I wrote this as a prelude to singing a sea shantiy,

and as a person who morns the time of the folk song

 

To the people of the coast

Lift your glasses In a toast

For ive come to tell the eulogy

Of the stories of the sea

 

In days of old

There were stories told

Of sailors and ships

Of triumph and whips

Of victory and downfalls

Of experience and pitfalls

 

These stories used to abound

But now their no longer arround

For the tradition of the tale

Blew away like the gale

 

For Ive been on  ships

Of metal and fuel

And on skifs

Of sail and oar

And I can confidently say

The two are different tales

And different ways of life

 

Gone are the days of sailers and fishers

Gone are the times of tale and song

Gone are the days of folk heros and vilans

Gone are the days of the good tavern brawl

Gone are the days of the irish wake

And gone are the days of the true sea man

 

We are left with the days of moderininty

Of tictocks and tweets

Of face time and sheep

Who'd rathe be on phone

Then talk to actual people

 

So ive come to tell the tale of people of the past

Whos facebook was the tavern

 and uber was the trail

 

Whose stories were the song

And whose friends were those they knew

So listen as I sing

The stories of the past

And perhaps attempt to cast

Your own story on futue of your trade

The way the sailors of olde have bade