Fish out of Water

Based on a true story from Georgian Bay near Tobermory Ontario. Of the many shipwrecks scuba divers flock to each summer in this part of the bay, “Arabia” is the most famous—and the most dangerous. The fiddle break in this tune is the old Cajun Mardi Gras song, La Danse de Mardi Gras

I slip my way beneath the glass
The coast guard waits, the hours pass above Arabia
A tourist town, blue lake, blue sky
Oblivious to the thermocline as I descend into the darkness
Hand by hand, down the line
On VHF the rumors fly: He shouldn’t have been down there in the first place
My searchlight sweeps the sandstone floor
The O.P.P. wait at her door: There’s been an accident

CHORUS
Fish out of water, it’s lonely at the bottom
Fish out of water, it’s lonely, lonely, lonely at the bottom

FIDDLE TUNE [“CHANSON DE MARDI GRAS”]

2. The current here flows from the west
It might have pulled him from the wreck so I work my way downstream
The final moments, panic rises
The air is gone, he realizes he’s not goin’ back up again alive
Does life pass before your eyes?
I heard he had a wife and child, should be getting’ into town tonight
The cops will write a press release
It might just make the CBC, and in the distance, in the distance…

FIDDLE TUNE

CHORUS

I slip my way beneath the glass
The coast guard waits, the hours pass above Arabia.