Fishing Songs

[sweetwater]

Whiskey River - Willie Nelson's opening song for his shows for years and years now.

Greg Brown - Laughing River

Greg Brown - Just By Myself:
"And I'll go fishin'-- get with the flow.
I know a river in Idaho.
I'll catch a big trout and let him go,
and I'll be happy just by myself.
Hey-ay-ay-ay-ay"
(BTW, "Dream Cafe" from Greg Brown is a great album and has both of these songs on it).

Yonder Mt String Band - Follow Me Down to the Riverside. Killer breakneck bluegrass/jamgrass. Find a live version (pretty easy, check archive.org in their live music archive).

And another vote for the "Good Ol' Grateful Dead" - Breakdown Palace is one of the best songs of all time. A great jumping off point for anybody interested in learning more about this classic American band.

I'm listening to the elements when I'm in the water - the music is there if you listen for it.

[Stew McLeod]

The River - by the Boss.

[greyghost]

Sweetwater... kudos for mentioning "Dream Cafe". Greg Brown gets a lot of play time on my way to and from the river.

Pete

[Kevin J. Burnham]

How about these !!
#1 Bare naked ladies = Alcohal
#2 Uncle Tupalo = I got drunk
#3 REO Speed Wagon = Roll with the changes
#4 Shawn Mullins = Twin rocks ,Oregon
#5 Crash test dummies = Swatting flies
#6 Train = Free
#7 Willie Nelson = Milk cow blues
#8 Waren Zevon = Poor pitiful me
#9 Big head todd = Love transmision
#10 Cash = I've been everywhere

[Kalm]

Buffet is indeed a fly fisherman, and a "Pirate Looks at 40" brings out the, fisherman, tom cat, drug runner and over-all scaliwag in all of us. Plus, he's actually speaking from experience:

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all

Watched the men who rode you switch from sails to steam
And in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream

Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

I've done a bit of smugglin', I've run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last

And I have been drunk now for over two weeks
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks
But I got stop wishin', got to go fishin'
Down to rock bottom again
Just a few friends, just a few friends


I go for younger women, lived with several awhile
Though I ran 'em away, they'd come back one day
Still could manage to smile
Just takes a while, just takes a while

Mother, mother ocean, after all the years I've found
My occupational hazard being my occupation's just not around
I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown

I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown

But if you appreciate the haunting sounds of Irish Folk, then the Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues has got to be one of the more beautifully poetic songs - that also happens to have something to do with fishing - ever conceived.

I wish I was a fisherman
tumblin' on the seas
far away from dry land
and it's bitter memories
castin' out my sweet line
with abandonment and love
no ceiling bearin' down on me
save the starry sky above

with light in my head
with you in my arms...

i wish i was the brakeman
on a hurtlin fevered train
crashin head long into the heartland
like a cannon in the rain
with the feelin of the sleepers
and the burnin of the coal
countin the towns flashin by
and a night that's full of soul

with light in my head
with you in my arms...

And I know I will be loosened
from the bonds that hold me fast
and the chains all around me
will fall away at last
and on that grand and fateful day
I will take thee in my hand
I will ride on a train
I will be the fisherman

With light in my head
You in my arms...

Light in my head
You in my arms...

Light in my head
You...

With light in my head
You in my arms...

[otter]

I'm making a playlist of songs that have something to do with fishing, but I need some help. My rules are they have to have something to do with fishing, and they have to be halfway decent songs that you can listen to a bunch of times:

Here's what I got so far, in no particular order:

1- Woodie Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot- Talking Fishing Blues
2- Bruce Springsteen- The River (no fishing I know, but a place you could no doubt fish if you wanted to)
3- Otis Redding- Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (as for above #2)
4- Bob Dylan- Hurricane (he mentions trout streams)
5- The Waterboys- Fisherman's Blues
6- Tom Waits- Better off without a wife
7- Fish Man Blues- Memphis minnie
8- River's Rising- Leftover Salmon
9- Three Reels- Dordan
10- Green River- Creedence Clearwater Revival
11- Ol Man River- Paul Robeson
12- The River- PJ Harvey
13- Silverfish- Belly
14- In the Pines- Leadbelly (yeah I know, It's not about fishing... it's about camping)
15- Five feet high and rising - Johnny Cash
16 King tubby meets rockers uptown- king tubby and Augustus Pablo (there's nothing about Tubby that has anything to do with fishing except it puts me in the mood)

OK - remember you started this.

Now its your job to get all this stuff on a disc and make it available to WFF at a reasonable price, of course.

otter

[otter]

Ahh yes and just one more, from Lou Reed, with a footnote ......


Some like wine and some like hops
but what I really love is my scotch
It's the power, the power of positive drinking

Some people ruin their drinks with ice
and then they, they ask you for advice
They tell you, I've never told anyone else before

They say, Candy is dandy but liquor makes quipsters
and I don't like mixers, or sippers or sob sisters
You know, you have to be real careful where you sit down
in a bar these days

And then some people drink to unleash their libidos
and other people drink to prop up their egos
It's my burdon, man, people say
I have the kind of face you can trust

The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking
The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
the pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
the pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking

Some people say, alcohol makes you less lucid
and think that's true if you're kind of stupid
I'm not that kind that get's himself burned twice

And some say liquor kills the cells in your head
and for that matter so does getting out of bed
When I exit, I'll go out gracefully, shot in my hand

The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking
The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
the pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
the pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking


Now the footnote. My Mom, now 87 years of age, has always said "candy is dandy but liquor is quicker". Apologies to Lou, but I'll stick with my Mom's version.


otter

[wadin' boot]

OK -

Now its your job to get all this stuff on a disc...

otter

Otter- That's a lot of good stuff for just one disk.

Here's some more:
Pogues- Dirty old town
Pogues- Misty Morning Albert Bridge
The Clash- Death is a star
The Clash- Crooked Beat
The Clash- London Calling

There's some stuff that probably belongs on a different collection. Some of it would be better in "WFF Drinking Songs"

I reckon there's probably a 100:1 ratio of good drinking songs to good fishing songs, and no doubt Sloan and Porter would have "Back in Black" on both of 'em. My WFF #1 drinking song would have to be along the lines of Kevin B with Uncle Tupelo's- I got drunk (and I fell down) topping the list.

Standout crossover tunes (Fishing and Drinking) would be:
Whiskey River- Willie Nelson
Woodie Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot- Talking Fishing Blues

Coolkyle, I love your posts and insights, but I am compelled to say something, britney spears and janet jackson listened to voluntarily can kill brain cells worse than heavy alcohol use. Furthermore those songs (excepting Barry White) are the textbook PSYOPS playlist blasted out through the streets of Baghdad. And look at the madness that has come because of it?

Try rotating your dial (or internet) to the left, to KEXP 90.3- The Roadhouse (Wednesday 6-9pm) Swingin' Doors (Thursday 6-9) and Positive Vibrations (Saturday 9-12) and Preachin' the blues (Sunday 9-12) all are outstanding examples of how good commercial-free radio can be. These guys dig through the vaults to play some terrific stuff, music that they actually care about. It's a momentary setback on the drive to fish when I lose reception to the Vibrations on a Saturday morning drive up to the YAK...

[otter]

Otter- That's a lot of good stuff for just one disk.

Here's some more:
Pogues- Dirty old town
Pogues- Misty Morning Albert Bridge
The Clash- Death is a star
The Clash- Crooked Beat
The Clash- London Calling

There's some stuff that probably belongs on a different collection. Some of it would be better in "WFF Drinking Songs"

I reckon there's probably a 100:1 ratio of good drinking songs to good fishing songs, and no doubt Sloan and Porter would have "Back in Black" on both of 'em. My WFF #1 drinking song would have to be along the lines of Kevin B with Uncle Tupelo's- I got drunk (and I fell down) topping the list.

Standout crossover tunes (Fishing and Drinking) would be:
Whiskey River- Willie Nelson
Woodie Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot- Talking Fishing Blues

Coolkyle, I love your posts and insights, but I am compelled to say something, britney spears and janet jackson listened to voluntarily can kill brain cells worse than heavy alcohol use. Furthermore those songs (excepting Barry White) are the textbook PSYOPS playlist blasted out through the streets of Baghdad. And look at the madness that has come because of it?

Try rotating your dial (or internet) to the left, to KEXP 90.3- The Roadhouse (Wednesday 6-9pm) Swingin' Doors (Thursday 6-9) and Positive Vibrations (Saturday 9-12) and Preachin' the blues (Sunday 9-12) all are outstanding examples of how good commercial-free radio can be. These guys dig through the vaults to play some terrific stuff, music that they actually care about. It's a momentary setback on the drive to fish when I lose reception to the Vibrations on a Saturday morning drive up to the YAK...

Yah. Now we've got the classic fish hugger situation. Make a disc, several discs, for sale. Proceeds to go to the fish. Maybe pull in the Hoh River Trust. Who knows?

You up for unknown ground?


I could go on but tomorrow is a strong day & I need to Z.


otter

[otter]

Otter- That's a lot of good stuff for just one disk.

Here's some more:
Pogues- Dirty old town
Pogues- Misty Morning Albert Bridge
The Clash- Death is a star
The Clash- Crooked Beat
The Clash- London Calling

There's some stuff that probably belongs on a different collection. Some of it would be better in "WFF Drinking Songs"

I reckon there's probably a 100:1 ratio of good drinking songs to good fishing songs, and no doubt Sloan and Porter would have "Back in Black" on both of 'em. My WFF #1 drinking song would have to be along the lines of Kevin B with Uncle Tupelo's- I got drunk (and I fell down) topping the list.

Standout crossover tunes (Fishing and Drinking) would be:
Whiskey River- Willie Nelson
Woodie Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot- Talking Fishing Blues

Coolkyle, I love your posts and insights, but I am compelled to say something, britney spears and janet jackson listened to voluntarily can kill brain cells worse than heavy alcohol use. Furthermore those songs (excepting Barry White) are the textbook PSYOPS playlist blasted out through the streets of Baghdad. And look at the madness that has come because of it?

Try rotating your dial (or internet) to the left, to KEXP 90.3- The Roadhouse (Wednesday 6-9pm) Swingin' Doors (Thursday 6-9) and Positive Vibrations (Saturday 9-12) and Preachin' the blues (Sunday 9-12) all are outstanding examples of how good commercial-free radio can be. These guys dig through the vaults to play some terrific stuff, music that they actually care about. It's a momentary setback on the drive to fish when I lose reception to the Vibrations on a Saturday morning drive up to the YAK...

Yah. Now we've got the classic fish hugger situation. Make a disc, several discs, for sale. Proceeds to go to the fish. Maybe pull in the Hoh River Trust. Who knows?

You up for unknown ground?


I could go on but tomorrow is a strong day & I need to Z.


otter

[theworm]

For the Kings- "Hit the Road Jack" Ray Charles
For the Chums- "War Pigs" Black Sabath
For thr Humpies- "My Humps" -Black Eyed Peas
For the Silvers- "Man on the Silver Mountain" -Ronnie James Dio
For the Cutties- "The Tide is High" -Blondie
For the Bass- "Badfish" Sublime
For The Poachers "Karma Police" Radio Head
For Getting Skunked "Story Of My Life" -Social D
For the Good Days on the Lake "Lake Of Fire"" -Nirvana
For Any day of fishing "Today was a Good Day" -Ice cube




Oh and a special dedication to the "guy" at Lone Lake.
Me and my buddy quote these lyrics everytime we run into you.

Tool: Eulogy

He had a lot to say
He had a lot of nothing to say.
We'll miss him
We're gonna miss him

Standing above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud
We'll miss him
We're gonna miss him


No way
to recall
what it was that you had said to me,
like I care at alll.
But he was sooo louuud.
You sure could yell.
You took a stand on every little thing
and soooo louuuuuuuuud.

[KenaiRiverGuide]

My Ipod is always filled with techno mixes, but on the Kasilof river in June on the kill them all days we have playing on the boombox in the boat of course, Metallica- Kill them all!

[alpinetrout]

Yah. Now we've got the classic fish hugger situation. Make a disc, several discs, for sale. Proceeds to go to the fish. Maybe pull in the Hoh River Trust. Who knows?

I'm pretty sure most charities would be hesitant to accept donations that were a result of illegal music piracy. Could cause more harm than good.

[Dave Grimmer]

Greg Brown with Bill Morrissey

"Fishing with Bill"

Man what a winter,
Sorrow wide and deep.
Is it just the media industry or the whole country
That is turning into sheep?
I wanna go to a good place
With a friend of mine,
Cast our souls out in the river
And watch the whole deal shine.
Some little crick in Massachusetts, just over the hill,
Oh I, I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.

Well, Bill, I bet he is a good fly caster.
He grew up on these eastern brooks.
Me, I grew up on the midwestern cricks
Casting crappie flies for chubs and such.
But in my young imagination,
I watched a Number 20 Coachman settle down,
Sitting by the stove in that little library
Reading Roderick L. Haig Brown.
I never did fish in Vancouver. I probably never will.
I don't care. I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.

Well, it's a long and noble tradition,
Catching trout on the fly.
When you're done, with the setting of the sun,
Gonna drink a little bourbon if you're dry.
See some folks out on the river,
Cool, scientific and clean.
They look like everything just kinda stuck to them
The last time they walked through ol' L. L. Bean.
My friend, Dave, says the good fishermen are the ones who have fun and we will.
Oh I, I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.

Sittin' in a bar in Brattleboro
Thinkin' about one of his songs.
The rain was pourin' down, and I was pourin' it down,
And all I could do was hum along.
We've talked about goin' fishin' so often
At some party when the gig was done.
Well, life slips by like a little dry fly
Sliding down a deep slick run,
So let us stand steady like an old mill.
Oh I, I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.

Maybe Handsome Molly will pass by
As we cast away the hours.
Somewhere on a river somewhere far away
>From stupid people in positions of power.
Someday when we ain't folk singers
Flyin' through the friendly skies.
We won't be waiting for the big break
Or anything except the evening rise
On some spring crick in Wisconsin or maybe the Batten Kill.
Oh I, I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.
I'm goin' fishin' with Bill...um um um,
I'm goin' fishin' with Bill...yes, I am,
I'm goin' fishin' with Bill.

G: Y'know, Bill?
B: Wha? Wha?
G: I think if we just tried a little, some kinda little streamer right
over there; go ahead and cast over...
B: What d'ya got - a blasting cap?
G: See that clump of grass over there...
B: A Number 12 blasting cap...
G: ... on the other side over there?
B: Yeah, yeah I see that.
G: I have a feelin' there's about a 5 1/2 pound rainbow under one of them...
B: Ah, 6...
G: ...just waitin' for someone to come along...and catch...
B: I'll catch the fish.
G: We need to catch just one trout here, Bill...just one..
B: What? Ya hungry?
G: ...'cause I'm hungry, I don't know about you...
B: Well, I'll catch the fish.
G: I know we're both catch and release guys. I know we believe in that,
but if we caught just one trout, we could eat it, couldn't we, so we could
sustain ourselves and the beautiful spirit of the trout would become part of
us....and I'm hungry.
B: Ah, ah...
G: Well, I'm not complainin' 'bout gettin' lost today.
B: We, we weren't lost, Greg, ah...
G: We've seen a lot of parts of Massachusetts I've never seen before; it's
not that, it's...
B: ...the map was broken.
G: ...it's late and we need to catch one trout and put...
B: ...ok, ok, alright, I'll...
G: ...it on the grill if it's OK.
B: Alright.

Goin' fishin' with Bill.
Goin' fishin' with Bill.
Goin' fishin' with Bill.

[DaMurph]

i like country most but i have abuddy who is a lot younger then me who likes rap and all that other music i call crap. but when it is hot out he likes the thong song, and the one that talks about big butts but i cant remember the name of that one tho. i think those are good fishin songs because thats the kind of view that makes a hot day on the lake even better.