American Folk Songs & Ballads

The Erie Canal

The American Folk Experience

The Erie Canal

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She’s a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

We haul’d some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal and hay
We know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we’re comin’ to a town
And you’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

We’d better look around for a job, old gal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
You can bet your life I’ll never part with Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

Get up mule, here comes a lock
We’ll make Rome ’bout six o’clock
One more trip and back we’ll go
Right back home to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we’re comin’ to a town
You’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

Where would I be if I lost my pal?
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
I’d like to see a mule good as my Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

A friend of mine once got her sore
Now he’s got a broken jaw
‘Cause she let fly with an iron toe
And kicked him back to Wisconsin

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, ’cause we’re comin’ to a town
You’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If ya ever navigated on the euphrates canal

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we’re comin’ to a town
You’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If ya ever made a livin’ on the Erie Canal

(Low bridge, everybody down)
(Low bridge, we’re comin’ to a town)

Original Version: 1905 Thomas Allen 

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share their research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite their work accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  Thanks!

Source: Wikipedia

"Low Bridge, Everybody Down"
Cover of sheet music published in 1913.
Original publication of "Low Bridge, Everybody Down"
Also known as
  • "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal"
  • "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal"
  • "Erie Canal Song"
  • "Mule Named Sal"
LyricsThomas S. Allen, 1913
MusicThomas S. Allen, 1913
Audio sample
"Low Bridge! Everybody Down" (Original piano accompaniment for the song by Thomas S. Allen. From the 1913 sheet music. Performed by Steven M. Alper.)

"Low Bridge, Everybody Down" is a folk song credited to Thomas S. Allen (although its origin and authorship remain in question[1]), first recorded in 1912,[2] and published by F.B. Haviland Publishing Company in 1913.[3] It was written after the construction of the New York State Barge Canal, which would replace the Erie Canal, was well underway, furthering the change from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic. Also known as "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal", "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal", "Erie Canal Song", "Erie Barge Canal", and "Mule Named Sal", the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State.

The music cover published in 1913 depicts a boy on a mule getting down to pass under a bridge, but the reference to "low bridge" in the song refers to travelers who would typically ride on top of the boats. The low bridges would require them to get down out of the way to allow safe passage under a bridge.[4]

Recordings

Early 20th-century recordings of the song include ones by Billy Murray, Vernon Dalhart, and Jack Nerz. The song has become part of the folk repertoire, recorded by folksingers like Glenn Yarborough, Pete Seeger and the Weavers, The Kingston Trio, the children's series VeggieTales, and artists like the Sons of the Pioneers. Dan Zanes included it on a children's album with Suzanne Vega singing lead. Bruce Springsteen recorded the song on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The cartoon series Animanics parodied "Low Bridge" with their song about the Panama Canal. The lyrics are also the text of the book The Erie Canal (1970), illustrated by Peter Spier.

Lyrics

These are the lyrics as they were originally published by Thomas Allen in 1913:

I've got an old mule, and her name is Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
We've hauled some barges in our day, filled with lumber, coal and hay.
And every inch of the way I know, From Albany to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, we must be getting near a town.
You can always tell your neighbor; you can always tell your pal.
If he's ever navigated on the Erie Canal

We’d better look 'round for a job old gal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
You bet your life I wouldn’t part with Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Giddyap there gal we’ve passed that lock, we’ll make Rome 'fore six o-clock
So one more trip and then we’ll go, Right straight back to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, I've got the finest mule in town
Once a man named Mike McGinty tried to put it over Sal
Now he’s way down at the bottom of the Erie Canal

Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal? Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Oh, I'd like to see a mule as good as Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
A friend of mine once got her sore, Now, he's got a broken jaw.
Cause she let fly with her iron toe and kicked him into Buffalo.

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, I’ve got the finest mule in town.
If you're looking 'round for trouble, better stay away from Sal.
She's the only fighting donkey on the Erie Canal

I don't have to call when I want my Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She trots from her stall like a good old gal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
I eat my meals with Sal each day, I eat beef and she eat hay.
She isn’t so slow if you want to know, she put the "Buff" in Buffalo

Chorus: Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, I’ve got the finest mule in town
Eats a bale of hay for dinner, and on top of that, my Sal.
Tries to drink up all the water in the Erie Canal

You'll soon hear them sing everything about my gal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
It's a darned fool ditty 'bout my darned fool Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Oh, every band will play it soon, Darned fool words and darned fool tune!
You’ll hear it sung everywhere you go, from Mexico to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, I've got the finest mule in town.
She's a perfect, perfect lady, and she blushes like a gal.
If she hears you sing about her and the Erie Canal.[1]

Variations

As with most folk songs, the lyrics have changed over time. The most obvious changes from Thomas Allen's original publication has been changing the word "years" to "miles". Allen's original version commemorates 15 years of working along the canal with Sal. The new version using the word miles refers to the average distance a mule would tow a barge before resting or being relieved by another mule. Dave Ruch's research on this change has been documented in an extensive article.[1]

Another common change is in the second verse. The current line "Git up there mule, here comes a lock" is a change from the original line "Get up there gal, we've passed that lock". The original refers to how mules would rest while waiting for barges to lock through, and then need to be instructed when to start again. The current implies speeding up when a lock is within sight—not a standard course of action.

Alternate lyrics

I've got a mule, and her name is Sal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

We hauled some barges in our day.
Filled with lumber, coal and hay.
We know every inch of the way I know.
From Albany to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we're comin' to a town.
And you'll always know your neighbor.
And you'll always know your pal.
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

We'd better look around for a job, old gal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
You can bet your life I'll never part with Sal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

Get up mule, here comes a lock.
We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock.
One more trip and back we'll go.
Right back home to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we're comin' to a town.
You'll always know your neighbor.
And you'll always know your pal.
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

Where would I be if I lost my pal?
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
I'd like to see a mule good as my Sal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

A friend of mine once got her sore.
Now he's got a broken jaw.
Cause she let fly with an iron toe.
And kicked him back to Buffalo.

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, cause we're comin' to a town.
You'll always know your neighbor.
And you'll always know your pal.
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we're comin' to a town.
You'll always know your neighbor.
And you'll always know your pal.
If ya ever made a livin' on the Erie Canal

(Low bridge, everybody down)
(Low bridge, we're comin' to a town)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Erie Canal Song - Lyrics, Music, History, and more". 26 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Low bridge! Everybody down!". Library of Congress.
  3. ^ "Low bridge!-everybody down, or, fifteen years on the Erie Canal".
  4. ^ "Home". eriecanalsong.com.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Bridge_(song)

Source: Daveruch.com

Low Bridge, Everybody Down: Origins and History

Originally written sometime between 1905-1912, “Low Bridge! – Everybody Down” (subtitled “Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal”) was composed by Thomas S. Allen (1876-1919) of Natick, Massachusetts.

The song was copyrighted by F.B. Haviland Publishing Company in manuscript form in November of 1912, appearing in sheet music form early the following year (© Jan. 11, 1913; 2 c. Jan. 13, 1913: E 301302).

Thomas S Allen, 15 Miles on the Erie CanalThomas S. Allen was a musical jack-of-all trades, working at various stages of his career (and often simultaneously) as an orchestral violinist, “trick” violinist for burlesque and vaudeville shows, music director for theaters and traveling shows, and composer of songs for the vaudeville stage as well as rags, marches, waltzes, and other items for popular and commercial use.

The year “Low Bridge!” was first registered (1912), it was just one of nine songs copyrighted in Thomas S. Allen’s name.

 

Early Timeline and Changes

1905  The song is often cited as having been composed in this year, although Allen himself says it wasn’t until he saw the canal at Rochester that he wrote it

1911  Thomas S. Allen moves from Boston MA to Rochester NY for a job furnishing orchestras to the leading hotels and theaters – it’s likely that the song is composed around this time (see text from the record slip below)

1912  The song is copyrighted in manuscript form on November 18

1912  Billy Murray makes the first commercial recording of the song (Victor 17250) in Camden NJ on November 18, the same date it’s copyrighted (video below)

1912  The Peerless Quartet(te) records the song for Columbia Records (Columbia A-1296) on December 6; the same recording is released under pseudonyms on several other labels including United (A-1296) by “Quartette”, Aretino (D-750) by “Vocal Quartette,” Standard (A-1296), and Harmony (A-1296) by “The Harmony Male Quartette” (audio below)

1913  The song is copyrighted in sheet music form on Janurary 11 and again on January 13

1913  Edward Meeker records the song on Edison Blue Amberol 1761 (audio below)

1913  Allen, a Massachusetts native, is working at least part-time in Rochester NY, and has been coming (or living) there for at least a few years

map of erie canal in article about the song1924  Henry A. J. Castor of Albany NY writes to song collector and newspaper columnist R.W. Gordon with the first verse and chorus of the song, using “16 years” in place of “15 years” and saying it was “occasionally sung at Canal Meetings in this state and was for a great many years the prime favorite with canal drivers.” Gordon responds by saying “Your enclosure interests me greatly; I have a number of canal songs which have come in from various sailors, but none at all like this.”

1925  R.W. Gordon, still unaware of Allen’s published composition, receives another handwritten copy of the song from a reader (verses 1, 2, and 5 only), and replies “Certain things about it make me fairly certain that it originated on the vaudeville stage rather than on the canal, and that it is not very old.” 

1926  The song appears in print with “15 miles” in place of “15 years” for the first time, in Sigmund Spaeth’s book ‘Read ‘em and Weep.’ Spaeth claimed two sources for the song – journalist and author George Chappell (“Captain Traprock,” Spaeth called him), and Mike Ross, who worked at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City

1927  Carl Sandburg published the song in his book ‘The American Songbag’, also from George S. Chappell (whom he called “Dr. Traprock”)

1928  F.B. Haviland sues Doubleday, Page and Company for publishing the song in ‘Read ’em and Weep’ without permission; Doubleday counters that the song has been in circulation long before Haviland’s copyright date (see image below)

1929  Vernon Dalhart records the song electronically (Columbia 15378-D) on January 16, and acoustically (Harmony 831-H, Velvet Tone, Viva labels) under the pseudonym Mack Allen on January 21

1929  Frank Crumit makes an unreleased recording of the song for the Victor label on January 25

1934  John and Alan Lomax publish the song in ‘American Ballads and Folk Songs,’ as collected from Rev. Charles A. Richmond of Washington DC

Did Allen really write the song?

We think so; he’s quoted in the original record slip for Edward Meeker’s 1913 recording as follows:

Erie Canal Song - lyrics, sheet music, history

Thanks to Bill Hullfish for uncovering this reference.

However, a 1928 Music Trade Review article gives some reason to believe that the song may have been in use prior to 1912, and perhaps even before Allen’s 1905 composition date:

Erie Canal Folk Song history

Music Trade Review, June 23, 1928

Did Thomas S. Allen really compose “Low Bridge,” a song that is thematically unlike any others in his stable? Or, did he appropriate some lyrics and a theme that were already in use on the canal, embellish them, and simply claim them as his own as so many others have done through the years?

This is a question I am actively pursuing. There could be some revealing information in Haviland’s or Doubleday’s 1928 files and/or court records. (Can you help track these things down? Please email me at dave “at” daveruch “dot” com if so.)

Is “Low Bridge Everybody Down” a folk song?

One of the hallmarks of “folk” or “traditional” songs is that they don’t rely on commercial distribution to circulate. As such, they can – and do – take on a life of their own, changing as they’re passed from person to person and community to community.

oral tradition folk songs passing from person to personIf we’re using that definition, then “Low Bridge! – Everybody Down” has certainly become a folk song in spite of its origins as a published composition by a professional songwriter. Most people now sing “15 Miles” in place of “15 Years.” Others learned it as “16 Miles,” or “16 Years.” Some sing two verses, some know three. Sometimes (thanks to the Kingston Trio, among others) the melody and verses vary almost completely from the original composition.

I’d call that a folk song.

Source: Eriecanalsong.com

  • Erie Canal Song by Thomas S. Allen

    The Erie Canal Song, as it is commonly known by today, was written in 1905 under the title Low Bridge, Everybody Down about life on the Erie Canal. In addition to the The Erie Canal Song and Low Bridge, Everybody Down titles, the song has also been referred to by the following names over the years: Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal, Mule Named Sal and Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal. Around 1905 mule powered barge traffic had converted to steam power and diesel power was about to take over.  The Erie Canal Song was written to commemorate the history of nearly 100 years of life along the Erie Canal.

    The Erie Canal Song is the most recognised of all the Erie Canal folksongs. A pdf of the song with notes for guitar and piano can be found here. Its interesting to note that the cover depicts a boy riding a mule leaned down to fit under a bridge, but in actuality the song is about the people in the boats. Travelers would typically ride on the roof of boats when the conditions allowed, but the low bridges along the route would require that they either duck down or get off the roof to fit under bridges.

    Lyric Variations

    Like most folk songs, the lyrics (and title!) of The Erie Canal Song has changed over time. The most obvious changes from Thomas Allen’s orignal version has been changing the word years to miles. Allen’s original version commerates 15 years of working along the canal with Sal. The new version using the word miles refers to the average distance a mule would tow a barge before resting or being relieved by another mule.

    Another change is in the second verse. The current line: “Git up there mule, here comes a lock” is a change from the original line: “Get up there gal, we’ve passed that lock”. The current version does not necessary make as much sense as the former. The former refers to how mules would rest while waiting for barges to lock through, and then need to be instructed when to start again. The current implies speeding up when a lock is within site. Without breaks or a simple way to slow a barge, this would not necessarly be the best course of action.

    Audio Versions Available:

    1.) Billy Murray (1912) click here.
    2.) Edward Meeker (1913) click here.
    (right click and ‘save as’ if necessary)

    The Erie Canal Song Lyrics

    I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal
    Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
    She’s a good old worker and a good old pal
    Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
    We’ve hauled some barges in our day
    Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
    And every inch of the way we know
    From Albany to Buffalo

    Chorus:
    Low bridge, everybody down
    Low bridge for we’re coming to a town
    And you’ll always know your neighbor
    And you’ll always know your pal
    If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal

    We’d better look ’round for a job old gal
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    ‘Cause you bet your life I’d never part with Sal
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    Git up there mule, here comes a lock
    We’ll make Rome ’bout six o’clock
    One more trip and back we’ll go
    Right back home to Buffalo

    Chorus

    Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal?
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    Oh, I’d like to see a mule as good as Sal
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    A friend of mine once got her sore
    Now he’s got a busted jaw,
    ‘Cause she let fly with her iron toe,
    And kicked him in to Buffalo.

    Chorus

    Don’t have to call when I want my Sal
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    She trots from her stall like a good old gal
    Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
    I eat my meals with Sal each day
    I eat beef and she eats hay
    And she ain’t so slow if you want to know
    She put the “Buff” in Buffalo

    Chorus

    Author Information

    Thomas S. Allen (1876-1919) was an early Tin Pan Alley composer with many popular songs not related to the canal life. His first major hit was Any Rags in 1903, only two years before that of the Erie Canal Song.

A great version by Bruce Springsteen!

 

Performances, Workshops, Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations Coffeehouses School Assemblies Library Presentations Songwriting Workshops Artist in Residence House Concerts Pub Singing Irish & Celtic Performances Poetry Readings Campfires Music Lessons Senior Centers Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

Thanksgiving

by | July 30, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

I am surprised sometimesby the suddenness of November:beauty abruptly shedto a common nakedness--grasses deadenedby hoarfrost,persistent memoriesof people I’ve lost.It is left to those of us dressed in the hard barky skin of experienceto insist on a decorumthat rises...
Read More

Guns, Me, and Rural America

by | February 27, 2018 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

     Sometimes I start writing without knowing where I stand—unsure of even where I stand. I have to trust some innate wisdom or audacity will cull through the bullshit we are all heir to in what Hamlet laments is “this earthly coil” we are forced to face when we wake...
Read More

Redemption

by | October 3, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Finally, the tall green pines standing sentinel around this cold and black New Hampshire pond are framed in a sky of blue. After a month of steady rains, foggy nights, and misty days, I am reborn into a newly created world—a world that finally answered my prayers: no...
Read More

The Most Unoriginal Teacher

by | February 5, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Yes, that's me. I am a fraudster, thief, and plagiarizer of the worst magnitude. I copy the very styles of classic poets; I steal from Noble Laureate novelists, and I copy words from every and any source I can. And even worse, I steal from myself. If you even dare to...
Read More

In Reply To Einstein

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

*God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...
Read More

What Are We Afraid Of?

by | March 28, 2022 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Good intentions are easily hobbled by inaction. There has always been a murky and muddied No Mans Land in every war where the evil and the righteous trade the moral high ground. This is not the case in Ukraine. Putin’s actions are evil--pure, unmitigated, unprovoked...
Read More

New Ways

by | February 21, 2017 | Journal | 0 Comments

Time for a change. Feeling it in a lot of ways. After months of steady workouts, I’ve been finding too many convenient ways to let the day slip by. Still feel better than I have in years, but the days seem to have got the best of me. Excuses, procrastination and...
Read More

Kampuchea

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

I stutter for normality across the river from black men fishing for kibbers and horned pout. Barefoot children rounded bellies curled navels stalk the turtle sunning on a log. lonely in the field grass lonely on the curbstones I stutter for normality. Not a mother...
Read More

Wrenching Day

by | July 13, 2017 | Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It has certainly been a long time since wisdom ruled the day. I did get up and run in the rain, and now I am preparing to do some “wrenching” on my motorcycle. I am trying to temper my eagerness to ride with my desire to get everything “right” on the bike--without...
Read More

All You Need is Love

by | November 16, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

    The day grew warm today, as did my mood. I did a couple of shows at my school’s diversity day. It was good to see girls there and the obvious racial differences. It was comforting to see a sea of color with a smattering of white instead of the other way around. My...
Read More

The Emperor’s New Clothes

by | February 8, 2019 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last. The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, "This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at...
Read More

Crows & Swallows Release

by | October 21, 2017 | Journal | 0 Comments

There is seldom a red-carpet celebration when a book of poetry is released, so I will keep this a quiet and humble affair. My newest book of poetry, “Crows & Swallows” is now on iBooks, so fresh you can almost smell the ink. My business model is unchanged: It is a...
Read More

The Street I Never Go Down

by | November 18, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

As is often the case, I sit here with good intent to write my end-of-term comments--a dry litany of repeated phrases dulled by. obligation--and find myself instead writing poetry, the stuff I would rather share with my students who already know that I care dearly...
Read More

The Shapes of Stories

by | July 9, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

While I have always been a storyteller of sorts, I am not much of a writer of stories--but I have always been intrigued by the relative simplicity at the core design level of most books and movies. A lot of it is tied to my love for Joseph Campbell's work on the...
Read More

Nurture Passion

by | December 10, 2013 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

How about we all take the bull by the horns and make this blog thing work! Your job this week is to do something with your blog that is powered by the passion that is in you. Passion is the one thing you have some control over. There are plenty of smarter, more...
Read More

Essex Bay

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

This house makes funny noises
When the wind begins to blow.
I should have held on and never let you go.
The wind blew loose the drainpipe.
You can hear the melting snow.
I’ll fix it in the morning when I go.
I’ll fix it in the morning when I go.

Read More

The Philanthropy of Maynard

by | December 13, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

 I woke up today with chores on my mind. My buddy Josh LoPresti lent me his woodsplitter, and I had dreams of a mindless day splitting wood and heaving it into a pile for my kids to stack along the fence. But the dryer was broken, and it needed to be fixed. Margret's...
Read More

Redefining Literacy

by | August 8, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

 My life is the poem I could have writ, But I could not both live and utter it ~Henry David Thoreau    The common man goes to an orchard to taste the fruit. The rich man man learns how to plant his own orchard. The poet, however,  grows an even better fruit and gives...
Read More

Diesel Lullaby

by | July 5, 2019 | Journal | 0 Comments

I've been spending a lot of time lately writing sketches of songs—some more complete than others. I have found that it takes time for a song to evolve into its final form, so what I have posted here is more the end of the beginning, not the end. Denise gave me the...
Read More

Chores

by | May 15, 2016 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck, sharpening the dulled teeth of a worn...
Read More

The Tide

by | August 31, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

They are building a world and the plastic is fading: Margaret and Eddie's buckets are split, pouring out the warm Atlantic as they race along the tidal flat, filling pools connected by frantically dug canals. Tommy squats naked and screams in guttural joy at the...
Read More

Going Google?

by | July 1, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to join the minority ~Mark Twain I have to admit, Google is pretty impressive. The whole set of features that are offered to the public and to educators for free is pretty astounding: email, document creation and...
Read More

Molting

by | July 10, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

I am always molting; leaving my hollowed skin in awkward places, scaring people and making them jump. They touch me and think I’m real; then laugh and say things like “What a riot.” I’m tired of this changing of skins. I’d rather stumble on myself and be fooled; and...
Read More

The English Soldier

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

There is a soldier dressed in ancient English wool guarding the entrance to the inn. He is lucky for this cool night awaiting the pomp of the out of town wedding party. He is paid to be unmoved by the bride's stunning beauty or her train of lesser escorts. He will not...
Read More

Metamorphoses

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

It’s something I‘ve hardly ever thought of:
this simple and rattling old diesel
has always gotten me there and then some;
and so at first I think this sputtering
is just some clog, and easily explained:
some bad fuel maybe, from the new Exxon,
or just shortsightedness on maintenance.
I’ve always driven in the red before,
and these have all been straight highway miles —

Read More

This new spring begs attention

by | March 22, 2019 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

And shivers its literal timbers. Cold, wet and pleading, Scarred by winter winds And pasty snows, My small field and patch of woods Is now a monument To aging neglect. Shorn limbs and branches Hang high and tangled in the Sugar maples (Widow makers we called them Back...
Read More

The Right Side of the Inevitable

by | July 27, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

  Like birds of a feather, we gather together, 'Cuz they're feeling exactly like you... ~John Prine   I am not afraid of being a white minority. I had lunch today with a Jamaican drummer, a Ugandan farmer, and a Senagalese potter. I don’t say this out of...
Read More

The Mystery in the Cradle

by | December 25, 2013 | Journal | 0 Comments

This picture is from Christmas eleven years ago when Tommy was only two weeks old, and now all of them—and Gio and Pipo--are playing charades or some such game in the dining room, shouting and laughing at each other's miscues and fortifying another enduring memory...
Read More

The Small Potato

by | October 17, 2014 | Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Maybe there is a God. I just came home and sat down in the kitchen to grade some papers and input some grades, but the internet is buggy and slow, and I thought, "maybe this is the message" that I am trading my soul for work. I even remember myself  pontificating in...
Read More

The Value of a Classic

by | November 24, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

“Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.” ~Mark Twain A note to my 8th grade class:      All of you are supposedly reading a classic book, but what Twain says is true: few of us go thirsty to the well and willingly read the greatest works of literature...
Read More

The Farmer, The Weaver & the Space Traveler

by | June 26, 2020 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

     Words matter. Words carefully crafted and artfully expressed  matter infinitely more. There is something compelling in a turn of phrase well-timed, arresting image juxtaposed on arresting images; broad ideas distilled into clear, lucid singular thought. For the...
Read More

Practice Doing

by | April 26, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Someday, someone might fire you for not doing what you should have done.    There are some days when a teacher might wonder whether it is worth giving the extra effort if the students are not giving the extra effort. I am lucky--and cursed--that I get to live and...
Read More

The Fisher

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

To cast far is to cast well. I’ve always believed that the biggest fish are just beyond my range and lie in dark water I could never swim to. But experience is the wisdom that has me now casting closer to shore, nearest the reeds and overgrowth — a subtleness geared...
Read More

Canobie lake

by | June 3, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Going to Canobie Lake is always the turning point of the year for me. It is like some primal signal that It is time to turn away from the school year and towards the future.  Obviously, it is my hope that you learned some useful skills this year, but, more...
Read More

Thanksgiving

by | November 28, 2013 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

I am surprised sometimes by the suddenness of November: beauty abruptly shed to a common nakedness— grasses deadened by hoarfrost, persistent memories of people I’ve lost. It is left to those of us dressed in the hard barky skin of experience to insist on a decorum...
Read More

The Teacher’s Couch

by | October 11, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It’s not just a couch; it’s a sofa, too ~Fitz           I remember my first year teaching at Fenn—and it was really my first stint as a true worker with responsibilities outside of what I already had in my wheelhouse—and on this day, some twenty something years ago, I...
Read More

Get Back in the Game

by | January 16, 2022 | Journal | 0 Comments

Out on the back porch, not as cold as earlier today, waiting for the storm to arrive in a few hours--curious if I will get that call at 2:00 AM to head out and plow the Concord streets. Most of me hopes for the call; another side of me wants a day stuck at home,...
Read More

Close Your Eyes and See

by | April 9, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

      A lot of things in life fall short of the mark, but thoughtfulness has never let me down. For some forty years I have faithfully kept journals of the wanderings of my mind—most of which is lost in some way or another, but the effect hangs on like a sailor...
Read More

What a Picture Tells

by | May 6, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

"Zou Ma Guan Hua" You can't ride a horse and smell the flowers ~Chinese Proverb Sometimes I love just browsing through old folders of pictures of my kids when they were just kids in every sense of the word. Just seeing the pictures is a visceral experience for me as I...
Read More

A Redemptive Moment

by | November 15, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I see the clock ticking towards 7:00. The kids are deep in their weekday world of homework, juggling soccer balls around the house, watching TV, but I am in my “got to rally” and get to the inn mode that happens very Thursday. Tonight I am tired. I’ll admit it, but...
Read More

Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!