These are my favourite sea songs from three albums, two of which were “Down to the Sea” Volumes 1&2, plus a couple of related songs from “Songs of Australia” recorded in 1985.
I love these songs as they tell stories of life at sea, the joys and hardships and stir the heart strings .
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Fair weather.

1. Christian Island - Gordon Lightfoot - this song captures that relaxed,laid back feeling one can get when sailing.... in warm pleasant conditions
2. Lock Keeper- Stan Rogers. One of “the greats” best songs. Two old sailing mates present their case for staying or going....a dilemma many sailors grapple with.
3. Leaving of Liverpool -Trad. A standard but good song based on facts. Many Irish emigrants departed from Liverpool seeking a better life in the ‘New World.’ “David Crockett” was a clipper ship at some time under the command of Captain Burgess who was lost overboard in 1874.
4. Jamaica Farewell- A popular love ballad by Harry Belafonte
5. Carrying Nelson Home-Mike O’Connor. Probably the best sea song I’ve ever heard. When Nelson died at the battle of Trafalgar his body was apparently put into a barrel of brandy to preserve it. Some thirsty sailors bored a hole in it and by the time they reached England in Nelson’s ship, “The Victory “,the keg was dry !
6. Let Her Go Down- Peter Knight. An enigmatic song about a deranged captain hell bent on losing his ship.
7. Make and Break Harbour- Stan Rogers. Laments the passing of the old ways of fishing
8. Little Fishes- Trad.
9. Down to the Sea/ Dark Isle. I wrote this song when living in Melbourne while my heart was somewhere else.
10. Lord Franklin. Anon. Sir John Franklin was Matthew Flinders cousin and and as a young man sailed with him on “The Investigator” during its circumnavigation of New Holland in 1801-4. He was the second governor of Van Dieman’s Land where he was much loved although not by the establishment , then later again an Arctic explorer. Seeking the illusive North West Passage,an Arctic sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in 1845 Franklin headed a large expedition in “The Eribus” and “The Terror” although they all perished and the wrecks were only found in 2014 and 2016. This song is purported to have been written by Lady Franklin who determinedly ensured expeditions were sent out to try and locate her husband and crews.
11. Safe in the Harbour . Great song by Eric Bogle written as a tribute to Stan Rogers who died a hero saving fellow passengers from fire onboard a landed aircraft.
12. Shoals of Herring- Ewan MacColl
13. Save the Whales- Country Joe McDonald
14. 10,000 Miles Away-Trad.
15. T.I. Woman - Mike O’ Rourke “T.I” - “Thursday Island” no prizes for guessing which day Captain Cook sailed past this island in the Torres Strait, naming places as he went along !
16. Little Boy Fishing -Shirley Abicair. As a young boy I was always yearning to be out on the water.
17. Sailors Alphabet- Trad. “ Give a sailor his grog and nothing goes wrong !” Yeah, right !
18. When the Ship Comes In - Bob Dylan
19. Sailing- Inspired by an imaginary perception of my maternal grandfather John Ellis Pearce RAN, Naval Officer and musician.