CZTERY REFY - Rolling Down to Old Maui

Rolling Down to Old Maui

Words & music traditional

'Tis a rough, tough life of toil and strife,
We whalemen undergo.
We don't give a damn when the gale is done,
Or how hard the winds do blow:
For we're homeward bound, it's a damned fine sound,
On a good ship, taut, and free!
We don't give a damn, when we drink our rum,
With the girls of old Maui!

So now we sail, with a Northerly gale,
Through the ice and sleet and rain:
And the coconut fronds in the tropic lands,
We soon shall see again!
Six hellish months we've passed away,
In the cold Kamchatka Sea,
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui!

Rolling down to old Maui... We 'll heave the lead, where old Diamond Head
Looms up o'er old O'ahu!
Our masts and yards are sheathed with ice,
And our decks are hid from view:
And the horrid ice of the sea-cut tiles
That deck the Arctic Sea,
Are miles behind in the frozen wind,
Since we steered for old Maui!

Rolling down to old Maui... Once more we sail, with a favorable gale,
owards our island home:
Our main yard sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam!
Our studding-sails booms are carried away,
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank Christ we're homeward bound!

Rolling down to old Maui... How soft the breeze, in the island trees,
Now the ice is far astern:
And those native maids in the island glades
Are awaiting our return.
Even now their big black eyes look out,
Hoping some fine day to sea,
Our baggy sails, running 'fore the gales,
Rolling down to old Maui!

Rolling down to old Maui... And now we're anchored in the bay
With the big kanakas all around:
With chants and soft "Aloha oe's"
They greet us now we're found:
And now ashore, we'll have good fun,
We'll paint those beaches red;
Awaking in the arms of a wahine,
With a big fat aching head!

Rolling down to old Maui...

"Rolling Down to Old Maui" - After many months of hard work in extremely tough conditions, no remaining stocks of alcohol and girls only in their dreams, sailors looked forward to a return to Hawaii. When they could see the extinct volcano Diamond Head on the horizon, in whose crater people once searched for diamonds, sailors knew that soon they would feel like they were in paradise. One of the better known songs among American whalers coming back from the fisheries of North Pacific towards the Hawaiian Islands.

This song was first recorded on the casette with Simon Spalding. He said: "This is Stan Hugill's version of this wonderful song from the Pacific Ocean. The American whaling ships would hunt for bowhead whales in the Northern Pacific, returning to Lahaina (on the island Maui) or Honolulu (on the island Oahu) as the ice sheets advanced southward in the Fall. Many a native Hawaiian served on these ships: he was called "kanaka" in sailors' jargon, and "selamoku" in Hawaiian. I recently performed this song for schoolchildren all over the Hawaiian Islands, and they really liked it! I wish the people of Hawaii and Poland would get to know each other better: the traditions of hospitality, sailing, family life, and good times with friends are very similar!".
Ten years later we recorded it again by ourselves on the CD "Bound Away".

Note: Another recordings of this song with Polish lyrics ("Maui") and different melody lines can be found on the cassettes: "Pozegnanie Liverpoolu" and "Piesni wielorybnicze"