Sailing to Philadelphia
by Mark Knopfler, copyright 2000
I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie Boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth...
He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They'd cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker's boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society...
We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line
Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forest of the Iroquois...
Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning is begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here...
We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Lyric Thursday: Sailing to Philadelphia
Not a lot of time for introductions to today's lyrics, except to say that the reason I love this song so much is that it has a basis in historical fact. Jeremiah Dixon and Charlie Mason really did come from England to the US to survey the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, thereby drawing the Mason-Dixon Line.
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2 comments:
Nice. I like it.
It's even better when you hear it sung to the music. Knopfler is the voice of Jeremiah Dixon and James Taylor does Charlie Mason. The combination is extremely aesthetically pleasing.
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