This story grew from the title, which was provided by Cathryn Beeks’ The Game. The video runs over an edited version of Disney’s classic Steamboat Willie, where the world first met Mickey Mouse. The percussion is done on stuff I made from scrap bamboo. It was fun layering on the final vocals with Ramona, especially when I realized I could make “Drunken Sailor” fit.

Instruments: guitar, bass, guiro, harmonica

Do you ever get the feeling your world is on a slant
You try and stand on your two own feet and realize you can’t
I woke up on my little boat expecting it to be afloat
And found it was sitting sideways in the sand

Oh no the tide is low
Stuck in the mud the boat won’t go
Give me three feet of water and one good shove
And I’ll be gone like castaway love

I sailed up this creek mouth yesterday about half past one
My woman had just cut me loose left me all undone
Ran into my friends and before too long we were drinking and singing songs
But today I’m singing a different tune

Singing, Oh no the tide is low
Stuck in the mud the boat won’t go
Give me three feet of water and one good shove
And I’ll be gone like castaway love

We name our boats for women you know the reason why
Some days they leave you laughing some days they make you cry
You can paint and polish and scrape and scrub but still you’ve got a leaky tub
she’ll let you down as surely as the tide

Singing, Oh no the tide is low
Stuck in the mud the boat won’t go
Give me three feet of water and one good shove
And I’ll be gone like castaway love

Me oh me oh my, Up the creek high and dry