Summary: How do I download this Mp3?Mp3: Erie Canal This is a comic story about a tragic boat ride down the Erie Canal. I decided to sing this in the style of the late 50s - early 60s college folk groups. I can see the audience sitting an a large hall, the men wearing three button jackets and skinny ties and the ladies in pretty dresses. The Erie Canal opened in 1825. The Ohio and Erie Canal, joining Cleveland and Portsmouth, was completed in 1845. For 25 years these canals were busy trade routes, piloted by burly, aggressive boatmen on long narrow craft. These keelboats were sharp at both ends, built on a keel and ribs. Gradually the railroads replaced the keelboat as a form of commercial transportation and the canal traffic was greatly reduced. Lyrics: E-RI-E CANAL [A] We were forty miles from Albany Forget it I [E] never [A] shall. [A] What a terrible [E] storm we [A] had one [D] night [A] On the E-ri-e [E] - [A] Canal. chorus: O the E-ri-e was a-rising And the gin was a-getting low. And I scarcely think we'll get a drink Till we get to Buff-a-lo-o-o Till we get to Buffalo. We were loaded down with barley We were chock-full up on rye. The captain he looked down at me With his gol-durned wicked eye. Two days out from Syracuse The vessel struck a shoal; We like to all be foundered On a chunk o' Lackawanna coal. We hollered to the captain On the towpath, treadin' dirt He jumped on board and stopped the leak With his old red flannel shirt. The cook she was a grand old gal Stood six foot in her socks. Had a foot just like an elephant And her breath would open locks. The wind begins to whistle The waves begin to roll We had to reef our royals On that ragin' canal. The cook came to our rescue She had a ragged dress; We h'isted her upon the pole As a signal of distress. When we got to Syracuse Off-mule, he was dead; The nigh mule got blind staggers We cracked him on the head. The cook is in the Police Gazette The captain went to jail; And I'm the only son-of-a-sea-cook That's left to tell the tale.
