Round the Cape

The fifth track on the 2020 album Cures What Ails Ya, this is a Longest Johns original. Written by Robbie Sattin.

The song refers to those bold sailors who were mad enough or capable enough to have survived passage around Cape Horn, part of a treacherous archipelago at the southernmost part of Chile. It is particularly known for its extremely hazardous weather patterns and brutal storms.

"Silver in my ear" refers to a tradition amongst sailors (though there is some debate about how factually accurate it is), that sailors who had rounded Cape Horn wore a silver earring in the ear that had been facing the Cape when they had passed it.

Lyrics
Well we're goin' round the cape, gold and shores to find, 900 miles of wind and waves smashing up the sides. We're goin' round the cape, there is no other way, For trade, and king, and countrymen, we'll brave the foam and spray {Chorus} So tell my love that I'll be back someday. It's rock and roll a-, rock and roll a-, rock and roll away. When I return, I swear I'm gonna stay, So rock and roll a-, rock and roll a-, rock and roll away. I left my home and land to sail a clipper ship Into the parts of my own map that barely have been writ. I must be out my mind to leave England in my wake, But I'll get that silver in my ear, we're goin' round the cape {Chorus} {Bridge} It's a long way home, but many miles to go. There's a gale that's trying to drag us all below. And I long to dream of any better fate, But what awaits the brave around the cape? I heard the sailors say, "By God you must be mad. There's waves as tall as houses and the gales'll knock you flat, And when the storm has fled and the fog is thick as mud, It's pray for your deliverance and pray you rightly should." {Chorus x2} Rock and roll a- (Rock and roll a-) Rock and roll away