From the recording Florida LISTEN FREE NOW! Note the new pricing on downloads of individual tracks and on the full record.
A Donde Navegamos - © 2001 Jim Bickerstaff
Terry Feller – Drums
Bob Wray – Bass
Clayton Ivey - Wurlitzer Piano & B3
Nick Z - Percussion
Randy McQuay - Harmonica
Savannah Bickerstaff & Landis Yarovyy – Background Vocals
Jim Bickerstaff – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars
I was offshore fishing once when my electronics failed and some foggy weather set in. All we had was a compass and some charts. Even with the knowledge that we were within 15 miles of shore, there was water in every direction, and I was pretty nervous until I saw land.
After that, I imagined what explorers like Columbus, and especially their crews felt about sailing off onto an unknown map for months at a time. They left their homes and families and set out on uncharted water with no GPS or radio, no Coast Guard ... completely on their own. From Columbus' logs, the crew came close to mutiny about one month in, and I can only imagine those folks were terrified. It has been written that Columbus kept two logs, one the crew could see that suggested they had not sailed quite as far as what the private log recorded as actual calculations.
It struck me how closely that feeling resembles our voyage of life. There are no reliable maps. We really have little assuredness of where we are going, what will happen along the way, and when it will end.
And while it is true that Columbus did not find Florida, one of his captains did while searching for gold and a fountain of youth. ... just try fitting Ponce de Leon into a song ...
I released an acoustic version of this song last year from a live recording by Bill Beckett from the Brick in Decatur, AL.
Lyrics
A Donde Navigamos © 2004 j Bickerstaff
V1
Compass for a timepiece, Holy Bible for a pillow
And every crewman’s latest lover, 87 weeping willows
Standing on the west shore at the edge of the whole damned world
And every heavy heart took flight as Isabella’s flags unfurled
V2
Fair winds and following seas, a man doesn’t get many days like these
A sailor’s dream begins that way, pescado del dia, come what may
But 30 days of no regrets, take a toll on the best of men
And 30 nights of one last sleep, drag him back to earth again
Chorus
A donde navigamos, Cristobal Colon
Llevandome tan lejos de mi patria
Su corazon conoce la via
Pero su mirada me dice
Destino desconocido, todavia
V3
Blue waves crash on a virgin beach, a new world lies in the old one’s reach
As 87 faceless names, ride the very winds of change
Who can say what might have been, or guess the whims of gods and kings?
You follow your heart at best, and live with what tomorrow brings
V4
Half a thousand years go by, the same stars rule the October sky
As when they painted quiet traces of fear and hope on those sailors’ faces
And nothing changes much down here, names and faces rise and fall
We ride the wind where it may blow, and try to understand it all
Chorus
(Where are we sailing, Christopher Columbus
So far away from my homeland
Your heart knows the way
But your eyes tell me
Destination Still Unknown)