(Sidebar: _goddammit_ I still miss #GreatBigSea. I mean yeah they stopped being a band long before the pandemic, but to this day they remain my gold standard for how to maximize my enjoyment at a concert. Also how to maximize the Vertical Movement. ;) )

This whole fascinating article reminds me obliquely of when #GreatBigSea first heard the #Mermaid song, one of the guys, Séan? first heard it from a guy on shore leave in St John's, who worked on a container ship. He said he had heard it from an old man the sailor knew in maybe Singapore. So they phoned the guy, who sang it to them, they recorded him, then they they learned it and did their version as a band.
https://youtu.be/Mp725C0_qyQ?si=scJRpavxPNa3nTFK

After it had been recorded and released, they found out it was a #ShelSilverstein poem.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mermaid_(Shel_Silverstein_song)

https://mastodon.social/@AccordionBruce/110968843447694148

Listening to some old music and starting to think maybe they didn't actually respect Patty Murphy that much #GreatBigSea

"I sat and held his hand one day
And he said 'Son, that policy'
The insurance is all in your name
You're the beneficiary
And when I'm gone they'll pay you off
Then go to St. John's town
And buy yourself a big new boat
A boat like Gideon Brown
'Cause she can punch ahead in any gale
And ride the fishing ground
I often thought how proud I'd be
In a boat like Gideon Brown
In a boat like Gideon Brown"

#GreatBigSea
#Maritimes
#Newfoundland
#KitchenParty

https://youtu.be/JUo5NqEBNWU

@Luckylou Great Big Sea's The Chemical Worker's Song (Process Man) from their Up! album (1995). #GreatBigSea #Miners #CanadianMusic