Free in the Harbour
Stan Rogers * Track #9 On Northwest Passage
Download "Free in the Harbour"
Album Northwest Passage
Free in the Harbour by Stan Rogers
Performed by
Stan RogersProduced by
Paul MillsWrited by
Stan RogersAbout
One of Stan Rogers favourite themes was the loss of old ways, of traditions, and the lives of those that are left to pick up the pieces after they’re gone. Here, whalers move out west to Alberta, trading whale oil for petroleum oil, much to the glee of the whales.
Free in the Harbour Lyrics
Well it's blackfish at play in Hermitage Bay
From Pushthrough across to Bois Island
They broach and they sprout and they lift their flukes out
And they wave to a town that is dying
Now it's many's the boats that have plied on the foam
Hauling away, hauling away!
But there's many more fellows been leaving their homes
Where whales make free in the harbour
It's at Portage and Main, you'll see them again
On their way to the hills of Alberta
With lop-sided grins, they waggle their chins
And they brag of the wage they'll be earning
Then it's, "Quick, pull the string boys, and get the tool out
Haul it away! Haul it away!"
But just two years ago, you could hear the same shout
Where the whales make free in the harbour
Free in the harbour
The blackfish are sporting again
Free in the harbour
Untroubled by comings and goings of men
Who once did pursue them as oil from the sea
Hauling away, hauling away!
Now they're Calgary roughnecks from Hermitage Bay
Where the whales make free in the harbour
Well, it's a living they've found, deep in the ground
And if there's doubts, it's best they ignore them
Nor think on the bones, the crosses and stones
Of their fathers that came there before them
In the taverns of Edmonton, fishermen shout
"Haul it away! Haul it away!"
They left three hundred years buried up on the Bay
Where the whales make free in the harbour
Free in the harbour
The blackfish are sporting again
Free in the harbour
Untroubled by comings and goings of men
Who once did pursue them as oil from the sea
Hauling away, hauling away!
Now they're Calgary roughnecks from Hermitage Bay
Where the whales make free in the harbour
Free in the Harbour Q&A
Who wrote Free in the Harbour's ?
Free in the Harbour was written by Stan Rogers.
Who produced Free in the Harbour's ?
Free in the Harbour was produced by Paul Mills.
What did Stan Rogers say about "Free in the Harbour"?
Stan Rogers in the Northwest Passage liner notes:
Someone recently told me there are more Newfoundlanders in Edmonton than there are in St. John’s. I met one of them, a fellow from Hermitage Bay, who was working on an oil rig somewhere in Alberta. Blackfish are small whales.