From the recording The Gulf
This is a song I wrote about my father and about our mostly non-existent relationship. He was the first mate on a boat that delivered supplies to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, staying at sea for weeks at a time. Since alcohol was not allowed on the boat, it was a job he could keep, and did keep for several decades. He died in October of 2024. I never played the song for him or told him that I’d written it. My father requested to be buried with his pistol, saying he didn’t know what he’d meet up with on the other side. I don’t know what he met up with either, but I hope that he can hear the music wherever he is. -Brandy
Lyrics
Good job for a drinker
Working out on the Gulf
No matter how drunk you came
You’d soon enough sober up
Push off from the land
With big strong calloused hands
Seagulls flying high
And regrets by and by
That water’s where you gotta be
It feels like living wild and free
The tide comes in like memory
It goes past what the eye can see
Like the gulf between you and me
The money’d all be gone
When you showed up at the dock
Barely had the gas
To get back on the clock
Staring out to sea
With eyes of hazel green
Your face turned to the sun
But your thoughts on what you done
That water’s where you gotta be
It feels like living wild and free
The tide comes in like memory
It goes past what the eye can see
Like the gulf between you and me
Who’d you leave back home
You sun-tanned sailor man
Are you trying to forget
As much as you can?
Who’s in your mind
When you’re looking at the waves
How many bottles
Will it take to be brave?
That water’s where you gotta be
It feels like living wild and free
The tide comes in like memory
It goes past what the eye can see
Like the gulf between you and me
Ooooh
That water’s where you gotta be
It feels like living wild and free
The tide comes in like memory
It goes past what the eye can see
Like the gulf between you and me