Story Behind The Song

The harbor town is Boothbay Harbor, the island is Squirrel Island, where I sometimes visited on summer vacations when I was very young. Joan is a girl I had a crush on in junior high school. Other than that, I completely made up the story.

Song Description

A story song about two lovers who miss each other's path, one going back east to the Maine coast, the other going west to Los Angeles.

Lyrics

Down east in a harbor town
In a morning fog
A lobsterman waits for the sun
With his faithful dog.
Seagulls gather on a rock
And talk about the day
I can hear the bells of a bouy
Across the bay.
Took a boat to the island
A place that I once knew
Just thought I could find an old friend or two
Just an old friend or two.

Just came here from L.A.
Where the world?s in a race
And maybe I?ll go back again
After this gentle pace.
The girl that I knew here
She was my best friend
I wonder if she?s still around
You know I?d love to see her again.
She said ?If you come back,
Please look for me here,
How can two people
Share just one tear??
Just one tear.

Warm breezes down by the cove
Danced through her brown hair
But the pines and the beaches
Look empty now
Without her there.
Found the house where her folks live
I knocked on the door
I can hear the clatter of tired boots
On the wooden floor.
They are like the ocean
Calm but full of fear
The gentle hand of God
Keeps them near, keeps them near.

So I stayed for dinner
In the warmth of the cottage heat
His wife brought out blueberry pie
But I just couldn?t eat.
In the soul of his weathered face
He?s an old salty type
I asked him where can Joan be
And he said through his pipe.
He said, ?She went to L.A.
Just a couple of months ago,
Why she?d ever go there
I don?t know.?

He said, ?She went to L.A.
Just a couple of months ago,
Why she?d ever go there
I don?t know.?
?I don?t know, I don?t know, I don?t know.?