The Battle Of Lake Travis

The events in Texas over the weekend inspired me to do something I never thought I would do - write a sea shanty

https://soundcloud.com/themysteriousbeings/the-battle-of-lake-travis/s-cx8NbnenSMv

THE BATTLE OF LAKE TRAVIS

VERSE 1
In the year of 2020
We drove down to Lake Travis
Told the folks in the boats for the Trump parade
We'd like to join if they'd have us
They said, "Just line up behind boys
Welcome aboard shipmates
At half past three, we put to sea
To keep America great"

CHORUS 1
Splice the mainbrace, hoist the flag
Shiver me timbers me hearty
Earl's pontoon boat was soon afloat
And we were ready to party
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
And a case of Miller Lite
Jolly Jack Tars on the reservoir
Ready to fight for our rights

VERSE 2
Earl got a tweet about a liberal fleet
Commanded by Captain Soros
Packed to the gunnels with masked men
And women, heading straight for us
It was maybe the grog, or maybe the fog
Of war, but Earl broke formation
Glory bound, he turned the boat around
And sped off to save the nation

CHORUS 2
Splice the mainbrace, hoist the flag
Shiver me timbers me hearty
Others in our fleet had got the same tweet
And they joined in our war party
Through his telescope, Earl saw a boat
He cried, Bandits at 10 o'clock
Set course for the foe, crying, "Thar she blows,"
And ran right into a rock

VERSE 3
As we sank below the surface, the air was filled with curses
Coming from the patriots' throats
The wake he left behind, when we left the line
Was sinking all their boats
But Earl didn't hear, his mind was on the beer
For Davy Jones' locker bound
He dove beneath the waves, but he couldn't save
The treasure, and he almost drowned

MUSICAL BREAK

BRIDGE
Now Earl's an American hero
He went down with flags still flying
He couldn't save the beer
But he came close to dying, trying

CHORUS 3
Splice the mainbrace, hoist the flag
Shiver me timbers me hearty
We might not know how to keep a boat afloat
But we sure know how to party
That boat that Earl was after turned out to be the cops
Thank God that rock was in the way
Too helpless with laughter to clap us in irons
So we live to fight another day

CODA
Splice the mainbrace, hoist the flag
Shiver me timbers me hearty
At the Battle of Lake Travis
In the year of 2020.

I have no idea what this is about.

It featured heavily in the news, at least the mainstream media.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...trump-parade-on-texas-lake-idUSKBN25X00S

It takes a fantastic imagination to write a lyric and melody about a current event, Gavin:

My daughter and her husband's ranch reaches all the way to Lake Travis which is one section of the Colorado River among many reservoirs near Marble Falls. Kudos for your quick wit and ability to react so rapidly. I kept wondering why so many of the flotilla began sinking... and finally came to the conclusion that someone had unscrewed all the drain plugs in each boat... and the owner(s) forgot to follow a checklist before launch. LOL!

Thanks for sharing. ----Dave

Hi Gavin,
A neat song, well done. Just shows how many are in support of the president, and drinking and boating don't mix. LOL! For the content, almost as funny as an antifa/blm member shooting another or another one setting a cohort on fire with his Molotov Cocktail.

I assume this is about a local event.
Sounds like fun but I hope social distancing was observed. :-)

Vic

Gavin

I think that you were too kind to the Flotilla that could not stay afloat.
No where in your lyrics are the words "idiots" or "morons."

It is disturbing that I will vote for the same candidate as these particular "captains," but the only alternative choice is to vote for the candidates of looters. To my view...not being able to keep your boat afloat in a relatively small lake is not as bad as burning a police station and calling for the police to be fired.

It is a very strange year.

Marty

Ps...can you do a song about looters who burn police stations? I think that it would expand your artistry.

Glad you enjoyed it, Dave. Funnily enough, when I was doing my rigorous, in-depth research for the song, I came across websites alleging that it had to be sabotage by Democrats in general/the Biden campaign/Antifa - take your pick.. I almost feel like setting up a website myself and spinning a web of conspiracy theories about the incident and seeing what other websites pick it up. If I had time, I would

Thanks John. I have to disagree with you about people shooting each other or setting each other on fire. There's a similar irony there, but it's hard to be funny when people get hurt. I had the idea that there was a funny song in the Lake Travis thing as soon as I heard about it, but didn't start writing until I knew nobody had been injured.

Local to the United States, although it was picked up by international media because of the humorous irony. I very much doubt that there was much social distancing involved. There have been similar parades on the reservoir a few miles from me, and there wasn't much social distancing there.

Sorry for the delay in responding, Marty. I find it's a lot more fun to write in the voice of the idiots than to call them that, LOL. It would be a lot harder to do a funny song about looters or rioters. There's nothing inherently funny in that kind of criminal behavior. This kind of humor relies on a kind of innocent naivite on the part of the "heroes." I suppose you could imagine a guy going looting with a shopping list from his wife and getting into trouble when he comes home with the wrong kind of TV.

First of all, any song with a good banjo player gets an A. Plus a good fiddle, gets an A+.

Clever and fun song.

Thanks for listening and commenting, Songbird. Yes, I love a good banjo I have also had a bit of fun with the picture I used at my website to go with the heroic tone of the song..

Gavin,

A clever write and entertaining performance . . . though I confess I’m a little worn out with all things remotely political. Didn’t stop me from admiring the artistry nonetheless. Nicely done!

All my best,

Deej

Totally get the politics fatigue, Deej! Political subjects only appeal to me when they can be treated with humor.