Make and Break Harbour

Stan Rogers

Transposer:

How still lies the bay__ in the light_ western airs__ Which blow__ from the crim_-son_ ho-ri-i-zon__ Once more__ we tack home__ with a dry_ empty hold_ Saving gas_ with the breezes_ so_ fair___ She's a kindly Cape Is_-lander_ old__ but still sound__ But so lost__ in the longliner's_ sha-a-dow_ Make and break__ and make do__ but the fish are__ so fe-ew-ew__ That she won't be_ replaced_ should she founder__ It's so hard_ to not think of__ before_ the big war_ When the cod went so cheap_ not so_ plen_-ty_ Foreign trawlers_ go by now_ with long_-seeing_ eyes_ Taking all_ where we seldom_ take any__ And the young folk don't stay_ with the fisherman's way__ Long ago__ they all moved__ to the_ ci-i-ties__ And the ones_ left behind__ old_ tired__ and blind__ Can't work for_ "a pound_ or a penny"__ In Make and Break Harbour_ the boats_ are so few__ Too_ many__ are pulled up__ and rotten__ Most houses stand_ empty_ old nets hung__ to dry__ Are blown away__ lost_ and forgotten__ Now I can see__ the big draggers__ have stirred_ up the bay__ Leaving lobster traps_ smashed on_ the bo-o-ttom__ Can they think it don't_ pay_ to respect the old__ wa-a-ays__ That Make and Break men__ have not forgotton__ For we still keep our_ time_ to_ the turn of the tide_ And this boat_ that I built_ with my_ father__ Still lifts to the sky_ the one lunger_ and I_ Still talk like_ old friends_ on the water___ In Make and Break Harbour_ the boats_ are so few__ Too many__ are pulled up__ and rotten__ Most houses stand_ empty_ old nets hung__ to dry__ Are blown away__ lost_ and forgotten__ In Make and Break Harbour_ the boats_ are so few__ Too many__ are pulled up__ and rotten__ Most houses stand_ empty_ old nets hung__ to dry__ Are blown away__ lost_ and forgotten__

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La chanson évoque la mélancolie d’un port de pêche qui a vu des jours meilleurs. Elle décrit un environnement paisible, mais aussi celui de la désolation, où les bateaux se font rares et la pêche devient de plus en plus difficile à cause de la surpêche et de l'abandon des traditions. Les jeunes quittent les pratiques ancestrales pour s'installer en ville, laissant derrière eux des pêcheurs vieillissants, fatigués et nostalgiques des temps passés. Le contexte retranscrit une réalité de la vie maritime, où les défis économiques et l’évolution des modes de vie ont conduit à une crise dans les communautés de pêche. Les maisons sont souvent vides, les filets sont oubliés, et le respect des anciennes méthodes semble s'effacer au fil du temps. C'est un hommage à la mémoire et à la tradition, ancrés dans l'univers des pêcheurs, tout en faisant face à l'inéluctable changement.

Le Chansonnier