Still On Patrol

by April Grant

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$3 USD or more

about

Words and tune: April Grant

This song won the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival Songwriting Competition in 2019.

It was inspired by the US Navy custom of considering a submarine that doesn't return from a mission as still being on patrol.

Here's a memorial page for United States submariners: www.oneternalpatrol.com/presentation.htm

The image shows the (fictional) Nautilus from Jules Verne's _20,000 Leagues Under The Sea_, illustration by Alphonse de Neuville.

lyrics

This may be news to you --
I know it was to me --
No US submarine
Is ever lost at sea.
But every Christmas Eve
The Navy reads the roll
Of officers and men
Still on patrol.

(Chorus)
Still on patrol,
Deeper we'll go,
Still on patrol.

Down canyons of the sea-bed
That never see the light,
We gather round the radio
On this December night,
Listening to the static,
Great whales overhead,
And things deep below us
That only fear the dead.

(Chorus)

A warm voice calls out
Through static and through noise,
"We're thinking of you here at home,
So Merry Christmas, boys."
We weep and hug each other,
We laugh with joy to hear
The living recall us
Year after year.

(Chorus)

Our mission is not done,
And none of us can sleep.
There are things deep below us
In the belly of the deep.
The living could not face,
The living need not know.
While we are on patrol,
Deeper we'll go.

(Chorus)

credits

released February 15, 2021
Recorded at The Hearing Room, Lowell, MA, in 2018, by Doug Kwartler of Hollow Body Studios, Chelmsford, MA.

license

about

April Grant Somerville, Massachusetts

Songwriter, song lover, learner of traditional songs, creator of tradition-adjacent songs. Ways to interact with me:
--say hi!
--ask me for my rates to do a one-hour concert for you
--download my song(s) and then learn them
--give me recommendations of things
--give me kicks in the backside to update my professional website to be up to date with gigs and things
aprilcatherinegrant.com ... more

contact / help

Contact April Grant

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like April Grant, you may also like:

The Water is the Shovel of the Shore
by Shovel Dance Collective

Traditional folk music and field recordings meld into fascinating long-form sound collages on the new LP from Shovel Dance Collective. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 6, 2022
go to album
To The Awe
by Rachel Newton

Scottish harpist and singer Rachel Newton brings an innovative, intensely emotional touch to traditional music on this dreamy LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 17, 2020
go to album
Songs of my land
by Chiyomi Yamada

Ancient Japanese folk songs are presented with Western folk-pop arrangements to haunting, elegant effect. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 13, 2024
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden

Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 5, 2023
go to album
Anásana
by Maroulita de Kol

An stunning debut that explores Greek folk tradition through a dreamy musical ecosystem. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jul 31, 2023
go to album
Endurance Soundly Caged
by Stick In The Wheel

Adapting their calculated standards into a raw, live setting, the radical UK folk duo rework six highlights from their spellbindincatalogue. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 7, 2022
go to album
Lammas Fair
by Henry Parker

Singer-songwriter Henry Parker puts his own spin on the classic sounds of '60s and '70s British folk on this wilderness-inspired new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 9, 2021
go to album