Song for Day 16 of a 4 Year Funeral - "Peter's Dream" - Lennie Gallant

Day 16 - "Peter's Dream" by Lennie Gallant

Songwriter Lennie Gallant

      Some might recognize Lenny Gallant from his appearance at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  Others may recognize him as the star of one of the two sexiest music videos on YouTube (the other being Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games", of course;  more on this in a subsequent diary).  A few may have heard his music when astronaut Julie Payette took his 2005 album aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in July, 2009.  Gallant's producers tried to rush their 2009 effort to get it to Ms. Payette on time but they missed the launch by mere hours.  Perhaps it is just as well.  The older album was optimistically entitled "When We Get There";  the new one was "If We Had a Fire".

      Be it the coastal fisheries, the rust belt or coal country, the loss of industries is always tragic--all the more so when a politician exploits the situation with false hope for the unemployed workers.  Outsiders shrug and suggest relocation, oblivious to the difficulties involved.  Lennie captures this in four lines:

Where am I gonna go now?
What about this boat I own?
What about this old piano?
What about my father's bones?

Lyrics:

I still get up before the day breaks

And I still walk down to the shore

I watch the sun rise from the eastern ocean

But I don't sail to meet anymore

How could they have let this happen

We saw it coming years ago

The greedy ships kept getting bigger and bigger

And the sonar told them where to go

(Chorus)

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

We cast our nets upon the waters

And Jesus pulled them in with me

Where am I gonna go now?

What about this boat I own?

What about this old piano?

What about my father's bones?

(Chorus)

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

We cast our nets upon the waters

And Jesus pulled them in with me (yes he did)

Someone sang an old sea shanty

And Nealy told a mainland joke

Kelly cursed and swore until his voice gave out

And then he asked me for a smoke

And then he took his father's shotgun

Walked to the harbour, through the town

He fired fourteen times, woke everyone up

And we all watched that boat go down

(Chorus)

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

We cast our nets upon the waters

And Jesus pulled them in with me

(Chorus)

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

We cast our nets upon the waters

And Jesus pulled them in with me

Oh yeah he pulled them in with me

Pulled, he pulled them in with me

Pulled, yeah he pulled them in with me

Pulled, yeah he pulled them in with me

Pulled

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

Last night I dreamed that I was sailing

Out on the Sea of Galilee

I still get up before the day breaks

And I still walk down to the shore

I watch the sun rise from the eastern ocean

But I don't sail to meet anymore

Links:

Songs for a 4 Year Funeral