Chesapeake Narrows

Chesapeake Narrows
© Copyright 1984

Contact Info:
Billy Kemp - 615-947-7183
billykempmusic@gmail.com

Release date: September 1, 2017

Composer: Billy Kemp and Geoffrey Himes
Publisher: Willbilly Music, BMI - Red Wheelbarrow, BMI

Been gone four months ‘round the North Atlantic,
Haulin’ drills and lathes packed in plywood crates.
When the gale winds shriek, we scramble down below.
When the tables tilt, we have to catch our plates.

The salt wind turned my skin to leather.
My beard grew out till it turned and curled.
I got favorite bars all around the globe
But just one home in this whole damn world.

Chorus:
A tugboat whistles; a lonely gull cries.
The Chesapeake Narrows; city towers rise.
Many seas I’ve sailed; many ports I’ve roamed,
But I never can get lost, for Baltimore is my home.

Docked in Glasgow, the ship unloaded.
Cranes took the crates; whiskey took the men.
I felt so alone till I met Margaret.
She said she’d be a temporary friend.

Had a good time playing bedtime
Till we heard her man singing in the street.
He came through the front; I left by the back,
Running through the snow in my stocking feet.

Chorus:
A tugboat whistles; a lonely gull cries.
The Chesapeake Narrows; city towers rise.
Many seas I’ve sailed; many ports I’ve roamed,
But I never can get lost, for Baltimore is my home.


Bridge 1:
When my feet start itchin’ and my nose starts twitchin’,
I know I should be back on the open sea.
Harbor swimmin’ and foreign women,
The sailor’s life is the life for me.

Down in Marseilles, I did some gamblin’.
I won more francs than a Yankee should.
I caught a knife, but I threw it back,
Ran for the boat as fast as I could.

We took on sugar in Jamaica;
Took out our guitars and tap dance shoes,
Found a street band in Kingston’s ghetto.
We sang reggae and Baltimore blues.

Chorus:
A tugboat whistles; a lonely gull cries.
The Chesapeake Narrows; city towers rise.
Many seas I’ve sailed; many ports I’ve roamed,
But I never can get lost, for Baltimore is my home.


Bridge 2:
Every vessel must have it’s anchor,
Or it gets lost between the rocks and foam.
Every compass must have it’s magnet,
And Baltimore is pulling me back home.

When we reached Norfolk, were nearly home.
Music and perfume were all along the shore.
I was so tired of the unfamiliar,
I stayed on deck and sang of Baltimore.

Turned up the Bay, and I saw Maryland.
That Chesapeake shore I know so well.
My family waits on that Mobtown pier.
There’s time to kill and tales to tell.

Chorus:
A tugboat whistles; a lonely gull cries.
The Chesapeake Narrows; city towers rise.
Many seas I’ve sailed; many ports I’ve roamed,
But I never can get lost, for Baltimore is my home.














Chesapeake Narrows
By Geoffrey Himes and Billy Kemp ©1984.
Been gone four months ‘round the North Atlantic,
Haulin’ drills and lathes packed in plywood crates.
When the gale winds shriek, we scramble down below.
When the tables tilt, we have to catch our plates.

The salt wind turned my skin to leather.
My beard grew out till it turned and curled.
I got favorite bars all around the globe
But just one home in this whole damn world.

Chorus:
A tugboat whistles; a lonely gull cries.
The Chesapeake Narrows; city towers rise.
Many seas I’ve sailed; many ports I’ve roamed,
But I never can get lost, for Baltimore is my home.

Docked in Glasgow, the ship unloaded.
Cra