I was helping set up chairs at the 2005 Turtle Hill Festival, and casually made a remark that what we needed was a shanty to make the work go faster. Two days later this is what I had written. What better tune than Rolling Down to Old Maui! This is for Tom Taylor, with affection. I know where he has been.
* There are 4 spellings for Shanty/Shantey/Chanty/Chantey. I of course picked the least used variant!
1) It's a damn hard life
Full of toil and
strife
We folk singers undergo
When Labor Day starts
We wing our hearts
To a place we soon will go
Summer camp is gone
Golden Link comes
on With a week to the end
from the start
And Tom comes
through With his hand picked crew Turtle
Hill at Markus Park!
Chorus) Setting up at Markus Park, my
friends, Setting up at Markus
Park
Tom don't give a
damn
How hard we
work
Setting up at Markus Park.
2) Pavilion
A
Is a barn they
say
Where we have to set up chairs
The sound
board's run The performers
come But
a ground fault interferes
The lights go
on
And the lights go
out And
a keyboard soon is fried
But Tom stays
calm Til the
grounding's done As we power Markus Park
3) The ticket
gate
Is set up
straight
Selling programs, tickets, CD's
Tom cracks the
whip And the workers
quick Fall in line
to keep Tom pleased
The crowd files in
Prepared to
sing
Find their seats and settle down
And Tom he
stalks
To the stage and
talks Welcomes
all to Markus Park
4) Joe Beard he
wails
Mad Agnes
sails
Bill Staines he sings us home
The bonfire's
lit
And around it we
sit Trading songs and trading tunes
The dance it
swirls
With the boys and girls In a
contra square and true
But Tom is
gone
Planning work to be done Next day at Markus Park
5) Saturday shines
bright Workshops are
tight
And Tom he starts to smile
Aiofe Clancy
sings
April Verch plays strings Now it finally
seems worthwhile
And a Klezmer
close Shows Taylor
knows
More Yiddish than we knew
And we all feel
swell Cause its
turned out well For Tom Taylor and his
crew
6) Sunday
glows
At the festival's
close
Performers sing one last song
The stage is
struck
And the workers
truck All the gear
they'd brought along
But the good crew
knows In the winter
snows
Taylor's mind will race ahead
And come next
fall
They'll be in
thrall
Tom Taylor's hand picked crew.
Thanks to all the Tuesday night crew who helped inaugurate this song right after the festival with Tom in attendance! Tom felt compelled to respond "But I do give a damn."