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Rolling Down to Old Maui

Trad.

(Roud 2005) a traditional sea song sung by whalers who spent their seasons in the ice of the Northern Pacific, and longed to be in Hawaii. We tend to sing Stan Rodgers' version!


** ISO better lyrics for this line!

LYRICS

00:00 / 01:04

CHORUS

Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

 

It's a damn tough life, full of toil and strife, we whalermen undergo
And we don't give a damn when the gale is done how hard the winds did blow
'Cause we're homeward bound from the Arctic ground with a good ship taut and free
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls from old Maui

CHORUS

Once more we sail with the northerly gale through the ice and wind and rain
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands, we soon shall see again
Six hellish months we've passed away on the cold Kamchatka sea
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui


CHORUS

Once more we sail with the northerly gale, towards our island home
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done, and we ain't got far to roam
Our stu'n's'l booms is carried away, what care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us, thank God we're homeward bound

CHORUS


How soft the breeze through the island trees, now the ice is far astern
Them sun-soaked days , them tropical glades, is awaiting our return
Even now their sandy shoes look out, hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails, running 'fore the gales, rolling down to old Maui

 

CHORUS x 2

Tags:

Sea Shanty, Ships/Sailing, Whales, Nth American, USA, Homeward Bound

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We acknowledge the Gadigal and Bidjigal people of the Eora nation, upon whose lands we gather and sing.
We acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

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Many Photos by Nick Ryden 

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