It all began in an old harbour bar
Where sailors would gather from near and from far
Like the tall pirate captain who played his guitar. And the music began
He had riches of diamonds and pearls
And he sang all his songs about Girls, girls, girls
As he carried on strumming a story unfurled – And the music played on

(Guitar Solo)
What a story to tell
The sailors all singing in drunken harmony; ringing the harbour bar bell

A suave bon viveur on a passage from France
This entrepreneur – thought he might take a chance
On a hand of straight poker or maybe romance… As the music played on
He was good playing ace after ace
Then he noticed the sound that was filling the place
In an instant the monsieur was playing bass… And the music played on

(Bass Solo)
What a story to tell
The sailors all singing in drunken harmony; ringing the harbour bar bell

A third man appeared dressed entirely in black
Came into the bar and sat down at the back
He conjured some drumsticks from out of a sack – As the music played on…
Where he had learned them he couldn’t explain
But he played Latin rhythms and knew them by name
He could tap a Cha Cha on a glass of champagne
Which he did as the music played on

(Drum Solo)
What a story to tell
The sailors all singing in drunken harmony; ringing the harbour bar bell

The harbour was buzzing down in Vera Cruz
With loose Latin women and free flowing booze
A rich plantation owner with plenty to lose, lost it all as the music played on
At the piano the man always sat
In a crumpled white suit and a Panama hat
Playing ragtime for whisky
Or something like that. And the music played on

(Piano Solo)
What a story to tell
The sailors all singing in drunken harmony; ringing the harbour bar bell

Well, they drank and they sang deep on into the night
But then something happened which gave them a fright
The old Nickelodeon burst into life - What the hell’s going on?
How’d this happen? How could it have been?
It’s just a mechanical music machine
Ah but no one put money in or turned the key. Yet the music played on

(Nickelodeon Solo)
What a story to tell
The sailors all singing in drunken harmony; ringing the harbour bar bell

The music got louder and blew ‘cross the bay
It was heard in the distance from ten miles away
But the fog came in quickly that night so they say, as the music played on
When the dawn broke, the mist slowly cleared
Revealing a silence and something more weird
For the bar and the sailors had both disappeared…
But the bell sounded on……….

[Bell tolls]

Words and music by Rob Alderton ©
Lyrics reprinted with the kind permission of Rob Alderton

Your one and only chance to see and hear SAILOR play their unreleased song "The Harbour Bar Bell" live at the famous concert in Tring (UK) on 21 March 2004!!
The song was only played once -!- and (unfortunately) never released.
Song © by Rob Alderton - used with with kind permission ;-)
filmed by Karsten Wagner © www.SAILOR-music.com

Songs & Lyrics

Songs & Texte