The Strange Tale of Captain Shannon and the Hunchback From Gigha Songtext
von Bread, Love and Dreams

Behind the shattered corners
In the dawning of our years
We played among our memories
Of happiness and tears.
We walked along the seafront
Two children hand-in-hand
And if you believed in magic
Then you lived in a magic land.

From lemonade and seaweed
And driftwood floating by
We built sand castle empires
That reached up to the sky
And left our bankrupt foot prints
To be taken by the tide
And laughed inside our innocence
As the world passed by our side.


We gazed along the coastline
From the top of Bluebell Hill.
The buttercups and dandelions
Were pulled against their will
The trembling woods behind us
Held their dark secrets too
Where nettles sting
And the butterflies wing
And banks of wild flower bloom.

And the bells on Sunday morning
Rang far across the sea
And salty sea birds sang their songs
About eternity
And the ocean muttered something
No man could understand
For he who solves a paraphrase
Of powers at his command.

In the corner of the garden
Where the rhododendrons grew
There lived a Captain Shannon
Whom everybody knew
His life he spent on sailing ships
From the Azores down to the Horn
He danced the rhythm of the waves
Since the day that he was born.


He used to take us on his knee
And smoke his pipe of clay
And speak of storms and hurricanes
And San Francisco Bay
He spoke of wars and earthquakes
That have torn the world apart
How little children laughed and died
With each beat of your heart.

One day, a wounded sea bird
Came to rest upon the sand
His wings had ceased to function
And were dry with oil and sand
A gentle dog had sensed him
As the wind blew from the South
And fetched the lump of lifelessness
Hold safely in his mouth.

In the stroke of every hour
The oily bird was bathed
For Captain Shannon saw the bird
And knew he could be saved
In a few days, he became quite well
And quickly learned to fly
Flew off towards the sunset
And left us wondering why.

And we prayed there every morning
My tiny friend and I
Looking out across the ocean
Beneath the clear blue sky
Where the telescopic irons
Are half hidden in the mist
They broke the dim horizon
Where the sea and heaven kissed.

There was an old man from the irons
Who hobbled with a stoop
He ate small boys for breakfast
Who did not eat their soup.
I′ll carry you in a row boat
To an island called Gigha
And if you weren't too polite
You ne′er be seen again.

The old hunchback lived all alone
In a cave down by the sea
And stocked his fish-box kitchen
With fools like you and me
He wore one golden earring
And grew seaweed in his hair
Though no man had ever seen him
We all knew he lived there.

He had a dog called Seafus
Who would bite you if he could
Though you would never come to harm
If the life you led was good.

Now, he might have been a walrus
Or he might have been a seal
Though most times he looked just like a dog
Though not a dog for real.

One, night while Captain Shannon
Was alone beside beer
He heard the hunchback calling him
And knew not any fear
For he was proud to be alive
Of his three score years and ten
With twice the guile and twice the strength
Of ordinary men

"I do not fear ye hunchback!"
Was the captain's brave reply
"I am a bold seafaring man
And not afraid to die!"

But the dog had sniffed the ocean
From the sea man's salty skin
And lead him to the water′s edge
As the tide came pounding in.

And we hid beneath the blankets
As the storm raged all night long
And once or twice we thought we heard
The hunchback′s mournful song
But we were children freshly launched
Upon the seas of life
And news of Captain Shannon's death
Cut deeply like a knife

What happened on the beach that night
Is never been quite clear
For no one heard his helpless cries
Or saw him disappear

But we all knew who had been there
Was as plain as it could be
By his usual trail of seaweed
Down the beach and out to sea

And the bells on Sunday morning
Rang far across the sea
And salty sea birds sang their songs
About eternity
And the ocean muttered something
No man could understand
For he who solves a paraphrase
Of powers at his command.

Behind the shattered corners
In the dawning of our years
We played among our memories
Of happiness and tears.
We walked along the seafront
Two children hand-in-hand
And if you believed in magic
Then you lived in a magic land.

From lemonade and seaweed
And driftwood floating by
We built sand castle empires
That reached up to the sky
And left our bankrupt foot prints
To be taken by the tide
And laughed inside our innocence
As the world passed by our side.

We gazed along the coastline
From the top of Bluebell Hill.
The buttercups and dandelions
Were pulled against their will
The trembling woods behind us
Held their dark secrets too
Where nettles sting
And the butterflies wing
And banks of wild flower bloom.

And the bells on Sunday morning
Rang far across the sea
And salty sea birds sang their songs
About eternity
And the ocean muttered something
No man could understand
For he who solves a paraphrase
Of powers at his command.

In the corner of the garden
Where the rhododendrons grew
There lived a Captain Shannon
Whom everybody knew
His life he spent on sailing ships
From the Azores down to the Horn
He danced the rhythm of the waves
Since the day that he was born.

He used to take us on his knee
And smoke his pipe of clay
And speak of storms and hurricanes
And San Francisco Bay
He spoke of wars and earthquakes
That have torn the world apart
How little children laughed and died
With each beat of your heart.

One day, a wounded sea bird
Came to rest upon the sand
His wings had ceased to function
And were dry with oil and sand
A gentle dog had sensed him
As the wind blew from the South
And fetched the lump of lifelessness
Hold safely in his mouth.

In the stroke of every hour
The oily bird was bathed
For Captain Shannon saw the bird
And knew he could be saved
In a few days, he became quite well
And quickly learned to fly
Flew off towards the sunset
And left us wondering why.

And we prayed there every morning
My tiny friend and I
Looking out across the ocean
Beneath the clear blue sky
Where the telescopic irons
Are half hidden in the mist
They broke the dim horizon
Where the sea and heaven kissed.

There was an old man from the irons
Who hobbled with a stoop
He ate small boys for breakfast
Who did not eat their soup.
I′ll carry you in a row boat
To an island called Gigha
And if you weren't too polite
You ne′er be seen again.

The old hunchback lived all alone
In a cave down by the sea
And stocked his fish-box kitchen
With fools like you and me
He wore one golden earring
And grew seaweed in his hair
Though no man had ever seen him
We all knew he lived there.

He had a dog called Seafus
Who would bite you if he could
Though you would never come to harm
If the life you led was good.

Now, he might have been a walrus
Or he might have been a seal
Though most times he looked just like a dog
Though not a dog for real.

One, night while Captain Shannon
Was alone beside beer
He heard the hunchback calling him
And knew not any fear
For he was proud to be alive
Of his three score years and ten
With twice the guile and twice the strength
Of ordinary men.

"I do not fear ye hunchback!"
Was the captain's brave reply
"I am a bold seafaring man
And not afraid to die!"

But the dog had sniffed the ocean
From the sea man′s salty skin
And lead him to the water's edge
As the tide came pounding in.

And we hid beneath the blankets
As the storm raged all night long
And once or twice we thought we heard
The hunchback's mournful song
But we were children freshly launched
Upon the seas of life
And news of Captain Shannon′s death
Cut deeply like a knife

What happened on the beach that night
Is never been quite clear
For no one heard his helpless cries
Or saw him disappear

But we all knew who had been there
Was as plain as it could be
By his usual trail of seaweed
Down the beach and out to sea

And the bells on Sunday morning
Rang far across the sea
And salty sea birds sang their songs
About eternity
And the ocean muttered something
No man could understand
For he who solves a paraphrase
Of powers at his command.