From the recording Banishment

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Vocal: Tom Fairnie
Harmony vocal: Kathy Stewart, Ken Kennedy, Jane Fairnie
Guitar: Tom Fairnie
Accordion: Gordon Deans
Jaw’s Harp: Bob Shields
Keyboard: Killian Playthell-Steele
Percussion: Robin Brill
Bass: Ken Kennedy

Lyrics

The Last Sailor Man

Under a tropical sky
Where old hurricanes die
She waved a last goodbye
Rolled a cigar on her thigh
Mix it in a salty glass
Two parts rum and a bitter past; out there
And what I am is the last sailor man out there

Lay in the palm of the bay
Watching the fishtails sway
I was gonna drift all day
‘til the wind she come blow me away
Take it with a bite of spice
Molasses wine and some bad advice; out there
And what I am is the last sailor man out there

And what I am is the last sailor man
What I am is the last sailor man
What I am is the last sailor man out there

I would go where I please
Smuggling into the Keys
Running rum on the breeze
A lowlife on the high seas
Havana Joe’s the real McCoy
There’s amberjack, man and bhoy; out there
And what I am is the last sailor man out there

Every devil got a name
Senoirita hurricane
An’ every woman’s the same
Blow you a kiss in the rain
Wild Bonita and Gabrielle
Curse them bella donnas down to hell; out there
And what I am is the last sailor man out there

And what I am is the last sailor man…


© The Last Sailor Man music by Tom Fairnie, words by Tom Fairnie & Bob Shields July 2007

Rolled on the thighs of Cuban girls
Until I rolled into the Keys
Where I rolled on the thighs of someone else
Who was quarter Japanese
And her tales of sunken treasure
Could turn a sailor’s head
Bring a drowning man such pleasure
As is in a mermaid’s bed
And, sweet as rum, she was golden brown
And I had such a thirst
No markers where the ship went down
The only chart was hers
So I clung to her like a castaway
Does his salty strip of land
Until we washed up in Montego Bay
With silver in our hands
And we sailed such great adventures
Almost every other day
We were bound, as by indenture
Till the winds blew her away.

Buffetted © Bob Shelds