learning songs from other artists. We acquired this song while performing at the Paimpol music festival in France in 2013. Thank you Tom Lewis for introducing us to Bimini.

Soloist: Jon Krivitzky
(Original:  © B. Olofson/M. McIntryre)

Fish Out of Water

Bimini

A haunting tale about the demise of the fishing industry and the strength of those who continue to devote themselves to a life on the water.  (Thanks to the inspirational rendition performed by Four'n'Aft.)

Soloist: Christie Dalby
(Original: Music  © Ian Woods and Ken Stevens. Lyrics: © Ken Stevens)

One More Pull

This song includes the traditional call and response typical of historic sea shanties. We've kept the call part but had a bit of fun with the responses. We hope you enjoy it!

Soloist: Dean Calin
(Traditional)

Paddy Lay Back

An original ballad remembering the ships lost to some of the most dangerous waters in the world, the Great Lakes.

Soloist: Gina Dalby
(Original: © Gina Dalby)

Roll Call

A traditional shanty or at least it was until we got a hold of it! This rich interpretation of an historic piece now includes five voices plus two - count them two - key changes. We often refer to this song as coming from the popular musical, "Jaws".

Ensemble
(Traditional)

Spanish Ladies

A beautiful song that includes a warning to all that sailors take their drinking very, very seriously. Thank you Tom Lewis for trusting us with your music despite the fact that you know us.

Soloist: David Yondorf
(Original: © Tom Lewis)

Sailor's Prayer

We've given this song a bluesy treatment not usually found in maritime music. We just couldn't help ourselves. True story.

Soloist: Gina Dalby
(Traditional; Additional Lyrics © Gina Dalby)

Sugar in the Hold

This song tells a tale, a tale about what happens when sailors go out to sea. The twist comes when we find out it's the wives telling the story from their perspective. We've had U.S. Navy wives tell us that the words ring true even today.

Duet:  Christie Dalby and Gina Dalby
(Original: Music © Sean Cooney; Words by Robert Warwick)

When He is Away

We heard this song while performing at the Bie Daip Festival in Appingedam, Netherlands, in 2011. We loved the lively feel so we brought this American tune back to the states, made a few "minor" changes to the lyrics and present it here for your toe-tapping, hand-clapping pleasure.

Ensemble
(Original: © L. Kingston; Additional Lyrics © Bounding Main)

When the Ship Hit the Sand

(Barry Skipsey, recorded with his permission)
A song written by an Australian, performed by a Dutch group (De Boukaniers) in Chicago and appropriated (with permission from the composer) by Bounding Main in the good ol’ U.S.of A.  This song gets around.

                              

Ocean Liner

Marching Inland

(Words and music by: Ken Stephens)
This is a ship song. The ship sinks. We love it when that happens! We had a hard time keeping to the traditional sea-faring style of music that this piece deserves. Christie’s lyrical storytelling about the ship makes us all want to snap our fingers, turn the lights down low, and do a little jazz.
Soloist: Christie Dalby 

Herzogin Cecile

(Traditional Halyard Shanty)
A love song, sort of. Roughly translated it’s a song about a boy and a girl and someone being blind drunk and stumblin’ in an alley. We do that too but without the alcohol. We just like being in blind alleys.
Soloist: Jon Krivitzky

Bully in the Alley

(Words and Music by: Stan Rogers)
An explorer song. Ahhh…exploring. Something that we do every time we get into a car and try to get to a gig. This is a beautiful piece about explorers trying to find the Northwest Passage to the Orient.
Soloist: Gina Dalby.

Northwest Passage

(Words and music by: Charles Edward Carryl (1841-1920))
A grammar song. Get it, A “Capital” Ship? Not buying that? Well then it’s a ship song. But sadly, the ship does not sink. The song does however contain mysterious lyrics that sound like, “on the Gulliby Isles where the pooh-poo smiles and the anagazanders roar”. Spend some time figuring that one out. A special thanks to Anne Delfeld for introducing us to this song.
This is an all-sing featuring the girls. 

A Capitol Ship

(Traditional Irish Tune)
A ship song. And yes, gloriously, it sinks! Not only does it sink, it takes the crew and their mangy, flea-bitten, poop-machine of a dog with them. Boy we miss that dog…
This has all of us, featuring the guys. Egg Percussion: Christie Dalby

Irish Rover

(Traditional, sung as a Fo’c’sle Song)
A ship song. Gina thinks this song is long and insists that it makes her butt look big. She also thinks the held note near the end of the piece is pretentious but we know she could have held it longer. However, between the possible unending duration of the note, and the size of her butt, we just left it the way it is and moved on.
Soloist: Gina Dalby

The Dreadnought

(Traditional)
A capstan or pump shanty, also known to us as a “shanty-shanty”. This one tells you all you would ever need to know about the girls, kids, cats, and shoes that inhabit Cape Cod.
Soloists: Dean Calin and David Yondorf

Cape Cod Girls

(Traditional)
A drinkin’ song and a church song. Well ok, it’s only a church song at the end but we do what we can.
This is an all-skate. 

All For Me Grog

(Traditional)
This is a capstan shanty. You can really hear the crew working and complaining on this song. Dean leads us kicking and screaming into this one but it all works out in the end. Mostly.
Soloist: Dean Calin 

Randy Dandy O

(Traditional)
A song about a girl, Nancy Blair, who should pay more attention to the company she keeps.

South Australia

(Traditional)
A love song about a girl and her one true love. Any by that of course we mean a girl and every guy she sees. Or at least that’s the way we do it.
Soloist: Christie Dalby

Leaving of Liverpool

(Traditional)
I don’t care who Johnny is, he needs to keep his mitts off that girl in the blue dress.  (Christie gets combat pay for this song.)

Johnny Come Down to Hilo

(Traditional)
A song that combines two traditions, drinking and arson. Recorded LIVE!
Soloist: David Yondorf

Old Dun Cow

(Traditional)
A song from the Bahamas where the sponge fisherman battle the storms every spring and summer, which results in losing yet another jolly boy.  We have a surplus of jolly boys ourselves and will be donating one soon.
Soloist: Gina Dalby

Blow Liza Blow

(Original: © David Yondorf)

We know, you’re thinking right now that you are amazed that David can even read let alone write! This song is proof he can do both (but not at the same time).

Toss & Roll

(Traditional)
A song about a sink at Menards. No, actually it is a song about a ship called the Golden Vanity.  Kind of a sad song (if you must know) but we silly it up where we can.
Soloist: David Yondorf

Golden Vanity

(Tony Goodenough, recorded with permission.)
Tony Goodenough wrote "Pump Shanty" and performed it with The Shanty Crew.  This song was introduced to us via Pint & Dale at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.  Tony recently wrote to us with his blessings for us to use his piece.  Filled with double-entendres, the song is fun on all levels and the rhythm gives you a feeling for the nature of the work aboard a tall ship.

Pump Shanty

This song was once selected for the closing of the Bristol Renaissance Faire.  It is a traditional Irish/Scottish parting song.

Health to the Company

Bounding Main has been celebrating music all over the US and Europe since 2013  They have performed at international music and maritime festivals, sharing their richly harmonic renditions of traditional songs as well as new compositions by members of the group.  Beloved by music aficionados, maritime enthusiasts and families all over Bounding Main brings music and improvisational humor to all of their performances!  This group's music is sure to bring a smile and a laugh into your life as they sing about fellowship, adventure and romance!

Bounding Main

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