Songs of the Sea

Rolling Home to Old New England

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 

Call all hands to man the capstan
See the cable running clear
Heave away and with a will, boys
For new England we will steer

Rolling home, rolling home
Rolling home across the sea
Rolling home to old New England
Rolling home dear land to thee

Fare you well, you Spanish maidens
It is time to say adieu
Happy times we’ve spent together
Happy times we’ve spent with you

“Round Cape Horn one frosty morning
And our sails were full of snow
Clear your sheets and sway your halyards
Swing her out and let her go

Up aloft amid the rigging
Blows a wild and rushing gale
Like a monsoon in the springtime
Filling out each well known sail

And the waves we leave behind us
Seem to murmur as they flow
There’s a hearty welcome waiting
In the land to which you go

Many thousand miles behind us
Many thousand miles before
Ocean lifts her winds to bring us
To that well remembered shore

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Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

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Scott Alaric

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for over thirty years…

 

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Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

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Lenny Megliola

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Fitz’s Journal

Thoughts on Common Days

China Journal: Part Two

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Mark Twain once wrote that it is good to be a good person, but it is better to tell people how to be good--"and a damn sight easier!" So much of my life is lived in response to the moment and not in a practiced and cultivated wisdom. I sat here this morning looking...

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China Journal: Part One

China Journal: Part One

I           The dull staccato throb in light rain on a dark night. Unseen barges make their way up the QianTian River—concrete shores marked by the arch of the bridge, the spans of beam stretched on beam, the impeccable symmetry of the street-lights broken by a stream...

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