Fisherman
By Bennett Konesni
Sung here by Jeff Lewis
From our band Free Seedlings
with David Lewis on Bass
Jeff Lewis on vox/Mandolin
Bennett Konesni on guitar
I am a fisherman and I fish every day of the week
Except for Tuesdays when I let the sea rest
And I repair my nets
I live down by the beach in a small one-room house
In the shade of the palm trees
Life's not easy as silk or as coconut milk
But still I would not change
At two every morning,
I wake up and board my canoe
With my brothers
And a couple of cousins and one or two friends
We go east, to cast our nets
In the darkness that comes before dawn
And then haul them in using powerful ancient songs
That our forefathers taught us
But you are a doctor, a banker, a lawyer
All important people, I see often
But that life is not for me
I was born to fish the sea
The canoe is my cradle and my coffin
You you are a salesman, a mailman, a nurse
All your life you spend trying to outrun the black hearse
But that race is not for me
You can't cheat death, you see
So live well from your cradle to your coffin
I am a fisherman like my father and his father before
On down through the years
And if it is their wish then my kids will all fish
But the fishing's getting harder now
As the factory ships move to the coast
Such tremendous nets
Cold industrial boats without musical notes
And Still you buy their fish
'Cause you you are a banker, businessmen, bookkeepers
And all extra expenses you must cut them
But that expense you cut is me
And in turn you sell the sea
The waves that rocked my cradle eat my coffin
And you, you are a salesman, a mailman, a nurse
You work so hard you forget to live, and life becomes your curse
But that life is not for me
I enjoy work, you see
Life's a full ladle I sip from often
Oh, your life is not for me
I was born to fish the sea
The canoe is both my cradle and my coffin
~~~
I wrote this during my time working with Sooyoodi Wradi and his brothers and cousins in Nungua Beach, Ghana, learning how they sing while fishing.