WHITE SQUALL Time: 4/4 Tenor: C Bass: A
– Stan Rogers, 1982, on: From Fresh Water
1 * 6m 4
Now it’s just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
3 * 2m 5
But watch the deadly waters glide, as we roll north to the Soo
1 * 6m 4
And wonder when they’ll turn again, and pitch us to the rail
3m 5 1 *
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale
1 * 6m 4
The kid was so damned eager, it was all so big and new
3 * 2m 5
You never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do
1 * 6m 4
And evenings on the mess deck, he was always first to sing
3m 5 1 *
And show us pictures of the girl he’d wed in spring
CHORUS ONE (after verses 1, 3,):
5 57 4 3
But I told that kid a hundred times, don’t take the lakes for granted
6m 3 2m 5
They’ll go from calm to a hundred knots, so fast they seem en-chanted
1 * 6m 4
But to-night some red-eyed Wiarton girl, lies staring at the wall
3 5 1 *
And her lover’s gone in-to a white squall
Now it’s a thing that us old-timers know, in a sultry summer calm
There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb
And a sixteen thousand tonner can be thrown upon her beam
While the gale takes all before it with a scream
The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky
>From where I stood, I swear I could, see tears fall from his eye
So I hadn’t the heart to tell him, that he should be on a line
Even on a night so warm and fine
CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO
NOTES:
– Write for the sheet music
WHITE SQUALL PAGE TWO
1 * 6m 4
When it struck, he sat up with a start, I roared to him: Get down
3 * 2m 5
But for all that he could hear, I might as well not made a sound
1 * 6m 4
So I clung there to the stanchions and I felt my face grow pale
3m 5 1 *
As he crawled hand-over-hand along the rail
1 * 6m 4
Now I could feel her heeling over with the fury of the blow
3 * 2m 5
And I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow
1 * 6m 4
Then like some great dog she shook herself and roared upright a-gain
3m 5 1 *
While overside I heard him call my name
1 * 6m 4
So it’s just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
3 * 2m 5
But watch the deadly waters glide, as we roll north to the Soo
1 * 6m 4
And wonder when they’ll turn again, and pitch us to the rail
3m 5 1 *
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale
CHORUS TWO:
5 57 4 3
And I tell these kids a hundred times, don’t take the lakes for granted
6m 3 2m 5
They’ll go from calm to a hundred knots, so fast they seem en-chanted
1 * 6m 4
But to-night some red-eyed Wiarton girl, lies staring at the wall
3 5 1 *
And her lover’s gone into a white squall
SYMBOLS:
– Asterisk (*) = new measure, play same chord
– Period (.) = 1/8 note rest at start of a measure
– Underline(_) = sustain note into next measure
CHORDS (Number System):
– Example: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
– Key of C: C D E F G A B
– Detailed description: /pub/guitar/other_stuff/numbering_system.txt
– Submitted by: Barrie McCombs ([email protected])
