Save the Whales - Country Joe McDonald

When my grandpa was a boy

He went down to the general store

Saw a picture book of a whale

Shooting its spout and flashin' its tail.

Then he got a sailor’s dream

'Bout cruisin' around on the salty sea

Joinin' up with a fishin' crew

To go out and get him a whale or two.

Tell me what kind of men are these

Who sail upon the salty seas?

Up in the rigging in the afternoon

Swabbin' the decks and sharpenin' harpoons.

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Early in the morning.

There’re lots of whales in the deep blue sea,

We kill them for the company

We drag 'em 'longside and chop 'em in two

And melt 'em down and sell 'em to you

There hardly is a sailor alive

Who can keep the tears from his eyes

As he remembers the good old days

When there were no whales to save

Thank the Russians and Japanese

For scouring the deep blue seas

Looking for ivory and perfume

And plastic toys and pet food.

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Early in the morning.

Shanghaied by the light of the moon

Put out from Boston in the middle of June

After six months out at sea

It’s nothin' but death and misery.

Set out on a three-year cruise

A union ship and a union crew

And after six months you begin to see

That whalin’s not what it used to be.

A modern ship and a modern crew

With sonar scopes and explodin' harpoons

A mechanical boat made outta steel

A floating machine built to kill the whales.

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Early in the morning.

When my grandpa was a boy

He went down to the general store

Saw a picture book of a whale

Shooting its spout and flashin' its tail.

Then he got a sailor’s dream

'Bout cruisin' around on the salty sea

Joinin' up with a fishin' crew

To go out and get him a whale or two.

Tell me what kind of men are these

Who sail upon the salty seas?

Up in the rigging in the afternoon

Swabbin' the decks and sharpenin' harpoons.

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Hooray and up she rises

Early in the morning.