Old Maui

Sometimes mistaken for a Stan Rogers original due to his popularizing it in 1979, this song is actually a traditional forebitter from the mid-19th century; its first written appearance is in the 1858 journal of a sailor aboard the Massachusetts-based *Atkins Adams* under the title "Rolling Down to Old Mohee." The lyrics are from the point of view of a ship's crew finishing a season of whaling in the northern Pacific and looking forward to a stop in Hawaii, possibly on the way back to the United States or Europe. The tune may be a variant on an 18th century song called "Miller of Dee" (also the origin of the tune for Lowlands Low).

This song appears as the sixth track on Written in Salt, and is one of the Longest Johns' more frequently sung songs.

## Factoids

Due to its central location, Hawaii was a major resupplying point for American and European whalers bound for the northern Pacific. The whaling industry became the mainstay of Hawaii's economy throughout the mid-19th century, with several hundred ships per season stopping there at the industry's peak in the 1840s-50s.

The islands' tropical location and remoteness from both the toil of whaling and the responsibilities of home and family also lent them a certain reputation among sailors. One historian wrote,

> "Cape Horn," the whorehouse district [of Honolulu], was so named because of the truism that the whalemen hung their consciences on the Horn on the voyage out and picked them up again on the way home. The district was known all over the world for its riotous debauches, and the whalemen accordingly felt called upon to go on their wildest sprees in Honolulu."
>
>

**Kamchatka Sea** likely refers to either the Sea of Okhotsk, which lies between the eastern Russian mainland and the Kamchatka peninsula, or the Bering Sea, lying east of the Kamchatka peninsula and separating Russia from North America; both were popular whaling destinations.

**Sprung** in reference to a wooden object, such as the mast of a ship, means "cracked".

**Stun'sl** is short for "studding sail", an extra sail on a square rigged vessel used in fair weather when there wasn't much wind. **Bones** in this line appears to originally have been "booms", which were wooden rods used to hold the sails. Some sources claim "bones" was sailors' slang at the time for booms and/or spars, but there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support this theory.

## Lyrics

These lyrics are based on the version performed by the Longest Johns on their album, Written in Salt. The 1858 lyrics (among other versions) can be found here.

>
> It's a damned tough life, full of toil and strife
>
> We whalermen undergo
>
> And we won't give a damn when the gales are done
>
> How hard the winds did blow
>
> For we're homeward bound from the Arctic grounds
>
> With a good ship taut and free
>
> And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum
>
> With the girls of old Maui
>
>
>
> Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
>
> Rolling down to old Maui
>
> We're homeward bound from the arctic grounds
>
> Rolling down to old Maui
>
>
>
> Once more we sail with the northerly gales
>
> Through the ice and wind and rain
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> Them coconut fronds, them tropical shores
>
> We soon shall see again
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> For six hellish months we've passed away
>
> On the cold Kamchatka sea
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> But now we're bound from the arctic grounds
>
> Rolling down to old Maui
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> Once more we sail with the northerly gales
>
> Towards our island home
>
> Our whaling done, our mainmast sprung
>
> And we ain't got far to roam
>
> Our stuns'l bones is carried away
>
> What care we for that sound?
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> A living gale is after us
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> Thank God we're homeward bound!
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> How soft the breeze of the island trees
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> Now the ice is far astern
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> Them native maids, them tropical glades
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> Is awaiting our return
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> Even now their big brown eyes look out
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> Hoping some fine day to see
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> Our baggy sails running 'fore the gales
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> Rolling down to old Maui
>
>
>
>
> {Chorus 2x}
>
>
>
>

## Recordings

#### Streaming/Purchase

* Amazon Music
* Apple Music/iTunes
* Bandcamp
* Deezer
* Pandora
* Spotify

#### YouTube Videos

* Music Video
* Written in Salt version
* Shanty Surprise | Open Crewsing in Sea of Thieves

#### Full Band Streams

* The Longest Johns, Album Launch gig/party (19 Jun 2018)
* The Longest Johns and Friends, El Pony Pisador! (12 Aug 2018)
* The Longest Johns Impromptu Singing Stream! (17 Nov 2018)
* The Longest Johns Singing Stream from Newcastle (+special guests) (8 Dec 2018)
* The Longest Johns and Friends, February Edition (New donation system)
* Singing Live Stream and Special Announcement... (7 Aug 2019)
* The Longest Johns In Quarantine (after failed intro + love to @El Pony Pisador ) (18 Mar 2020)
* Boulevard of Broken Streams (17 Feb 2021)
* All Aboard the Stream Locomotive (2 Jun 2021)
* Be Stream And Not Heard (6 Oct 2021)
* THE SING ALONG! JINGLE JAM 2021 - DAY 6! w/ The Longest Johns (9 Dec 2021)
* Stream me up Scotty! (23 Aug 2022)
* Streamship Troopers (15 Mar 2023)
* JINGLE JAM DAY 8! The Longest Johns Live Jingle Jam Concert (8 Dec 2023)

#### Chill Streams

* Roll on up to Chilltown with Andy and JD (30 Mar 2020)

#### Gaming Streams

* The Longest Johns Play Sea of Thieves but the servers die and we sing anyway (30 Mar 2018)
* Adventures on the Sea of Thieves with Andy and JD
* Ocean of Larcenists! - Sailing & Singing with Jd, Andy & Dave
* Sail and Sing! Sea of Thieves Stream - 18/05/2020
* Sail & Sing! Lets get damp and sing shanties! - 08/06/2020
* GHOST SHIP! And some singing I guess... - 19/06/2020
* Sea of Sings (and probably thieves) - 26/06/2020
* Sea of Sings on a Friday evening, oh what a salty sight to sea - 03/07/2020
* Sea of Sings! Let's get boaty! - 20/07/2020
* Boat! Boat! Boat! Boat! Boat! - 21/08/2020
* Sing! Sail! Support friends! - 18/09/2020
* Yarr harr fiddley dee and all that. Sea of Sings! - 28/09/2020
* SHANT! - 02/10/2020
* Singing you say? On the sea you say? Sea of Sings! - 12/10/2020
* Sea of Sings! Yarr and all that... - 16/10/2020
* Sailing, Wailing and Failing with Captain Falcore! - 19/10/2020
* DROPS! Sea of Sings! with BehavingBeardly! SHANT! - 30/10/2020
* Sea of Sings! with Captain\_Falcore! SHANT! - 2/11/2020
* Sea of Sings! - 13/11/2020
* Full Friendship followed by Battle Royale! - 23/11/2020
* Sea of Joviality with KroTukk and KHARITES\_ - 28/11/2020
* Welcome to the Shantdome! - 4/12/2020
* Let's do a sing and get in the sea !drops - 11/12/2020
* Let's get splashy - 14/12/2020
* Jingle Drops Jingle Drops - 15/12/2020
* Sea of Sings, ye scurvy dogs! | - 4/01/2021
* Get in the sea! it's Sea of Sings! | - 6/01/2021
* Game Dev stream! Yarrs for everyone! - 05/02/2021
* Sea of Sings with Teachcourage and TheSneakyBeagle - 09/02/2021
* Sea of Sings LIVE | The Longest Johns Sea of Thieves Stream (31 Mar 2021)
* Giveaway giveaways - Let's get in the sea - 01/03/2021
* Give it away, give it away, give it away now! | Sea of Sings - 15/03/2021
* Giveaway Giveaways on the Waves! - 12/04/2021
* Let's get in the sea and do a music! - 14/05/2021
* Sing what you want 'cause a streamer is free, You Are A Streamer! - 02/08/2021
* \*\*Insert Stream Title Here\*\* - Sea of Sings with SneakyBeagle - 30/08/2021
* Ah For Just One Time, I would Sing and Sail in Sea of Thieves! - 23/08/2021
* Set feet, Kro! Set feet, Kro! Set feet, Kro! Set feet, Kro! - 03/09/2021
* Splashy splashy! Sea of Sings with Freyline - 11/10/2021
* SING OF THIEVES! JINGLE JAM 2021 - DAY 14! - THE LONGEST JOHNS (17 Dec 2021)
* We're back! Lily-livered land-lubbers beware! with Kharites\_ & Krotukk! - 04/02/2022
* Two SoT streams in one week?!? What is this, 2020? - 01/04/2022

1. ↑ https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/rollingdowntooldmaui.html
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling\_Down\_to\_Old\_Maui#Origin
3. ↑ https://keolamagazine.com/ocean/a-brief-history-of-whales-in-hawaii/
4. ↑ https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/SWMS027.html
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling\_in\_the\_Sea\_of\_Okhotsk
6. ↑ https://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/essays\_moore.html
7. ↑ "sprung, adj.1 (and int.)." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/187892. Accessed 29 August 2022.
8. ↑ https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94585#1833760