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September 29th, 2010
Here are lyrics from songs that have been or will be posted on this site. All except Resist the Tide were composed during our journey.
RESIST THE TIDE (performed upon an iceberg, video posted here)
Things fall apart, everything tends to decay
And so it takes a lot to combine atoms in such a way
That they resist the lure of that darkness
that lurks around the edges of every day
So I’m inviting you to join me in this fight
to go down to the river, and come up all three times
Hank Williams was right: no one gets out alive
All we can do is try to have a really good time
Resist the tide, stand in the water
That’s baptism, that’s making light
Electricity is proof that there can be
A little bit of light in all this darkness
So please don’t go so gently into that good night
Rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light
You know you got a voice, to talk with you can call your own!
So clear your throat, and start singing this song:
Resist the tide, stand in the water
That’s baptism, that’s making light
Electricity is proof that there can be light
It takes a lot of work, but oh baby, it’s worth it.
SHINE ON (inspired by the journey, recording posted earlier)
Give me something I can do with these hands:
a song to sing, a seed to plant
Give me some shape I can form with this love
Manifest myself, if I could, into a tree
or something I could leave behind
a preservation of my light inside
shine on, shine on
oh moon, oh sun
oh love, oh love
oh world, clement world, shine on
I want to show you what it’s like on the other side of craving
Slipping away just like the ice, is quickly melting – desire!
And I can see through strains of silver light:
We have already everything we need
We have the soil, we have the seeds
We have the sun, we have the wind
We have water, we have land
Let’s get to planting
Give me something I can do with these hands:
A song to sing, a seed to plant
What I am I won’t be anymore,
so what I leave behind is what’s in store
for the future of this beautiful world
I want to show you what it’s like
when you recognize that you have everything you need
NOORDERLICHT (composed in honor of the ship we’re on – and her tireless crew: Captain Ted, Afka, Renske, and Sonia – for her hundredth birthday;
video to be posted later…)
When you were born a hundred years ago, you were a beacon of light, Noorderlicht. And then under another name,
you became a different kind of haven, Noorderlicht.
Then you were stripped down to your bones, and left an empty shell, oh!
Heave away, haul away, sailing on the Arctic sea
Hoist the sail, coil the rope, sailing on the Nooooooorderlicht!
If it hadn’t been for Captain Ted,
that might have been the end of your career, Noorderlicht
But in your emptiness, the Captain recognized your magnificence, Noorderlicht. So he went to work,
plank by plank he manifested your majestic form
(chorus repeats)
For your christening a schooner, you became
your third and final name: Noorderlicht
Upon your mast unfurled the sails
that set you sailing on the ocean waves, Noorderlicht
Now since 1994, you have braved the ice and storms in all your glory
(chorus repeats)
Then in September of 2010
you nearly met your end again, Noorderlicht
Sheets of ice were pushing you toward rocks
that threatened your existence, Noorderlicht
Closing in were hungry polar bears, and no help anywhere, oh!
(chorus repeats)
If it hadn’t been for Captain Ted,
that might have been the end of your career, Noorderlicht.
But he steered you clear of ice and rocks
while Afka scared away the polar bears, Noorderlicht.
Then Renske hoisted your sails,
Meanwhile Sonia cooked a feast to celebrate a hundred years
(chorus repeats)
100 MORE (a love song for the Noorderlicht; recording posted here)
If I had a brass band, I’d set it on a mountain
And a symphony of horns would roll across the sea
Then an orchestra of strings would join in from the rocky shore
And a choir of voices would rise up
from deep down on the ocean floor, singing:
Hallelujah, hallelujah for the day that you were born!
Hallelujah for the hundred years you’ve rolled across the ocean
And may you sail upon the open water for a hundred more
If I had a flock of birds, I’d set them on the ocean waves
And a symphony of birdsong would hover around your sails
Then an orchestra of foxes would howl from the open plains
And a choir of sealsong would rise up
from deep down on the ocean floor, singing:
Hallelujah, hallelujah for the day that you were born!
Hallelujah for the hundred years you’ve rolled across the ocean
And may you sail upon the open water for a hundred more
