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The Songs...the Players....

Sea Lion Cove (4:04)
My Southeast Alaska Dream (3:44)
Heartbreak #4 (3:52)
Nurse, Won't You Bring Another Drink for the Band? (2:46)
Old Blue (4:41)
D-2 (3:18)
Dance With Me (2:59)
Ne Pas Actionner La Chasse Quand La Train Est En Gare (3:00)
Good Show (3:50)
My Sweet Lovin' Ann, My Alexander Archipelago Babe (2:17)
Inside Passage (3:12)
Alaska's Flag (3:24)

David Estrem: 12-String and 6-String Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Vibes, Vocals
Larry McCrehin: Steel Guitar, Lead Guitar, Harmonica, Vocal Harmony
Jeff Seifert: Drums
Tom Estrem: Cowbell


Special Thanks To:
The Austin Nichols Prayer, Poker & Burial Society
Blue Mountain Software

Original Album Release 1981, CD Release 1997


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SEA LION COVE

© David C. Estrem -- RealAudio 14.4 sample - 28.8 sample (click here if you need RealPlayer)

[BRIDGE] "Come on, Bill, we’ve got to keep on moving or we’ll die.
We’ve got a mountain we must climb. It isn’t very high.
Listen, Bill! You still can hear the breakers as they pound.
We’ve got to reach Kalinin Bay before the sun goes down."

One winter in Alaska, a Sitka boat rode on the morning tide.
The boat was named the Palco and aboard two men were safe and warm inside.
But winter winds blew up -- the cold, dark water smoked and rolled.
The Skipper and the man called Bill watched snow and blowing cold.
With darkness creeping in, Kalinin Bay came into sight.
They headed up the entrance in the storm to pass the night.

They settled in and drank some Goddard Gotchas while the Skipper told a tale
Of how Sea Lion Cove would fill with untold sea-tossed treasures in a gale.
When Bill cried, "Now’s the time to go!"
The Skipper said, "Hold down!
We’d have to climb across this mountain
Or take the skiff the long way ‘round.
And both ways have their dangers, Bill, without the blowing snow."
But he fell asleep knowing in the morning -- they would go.

The next day in Kalinin Bay, the sky was dark and snow was coming down.
The Palco lay at anchor and they ran the skiff by Salisbury Sound.
But again, the snow began to blow
When they hit Sea Lion Cove.
A breaker caught the skiff
And like a matchstick it was stove.
More breakers tossed them on the shore.
The little skiff was gone.
They had to get back to the Palco before the night came on.

[BRIDGE]

Cold and wet and tired they had to cross the frozen island through the snow.
Looking back at Bill, the Skipper wondered how much farther he could go.
Behind them surf was roaring
While ahead the island rose.
The Skipper had to keep Bill moving
Or by nighttime they’d be froze.
He’d push ahead to break the trail
And go back down to help his friend.
Then he finally saw the Palco! He turned around and called again,

[BRIDGE]





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MY SOUTHEAST ALASKA DREAM

© David C. Estrem

This song tells a story -- strange tho’ it may seem . . .
Of how I loved -- and how I lost --
My Southeast Alaska Dream.

[BRIDGE] Oh, she had Rock Cod eyes
And hemlock hair.
She hugged me like a big brown bear.
She wiggled like a humpie in a stream.
Her teeth were white as herring roe.
Her skin had a red snapper glow.
Yes, she was my Southeast Alaska Dream.

I can’t forget the night we met
And how the kids would put her down
Because her daddy, he ran a devil’s club
On the sorry side of town.
I kissed her tears and said that years
Would help her pain to pass.
Then she smiled at me and let me pat
Her sweet volcanic ash.

On winter nights the harbor lights
Would cause her ling cod lips to shine.
And when I kissed those lips an icy chill
Ran up and down my spine.
She whispered low, she touched my cheek,
I loved her soft caress
That reminded me of tanner crab
Or, maybe, dungeness.

I felt so proud when right out loud
She said she’d be my bride.
And we celebrated on the beach
When there was minus tide.
She fell asleep, because that sweetheart
Drank up all our gin.
So, she lay there while I ran for more
But then the tide rolled in.





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HEARTBREAK #4

© David C. Estrem

You told me that you loved me long ago
And you’d follow me wherever I would go.
How could you know, yesterday,
We’d travel so far away?
Honey, here’s one thing you ought to know . . .

Some nights in our room, you think I’m sleeping.
You don’t know it -- but I hear you softly weeping.
And I listen while your pain is drowned out by the wind and rain
And I make you a promise that I’m keeping. . . .

[BRIDGE] When the rain comes pouring down
And the wind blows through this town,
I know you miss the bright lights and blue skies.
I’ll keep working hard for you
To turn your gray skies to blue
‘Cause all the bright lights that I need -- are in your eyes.

(turn around)

And you say, "Though it’s hard, we’re gonna stay!
Honey, I know the dues you got to pay --
Being home with the kids and no car --
While I’m singing in this bar --
But the sun’s going to shine for us some day.

[BRIDGE]





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NURSE, WON’T YOU BRING ANOTHER DRINK FOR THE BAND?

© David C. Estrem

To a band, a barmaid is like a mother.
Without her, our lives could not be worse.
We’d be a ship without a sail
Without our Florence Nightingale.
And that is why we call our barmaid Nurse.

[BRIDGE] Nurse, won’t you bring another drink for the band?
Playin’ hot licks always makes us thirsty
And worse.
Sad songs make some people cry
But they only make us dry
So the next time you pass by
Please bring a drink -- for the band!

The life of a barmaid is not easy.
She remembers every drink at every table.
She gives service with a smile
And every once in awhile
She brings the band a drink when she is able.





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OLD BLUE

© David C. Estrem

Now, one time I had a Chevrolet car
It wouldn’t go fast and it couldn’t go far
And it belched out a cloud of smoke that could hide the mill.
Things got worse as time came to pass
I’d fill up the oil and just check the gas
And the damn thing would shake and shimmy just standing still.

I went out to start it one rainy morn
The only things working was the lights and the horn
And I got so damn mad I kicked a tire and scuffed up my shoe.
Well, Porky Bickar, he came on the scene
And he stared at me and my machine
And said, "Boy, you use my truck -- her name is Blue!"

Well, things went fine for quite a spell.
Me and Old Blue just drove like hell
Until one day her shift stick started acting queer.
I mean, Blue drove fine, but the shift was loose
Like pulling on the beak of a long-necked goose.
It was all limp and floppy, like a pretzel soaked up in beer.

So I got on the telephone
And I called Porky.
He’d been doing some welding on his backhoe
And ran out of acetylene. (Never thought he’d run out of acetylene!)
He was in a bad mood -- but I said,

Porky Oliver Bickar I’m calling you
‘Cause I think that I just hurt Old Blue.
I’m hoping and a-praying that it ain’t too bad
But I don’t know what to do.
So, Porky Oliver Bickar, I’m calling you.


And, Porky, he said, "Oh well . . .
I know her shifter’s loose a bit
But she just likes you to play with it.
It gets her all hot and bothered and makes her squeal."
So -- I played with her shifter like I was told
Until one night I tried it when my hand was cold
And she shivered and quivered and she threw off her left front wheel.

So I got on the telephone
And I called Porky.
He’d just sat down to a nice supper Patty fixed for him.
A little lobster, a little crab, some black cod --
Some nice cold wine. But I said,

Porky Oliver Bickar I’m calling you
‘Cause I think that I crippled up Old Blue.
I’m hoping and a-praying that it ain’t too bad
But I don’t know what to do.
So, Porky Oliver Bickar, I’m calling you.


And Porky, he said, "Oh well --
Now Blue’s kind of lazy and it’s a shame,
But then she just starts acting lame.
We’ll put that wheel back on and let it mend."
So he did, and Blue was acting fine
Till I felt a clunk and heard a helluva whine
And found her driveshaft hanging back from her rear end.

So I got back on the telephone
And I called Porky.
He was getting ready to try out a new waterbed
He got for Christmas.
(Patty said that the tide was just about right.)
But I said,

Porky Oliver Bickar I’m calling you
‘Cause I think that I just killed Old Blue.
I’m hoping and a-praying that it ain’t too bad
But I don’t know what to do.
So, Porky Oliver Bickar, I’m calling you.


And Porky, he said, "Oh well --
Now don’t go fussing and feeling bad.
Blue’s worked all her life and her joints are bad.
And sometimes they act a little bit like my own.
(It’s a "universal" problem.)
But since you’ve been driving my pickup truck
You’ve had an awful run of luck.
So -- I think I’m going to disconnect my phone!"

And he left me with a dixie cup and a thread --
He told me to go set crab pots in Swan Lake --

Saw him ride off in a helicopter --
Said he was going to start up some volcano.
I was feeling real bad.





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D-2

© David C. Estrem

In Alaska we got bugs.
We got no snakes, but lots of slugs.
And in Southeast we get more rain than we get shine.
But, the thing that gets to me comes from Washington, D.C.
‘Cause I can’t stand
That D-2 sign!

[BRIDGE] D-2! We’re going to take it mighty hard.
D-2! Why don’t you stay in your own backyard?
Go home, Washington. Alaska’s doing fine.
And take away that D-2 sign!

I was hiking on a hill
Picking berries with a will --
(‘Cause every year I make me some Salmonberry Wine)
When up pops a Congressman who says, "Hi!
I guess from now on you’ll go dry
‘Cause I saw you walk right by that D-2 sign!"

Now, I can understand
Why them senators want our Alaska land.
But why’s our wildlife something they hold dear?
Why, I was in Washington town
And, brother, when the sun went down,
I found that wildlife there’s a lot wilder life than here!

Those senators spend our taxes
While they sit down on their axes
And they make decisions about our Alaska land.
A few mean well, and I don’t doubt it
But it’s they way they go about it
That’s got this D-2 situation way out of hand.





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DANCE WITH ME

© David C. Estrem

Dance with me. Won’t you hold me tight?
Kiss me and say that the time is right.
Tell me you don’t want to say, "Good night."
Honey, I don’t want to dream all alone.

A stranger come to town -- he’s travelin’ light.
He’s searching for some comfort, some delight.
He will stop, but never stay.
He can make it through the day
But, it’s hard to be a stranger in the night.

In every town he stops upon his way
He searches for a late-night cabaret.
In a smoky room it seems
He can drink and dream his dreams
Of a woman who will come to him and smile, and say,

Dance with me. Won’t you hold me tight?
Kiss me and say that the time is right.
Tell me you don’t want to say, "Good night."
Honey, I don’t want to dream all alone.





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NE PAS ACTIONNER LA CHASSE QUAND LA TRAIN EST EN GARE

© David C. Estrem

I headed south from Alaska
And when I reached B.C.
I rode the trains and I met a girl
Who meant the world to me.
She was a French girl from Quebec.
Her language I did not know.
But I knew that I’d love her
Before I had to go.

[BRIDGE] Ne pas actionner la chasse quand le train est en gare
Ne pas actionner la chasse quand le train est en gare
We had a romance started
But it didn’t go too far.
Ne pas actionner la chasse quand le train est en gare

Her love for me grew cold
As we traveled through her land.
What it was that I did wrong
I could not understand.
She left the train in Manitoba --
I continued on my way --
But I always will remember
The last words I hear her say. . . .

[BRIDGE]





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GOOD SHOW

© Larry W. McCrehin

She just won’t say in plain words
"I don’t love you."
But the signs are all there.
Everywhere.

Why I hang on to what’s gone and keep trying
Brings me down, all these years I’ve been trying.

I’ve said the words the poets write --
They come out wrong -- and then we fight.
And I wonder why it wasn’t like before.
But now I see my chance is gone.
It’s like last year -- it’s passed me on.

I can’t go on with this good show anymore.





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MY SWEET LOVIN’ ANN, MY ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO BABE

© David C. Estrem -- RealAudio 14.4 sample - 28.8 sample (click here if you need RealPlayer)

My gal, Ann, is a fine looking woman
Oh, she gets around, but she don’t raise no sand.
She’s a high goal seeker
Like a feminine-mystiquer
But she still gets around to pleasin’ her man.

Most guys on the Southeast Alaska coast
When they talk about their women are likely to boast.
But no one can hold a candle to my Ann
And I’ll tell you why . . .

‘Cause when I’m out on the boat for a couple of days
With my crab pot, my rifle, and my halibut skate
And I come home all tuckered out and dirty
She kisses me and hugs me ‘cause she just can’t wait
To cut my venison backstrap into thick slabs.
Then she’ll clean my snapper
And boil my crabs.
She’s my Sweet Lovin’ Ann,
My Alexander Archipelago Babe!





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INSIDE PASSAGE

© David C. Estrem

[BRIDGE] Ride the Inside Passage
Ride the Inside Passage
Ride the Inside Passage
Going home.

I headed just for fun to the Outside.
Hit the city smack dab in the fast lane.
It wasn’t too long before the fun was gone.
I’m heading back to ALASKA to ease the pain.

Ride the Inside Passage -- going home.

My lady in the city was glossy and slick --
Sophisticated right down to the bone --
So cool -- so in style -- the girl forgot how to smile --
At night when she would hold me I was still all alone.

Ride the Inside Passage -- going home.

It’s no trick to be a big shot in the city
With a deck of credit cards and your name on each one.
Take it all -- play the game -- grab the tab -- sign your name --
Then explain it to your banker -- now, ain’t that fun?

Ride the Inside Passage -- going home.

There’s Ketchikan. Want to spend awhile on Revilla Isle!
Have to make Petersburg by the middle of May!
Heading west to Sitka -- prettiest place on earth.
I’ll overnight in Juneau. Gonna Red Dog it!
I left my heart in Elfin Cove.
Hit Haines and that highway is mine!
Why don’t they stop this boat in Pelican?




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ALASKA’S FLAG

Lyric: Marie Drake
Music: Eleanor Dusenberry
© University of Alaska. All rights reserved.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue,
Alaska’s Flag, may it mean to you,
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, the flowers nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough’s dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams,
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear" the "Dipper" and shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
O’er land and sea a beacon bright.

Alaska’s Flag, to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.

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