THE GOLDEN VANITY
It was the tallest ship come to the Norfolk quay
And the name of the ship was the Golden Vanity
And it sailed upon the Lowland, the Lowland, the Low,
And it sailed upon the Lowland sea.
And the owner of the ship was as proud as he could be
As he stood upon the deck in his gold and finery
There upon the Lowland, the Lowland, the Low,
He sailed upon the Lowland sea.
And the people stood and watched from the crowded thoroughfare
And among them was a maiden with sunlight in her hair
And the owner trembled sorely to see her standing there
Standing by the Lowland sea.
Said the owner to the captain, "Get you inland, I implore."
"I wish to go a sailing with that maiden on the shore."
Said the captain to the young man, "you've never sailed before,"
Sailed up on the Lowland sea.
But the captain he departed and the young man, tenderly
Called out to the maiden, "Oh won't you sail with me?"
For the sunbeams they are dancing on the bright blue sea"
Dancing the Lowland sea.
She stepped aboard the boat so fancy and so fine,
He hoisted up the mainsail and he let go the line,
So handsome at the rudder he steered her out to sea,
Out upon the Lowland sea.
The wind came up and blew them onto the rocky coast
And it broke beneath the pounding, every plank and every post
The Vanity it rolled and soon gave up the ghost
There upon the Lowland sea.
Not every lousy sailor who ventures on the sea
Is drowned for his troubles -- good news for you and me
We are sailing up on the Lowland, Lowland, Low
We're sailing on the Lowland sea.
Both lovers they were washed ashore, both soaked to the skin
And there embraced each other as the mighty waves rolled in
Farewell to the Vanity, now romance can begin
There upon the Lowland Sea.
New Lyrics ©1997 by Garrison Keillor