Tags: 1982 Ocean Ranger Disaster
Lyrics
1 Where the sea gull soars and the mighty ocean roars,
When the wind from the North blows so frantic.
On the banks of Newfoundland the oil rigs stand,
In search of crude from the cold northwest Atlantic.
2 She’s the finest in the land, designed and built by man,
To withstand all that nature has to offer.
And the Ocean Ranger’s crew numbered eighty four men true
To their homes and their sons, wives and daughters.
3. Look away to the west, there’s a storm upon the wind,
Bringing rain, snow and seas four stories high.
Look away to the west, will you see your homes again?
Or is this the time to say your last good-bye? Your last good-bye.
4. Then there’s trouble from within, the rig is listing once again,
And the gallant crew are ordered to abandon.
But the hurricane’s too strong, when the morning comes she’s gone.
Not a soul survived to tell us what happened. What had happened?
5. Husbands, fathers, sons and brothers leave behind so many others,
Who will not forget the price their loved ones paid.
Was it fate that dealt the hand, or the carelessness of man
That lead so many to an early grave? An early grave.
Repeat third verse
6. May God grant peace and serenity to our brothers lost at sea.
Give their families strength to bear their grief and pain.
And if our men must sweat and toil in pursuit of off shore oil,
Pray to God to bring them safely home again. Home again.
Repeat first verse
Citation: Rogers, T.B. “The New Balladeers”, Canadian Folk Music Bulletin, p. 9
Hello Bruce
It is 2:20 am on February 15 2015 and here I find myself reading the words you wrote so many years ago. Well do I recall that night at home in Botwood Newfoundland listening to the radio reports of men in peril. Two of those lost were brothers from Botwood and others were friends of mine.
Thank you Bruce for capturing the emotional turmoil and terror of that fateful night. I still cannot get it all out of my head. Thanks again for the respect you have given those lost and those that remain to grieve and to carry on.
Fred Humber
Thank you so much for your powerful and heart-felt post, Fred. Songs have such potential to help us remember and, if not to heal, at least work through the pain of grief. I’m very sorry for the loss of your friends.
It is 35 years to the day and almost to the hour that the Ocean Ranger was lost along with 84 souls. I am offshore on a drilling rig as I write this and the weather conditions onshore and offshore are comparable to that sad night.
May God above keep us all safe as we toil for a living and remember those who have come before us. Their memory will never die nor fade away for those of us who are still… “In search of crude from the cold northwest Atlantic.”
This song is poetry.
I remember it.
So dam windy that day is what I remember well too.
What a memory.
What a song.
Such a beautiful song. Such a sad memory.