Back to the Maritimes

I received a odd compliment one summer. A visitor to PEI informed me that they had purchased some of my recorded music four years earlier and hadn’t played it since. The point they were trying to make was that, four years later on their return, they had started playing the recording again on the trip over the bridge and had kept playing the songs each day since their arrival. Local music is a soundtrack to a place in time. The voices of the East Coast set the tone for those home from away.

Back to the Maritimes

When I get back to the Maritimes, I’ll head for the place to be Where they take you round and sit you down And fill your cup with tea Or a nip of something stronger, served up in a mason jar And I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are

I’ll greet my friends and neighbors, with a pat on the back and a roar I’ll shake the hand of my old man As he comes through the door I’ll pull my chair up to, the kitchen table for a game of cards And I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are

Chorus: I’ll wear Charlie Chamberlain’s flannel shirt, and Harry Hibb’s old cap I’ll wear John Allen’s tartan kilt And nothing under that (whistle) In a pair of Stompin Tom’s old boots, I might not get too far But I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are

I’ll see a girls who’s waiting, underneath the front porch light She’ll look me up and look me down and I’ll be quite a sight I may not walk the straightest, as we stroll under the stars But I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are

Chorus: I’ll play Don Messer’s fiddle, with Buddy MacMaster’s bow I’ll call the old-time dances As they line up row by row I may not be in fashion, when I pick Hank Snow’s guitar But I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are

I’ll wear Charlie Chamberlain’s flannel shirt, and Harry Hibb’s old cap I’ll wear John Allen’s tartan kilt And nothing under that (whistle) In a pair of Stompin Tom’s old boots, I might not get too far But I’ll be back home in the Maritimes… Where they take you as you are