A Thousand Years
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They set out again
Though the Irish Sea is boiling
And the women pray
As they’ve done each day
For a thousand years and counting
Haul the grey nets in
Where the tarry ropes lie coiling
And the seabirds play
As they’ve done each day
For a thousand years and counting
And there’s others gone
Where the headland bell is tolling
And the women mourn
And then carry on
Ten thousand strong and counting.
A song about the strength of women whose husbands/partners leave them to go away and work, obviously with the immediate reference of the fishermen that set off from our own coast every day. Simple, hymnnal – Maurice’s original idea was just the first verse. I added a second and third during a tube journey to Willesden Green on a sunny October Sunday, sent them back over and Maurice completed the song by changing my rather optimistic and happy third verse about the fishermen returning home into something rather darker but ultimately more powerful, and let’s face it, better.
Here’s the original demo:
