Greenland Monopole Video (MV)

Greenland Monopole

SOURCE: Bob Pfeffer

SOURCE'S SOURCE: Original, composed June 1987

COMMENTS: Composed for Harry Berkowitz and performed at his farewell
luncheon from Fort Monmouth, with many obscure references
familiar only to its source and subject

AIR: Greenland Whale Fisheries

TEXT:

D A7 D A7
'Twas in nineteen hundred and sixty-five
D A7
And of June the thirteenth day
D G
That we weighed our anchors to our bow
D A7 D
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys,
A7 D
And for Greenland bore away.

Bold Stanley was our captain's name
And our ship the DIMOS bold,
And we poor souls our anchors weighed
To face the storms and cold, brave boys,
To face the storms and cold.

And when we arrived in that cold countree
The icecap to explore
We wished ourselves at the Evans Area
On New Jersey's sunlit shore, brave boys,
On New Jersey's sunlit shore.

"Then at it, boys," our captain said.
"To the tunnel let us go."
And we spread our mats in the gloom and the dark
To melt those tons of snow, brave boys,
To melt those tons of snow.

And when our labors all were done
And our backs did ache full sore
The mats went to gallant Louie Alvarez
And we went to the bar, brave boys,
And we went to the bar.

And when we returned to our homes so dear
Louie told a dreadful tale:
His postdocs got drunk and they fell in the machine
And the whole experiment failed, brave boys,
And the whole experiment failed.

Now the losing of those young postdocs
It grieves my heart full sore,
But the losing of that Nobel Prize
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more.

Now Greenland is a dreadful place,
A land that's never green,
Where there's ice and there's snow and the physicists all go
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys,
And daylight's seldom seen.