Written by Ross Cumbers in 1939, "Song of the Sockeye" tells of the lure of being a gill-netter in Rivers Inlet during the 1930s. The song’s lyrics set a vivid picture of the place, the boats and the fishers during the sockeye runs.

The written music for this song was found in Songs of the Pacific Northwest by Philip J. Thomas (UBC Website Link).

Song of the Sockeye

Words by Ross Cumbers
Music by Philip J. Thomas
Musical arrangement by John McLachlan

Oh, hark to the song of the sockeye
Like a siren’s call of old
When it gets in your blood you can’t shake it
It’s the same as the fever for gold

There’s a hole in the BC coastline
River’s Inlet’s the place I mean
And it’s there you will find the old-timer
And also the fellow who’s green

Oh, the boats head for there like the sockeye
And some are a joy to the eye
While others are simply disastors
And ought to be left high and dry

Now, they go to the different canneries
And before they can make one haul
It’s three hundred bucks for net, grub and gas
Which they hope to pay off before fall

Then it’s off to the head of the inlet
At six o’clock, Sunday night
But when morning comes and you’ve got about three
The prospects don’t look very bright

Of course, there is always an alibi
To account for a very poor run
The weather is wrong, the moon’s not full
Or the big tides will help the fish come

Now some of us think of the future
While others have things to forget
But most of us sit here and think of a school
Of sockeye hitting the net

And when the season is over
And you figure out what you have made
You were better off working for wages
No matter how low you were paid

So hark to the song of the sockeye
Like a siren’s song of old
When it gets in your blood you can’t shake it
It’s the same as the fever for gold

Vocabulary

siren’s call – Sirens were winged women in Greek mythology who lured mariners to their death by their sweet singing
green  – a term for some one who is new to a job
grub – food
alibi  – excuse
run  – large numbers of migrating fish
school – a group of fish swimming together