From the recording Where it All Begins
This is for all of the fishermen whose lives have changed due to the Government-Buy-Back program (Gloucester, MA-Gayle’s home town)
Lyrics
One Dying Breed (Anderson-Gram copy right 1996)
The sea is my mistress tho cold she can be
She fills me with purpose on the waves I am free
Food on the table for my family
A reason to wake for the day
For forty years runnin’ we’ve walked hand in hand
Like my father before me and before him, his dad
Each generation succeeds on command
We start and end the same day
Father oh father now somethin’s gone wrong
I’m runnin’ so light and I’ve been out here since dawn
The nets that I’m using let the little ones free
A cause and a victim of one dying breed
Ten cents on the dollar is what they’ll give me
To give up a lifetime of life on the sea
This is no offer, this is no plea
The choice was already made
Where was the warning we all failed to see
As each generation refused to believe
Lost in the numbers and tangled in greed
It’s too bad I’m not alone
Father oh father now somethin’s gone wrong
I’m runnin’ so light and I’ve been out here since dawn
The nets are all tied up and stored by decree
A cause and a victim of one dying breed