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Fishing Songs

25K views 115 replies 86 participants last post by  Don Freeman 
#1 ·
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)
 
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#2 ·
Fishing:
Brad Paisley - I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Fishing In The Dark

River:
Talking Heads - Take me to the river
The Doves - Caught By The River
Soggy Bottom Boys - Down To The River To Pray
The Cult - The River
Natalie Merchant - River

I'll stop there...
 
#4 ·
I usually listen to Reggae if I take the ipod out with me (which i almost never do unless I am going to spend hours upon hours upon hours in the float tube) because I am out there to mellow out and relax.

Steel Pulse
Jumbalassy
Marley
some of The Police
 
#7 ·
Here's a couple of mellow ones to consider:

Listen to the River - Luka Bloom, from Celtic Christmas II (specific mention of salmon swimming upstream)
Fishing in Morning - Dar Williams, from The Beauty of the Rain
Wade in the Water - Eva Cassidy, from Songbird (prepare to be blown away if you haven't listened to her)
The Fisherman - Leo Kotttke, from 6 and 12 String Guitar

Of course, if you like to rock (and who doesn't), there's always:

Moby Dick - Led Zeppelin, from Led Zeppelin II
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Let us know what your final playlist has on it!
 
#8 ·
Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong - Gone Fishin'
Pete Huttlinger - Catch and Release (acoustic guitar music used by ESPN for their fishing show)
Simon Fox (kinda obscure Australian fingerstyle guitarist) - The Fisherman

If I think of more I'll post them.

Jim Jones

PS - Kudos to Dan on the Eva Cassidy choice. Hmmm...I wonder if the Simon Fox song is a cover of the Kottke tune, will have to listen to them back to back.
 
#10 ·
Come on, folks.

TAJ MAHAL

"I'm a goin' fishin, all of the time,

my baby's goin' fishin, too.

Bet your wife, and my sweet life,

I catch more fish than you........................"


That's from memory and I probably slaughtered the lyrics, but its my favorite.



otter
 
#11 ·
Betcha goin' fishin' all of your time, baby's goin' fishing too
Bet your life, your sweet life, catch more fish than you
Many fish bites if ya got good bait
Here's a little tip I would like to relate

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I 'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

I went down to my favorite fishin' hole
Baby grabbed me a pole and line
Throw my pole on in
Caught a nine pound catfish
now I brought him on home for supper time

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Baby brother 'bout to run me outta my mind
Say can I go fishin' wit' you?
I took him on down to the fishin' hole
now what do you think he did do?
Pulled a great big fish outta the bottom of the pond
And he laughed and jumped 'cause he was real gone

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Put 'em in the pot baby, put 'em in the pan
Honey cook 'em till' they're nice and brown
Make a batch of buttermilk coal cakes mama
And you chew them things
And you chomp 'em on down

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Betcha goin' fishin' all of your time, baby's goin' fishing too
Bet your life, your sweet life, catch more fish than you
Many fish bites if ya got good bait
Here's a little tip I would like to relate

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too


To all -

There you go, accurate lyrics for
the fishing blues.


otter
 
#116 ·
Betcha goin' fishin' all of your time, baby's goin' fishing too
Bet your life, your sweet life, catch more fish than you
Many fish bites if ya got good bait
Here's a little tip I would like to relate

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I 'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

I went down to my favorite fishin' hole
Baby grabbed me a pole and line
Throw my pole on in
Caught a nine pound catfish
now I brought him on home for supper time

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Baby brother 'bout to run me outta my mind
Say can I go fishin' wit' you?
I took him on down to the fishin' hole
now what do you think he did do?
Pulled a great big fish outta the bottom of the pond
And he laughed and jumped 'cause he was real gone

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Put 'em in the pot baby, put 'em in the pan
Honey cook 'em till' they're nice and brown
Make a batch of buttermilk coal cakes mama
And you chew them things
And you chomp 'em on down

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

Betcha goin' fishin' all of your time, baby's goin' fishing too
Bet your life, your sweet life, catch more fish than you
Many fish bites if ya got good bait
Here's a little tip I would like to relate

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I'a goin' fishin'
Yes, I'm goin' fishin'
And my baby's goin' fishin' too

To all -

There you go, accurate lyrics for
the fishing blues.

otter
I always thought line two goes:
"Bet your life, your sweet WIFE, catch more fish than you"

"I'm a going fishin', and my baby's going fishn' too"

Add Danny O'Keefe 'Chasing Rainbows' to the list
 
#12 ·
Another one -

Summertime
And the living is easy
Fish are jumping
The cotton is high
Oh your daddys rich
Your mamas good looking
I said hush little baby
Dont you cry

One of these mornings
Youre bound to rise up singing
Then youll spread your wings
And take to the sky
But til that morning
Nothings going to harm you no
With daddy and mama standing by

Summertime
(sweet summertime)
And the living is easy
(living is easy)
Fish are jumping
The cotton is high
(sky high)
Oh your daddys rich
(your daddys rich)
And your mamas good looking
(your mamas good looking)
I said hush little baby
Dont you cry

Dont you cry
(dont you cry)
Summertime
(sweet summertime)
Summertime
(sweet summertime)
Summertime



Janis Joplin's cover of this kicks ass.


otter
 
#14 ·
Van Morrison - It Stoned Me

Half a mile from the county fair
And the rain keep pourin down
Me and billy standin there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of a fishin rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin wet
With our backs against the fence

Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Hope it dont rain all day

Chorus:
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like jelly roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin home
And it stoned me

Then the rain let up and the sun came up
And we were gettin dry
Almost let a pick-up truck nearly pass us by
So we jumped right in and the driver grinned
And he dropped us up the road
We looked at the swim and we jumped right in
Not to mention fishing poles
 
#16 ·
Not a song but a poem. Distinction without a difference. William Butler Yeats.

I WENT out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
 
#18 ·
Big Bad John (Fishstick's version)

Every morning at the lake you can see them arrive,
with their trailers and their boats and their four wheel drives.
Skimming cross the water at the break of dawn,
searchin for that legend, a fish they call Big John.

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John

Nobody seems to know where John calls home,
he a 20lb bass lake Cachuma's his home.
He's never been caught by anyone who has tried
it's been many long years but that fish still survives. Big John

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John

Along came Chris he was tough and he was mean,
he had a twenty foot fiberglass fishing machine.
Slid that boat into the water he was soon underway
yelling Big John the end is near your mine today. Big John

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John

Pulled his boat into a cove, picked up his rod and reel.
With a flick of his wrist that line started to peel.
He threw a nickle bladed spinner bait and brought it back in
then a quick as a lightning bolt cast out again for Big John.

Along came Tim in a twelve foot boat,
an aluminum garbage heap barely afloat.
He had an antique cane pole hanging on the stern
with a wire hook a bobber and a little tiny worm for Big John.

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John

Tim pulled that boat into the little cove.
Twenty feet from Chris, they were fishing toe to toe.
Chris looked down and he started to shake,
so he fired up that motor and left Tim in is wake for Big John.

Chris caught alot of bass, but none of them John.
He had an hour to go then the sun would be gone.
So he fished real hard for that hour non-stop.
Then he sat down his rod and headed for the dock without John.

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John.

When he pulled up to the dock, ole' Tim was sitting there,
in his twelve foot boat on his fishing chair.
Chris looked down and started to gasp.
On the bottom of Tims' boat, lay a twenty pound bass.....Big John.

Big John, Big John....BIG BAD JOHN.:cool:
 
#20 ·
Excellent suggestions, I have some homework to do on I-tunes. Thanks for the poetry/lyrics. The Yeats reminds me of Gerard Hopkins poems we had to rote-learn in high school: "Pied Beauty" and "the Windhover." The only lines I remember? Something about rose-moles on trout that swim. And something was dappled.

Just like Yeats, line 21 in otter's post. Yeats probably borrowed some of Hopkin's verbal thunder, excepting Yeats was thinking about how he didn't get laid and Hopkins was thinking about Jesus...

I have no doubt Yeats would also be into the master of sampling, King Tubby, not to mention Van Morrison, The Cult and Janis Joplin.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose..."

Boot
 
#21 ·
Yah one more thing ......... from the Irish


"Fish, especially trout and salmon, have a special association with holy wells. These fish living in holy wells were thought to possess both eternal life and wisdom; they were the holders of the knowledge of the gods and the Otherworld. We should remember that the fish is and was a universal symbol of the Great Goddess and was taken as a symbol of Jesus and Christianity by the early church authorities to remove a totally Pagan symbol of faith. According to Celtic tradition, fish were thought to be the spirit of a transformed human being that had been trapped in a well and turned into the magical salmon or trout—transformed to become the guardian spirit of that well throughout time. "


Remember that when you're hooked up with a native run fish.

And read, I think its called. "The Hawk's Well", again by Yeats, on matters of immortality and mortality.


otter
 
#22 ·
wadin' boot said:
Excellent suggestions, I have some homework to do on I-tunes. Thanks for the poetry/lyrics. The Yeats reminds me of Gerard Hopkins poems we had to rote-learn in high school: "Pied Beauty" and "the Windhover." The only lines I remember? Something about rose-moles on trout that swim. And something was dappled.

Just like Yeats, line 21 in otter's post. Yeats probably borrowed some of Hopkin's verbal thunder, excepting Yeats was thinking about how he didn't get laid and Hopkins was thinking about Jesus...

I have no doubt Yeats would also be into the master of sampling, King Tubby, not to mention Van Morrison, The Cult and Janis Joplin.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose..."

Boot
"Glory be to God for dappled things for skies of couple-color as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim"

There you go, bro. G.M. Hopkins hisself.

otter
 
#26 ·
Primus, dude! Les Claypool is a flyfisherman and writes some awesome fishing songs:

Ol' Diamondback Sturgeon (Fisherman's Chronicles part 3)
Fish On (Fisherman's Chronicles part 2)
The Family and the Fishing Net
John The Fisherman
Wynonna's Big Brown Beaver should be included for other reasons.......:rofl:

I'm also partial to Spinal Tap's "Break Like The Wind", an ode to my buddy Tim's fishing trip habit................:rofl:
 
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