The Bob Zentz Songbook: (Ode to the) Schooner "Virginia"

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The Bob Zentz Songbook

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(Ode to the) Schooner "Virginia"

From Horizons

Demo

Intro: D-A-F#m-D-A-E-A

1. Between Cape Charles and Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (A-E-A-D-A)

I spied a sailing vessel, from the dawn of a younger day (D-E-A-F#m-A-D-E)

Schooner rigged and ridin’ the wind, out where the dolphins play! (A-E-A-D-E-A)

And her trailboard read "Virginia", but “what’s a schooner, anyway?” (D-E-A-F#m-A-E-A)

2. Way back, in old New England, in seventeen-thirteen (A-E-A-D-A)

A sailing craft, rigged fore and aft, for all the world was seen (D-E-A-F#m-A-D-E)

“Oh, how-she-scoons!” (someone exclaimed), “she sails so fast and free” (A-D-E-A)

Sez the builder, Andrew Robinson, “Then, a ‘scoon-er,’ let her be!” (D-E-A-F#m-A-E-A)

So here’s to the schooner "Virginia" (A-E-A)

May she skip like a stone o’er the waves (D-A)

With fair winds and a song, she goes sailin' along (D-E-A-F#m)

On the waters of Chesapeake Bay (A-E-A)

3. Now, some of ‘em "coasted" cargos, some were privateers, they say (A-E-A-D-A)

And some, they raced, with pilots, bound for ships at the mouth of the bay (D-E-A-D-E)
To navigate the sandbars and shoals, for the ports along the shore (A-E-A-F#m-D-E-A)
Men who knew every channel-marker and buoy from Norfolk to Baltimore (D-E-A-F#m-A-E-A) (chorus)

4. Out on the Elizabeth River, there comes down the ways, once again (A-E-A-D-A)
A traditional pilot schooner and "Virginia" is her name (D-E-A-D-E)
Tall ship for the Old Dominion, icon of our maritime past (A-E-A-D-A)
Filled with lessons to learn, from her stem to her stern, from the keel to the top of her masts (D-E-A-F#m-D-E-A)

(chorus) (line 3: D-A-F#m)

Instrumental:

(A-E-A-D-A)

(D-E-A-F#m-A-E)

(A-D-A)

(D-E-A-F#m-A-E-A)

5. So here’s to the wood, wind and water, here’s to the builders and crew (A-E-A-D-A)
And here’s to "Elizabeth’s Daughter," moored ‘tween the old and the new (D-E-A-F#m-A-D-E)
And here’s to ya, Schooner "Virginia," closehauled or running free (A-E-A-D-E-A)
Navigatin’ the shoals, as the future unfolds, on "fair winds and a following sea" (D-E-A-F#m-A-E-A) (chorus)

With fair winds and a song, she goes sailin' along (D-E-A-F#m)

The waters of Chesapeake Bay (A-E-A)

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