Chapin, Harry - Dogtown Lyrics






Up in Massachusetts There's a little spit of land.
The men who make the maps, yes, they call the place Cape Ann.
The men who do the fishing call it Gloucester Harbor Sound,
But the women left behind, they call the place Dogtown.

The men go out for whaling, past the breakers and the fogs.
The women stay home waiting they're protected by the dogs.
A tough old whaler woman who had seen three husbands drown,
Polled the population and she named the place Dogtown.

There's all these grey faced women in their black widow's gowns,
Living in this grave yard granite town.
Yeah, you soon learn there's many more than one way to drown;
That's while going to the dogs here in Dogtown.

And she speaks: My father was a merchant all in the Boston fief.
When my husband came and asked him for my hand.
But little did I know then that a Gloucester whaler's wife
Marries but the sea salt and the sand.

He took me up to Dogtown the day I was a bride.
We had ten days together before he left my side.
He's the first mate of a whaling ship,
the keeper of the log.
He said, "Farewell, my darling, I'm going to leave you with my dog."

And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls,
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls,
I've heard that crazy widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves.

Sitting by the fireside, the embers slowly die.
Is it a sign of weakness when a woman wants to cry?
The dog is closely watching the fire glints in his eye.
No use to go to sleep this early, no use to even try.

My blood beats like a woman's,
I've got a woman's breast and thighs.
But where am I to offer them
to the ocean or the skies?

Living with this silent dog
all the moments of my life,
He has been my only husband;
am I a widow, or his wife?

Yes, it's a Dogtown and it's a fog town,
And there's nothing around 'cept the sea pounding granite ground
And this black midnight horror of a hound.

I'm standing on this craggy cliff,
my eyes fixed on the sea.
Six months past, when his ship was due,
I'm a widow to be.
For liking this half living with the lonely and the fog,
You need the bastard of the mating of a woman and a dog.

And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls,
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls,
I've heard that crazy widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves.
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves.
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves.





Other Lyrics by Artist

Rand Lyrics

Last Posts

Chapin, Harry Dogtown Comments
  1. T.... O....

    I looked it up and there really was a dog town... there are still the remains of some of the buildings and stuff.. I think this would make a good movie.

  2. F.... ....

    Fun fact for anyone who doesn't know, Harry is singing about a real place. My mother is from Gloucester, Massachusetts, where Dogtown is located. I love Gloucester. I live in Las Vegas currently, but it's nice when I visit because I get to smell the ocean air, and sit outside and listen to the seagulls.

  3. W.... I....

    I am 32 and always felt a connection to Harry funny he wrote a song about my home!!! Cool shit

  4. j.... ....

    she fucc the dog?

  5. M.... D....

    The bastard mating of a woman and a dog. To think I first used to listen to this when I was 12.

  6. B.... C....

    My Favorite song about beastial-ality.

  7. G.... F....

    Whenever I feel down or depressed, I listen to Harry's songs. They bring me back to the reality of living each day.

  8. S.... S....

    My impression; H. Can feel women from the inside out. Very uncommon !

  9. G.... J....

    Loved this man. He made me a deeper, nicer person just through his music.

  10. K.... S....

    Nice song. I just wish he had talked about fishing for cod on the Grand Banks since this town never went whaling. They'd be gone for months at a time, and we lost thousands of men. Just not whaling.

    K.... S....

    Karen Spencer Gloucester jumped into Whaling - a little late - starting in 1833. Whale oil mainly for lamps was phased out by the electric light. Not much sign of whaling other than research and of course the Cape Ann Museum.

    Chaplin’s time line and the visuals aren’t accurate - but hey - it’s a song!

    At one time there were docks unloading sugar cane in Gloucester from South America.

  11. T.... R....

    He wrote such dark lyrics in many of his songs! Were these songs representative of parts of his psyche? Such beautiful music too!

  12. W.... A....

    Have listened to Harry since I was 16 love his music heartfelt..great artist

    W.... A....

    Heard it as a teen, today, still good!

  13. E.... M....

    I saw him in concert in 76 at Vassar College.  Got to be on stage with him and talk to him backstage.  A gentle, warm man. One of my best childhood memories.

  14. B.... D....

    Miss Harry a lot. Met him a couple of times and he shows never disappointed and he walked the walk as far as his commitment to charity. He wrote some amazing stories and I was devastated when he was killed, I had tickets to see him at the Club Casino in Hampton beach the next night... My favorite song... "Mr. Tanner" although " A Better Place to Be' is great as well.

    B.... D....

    you were so lucky to have met him..so much more than the "geldof" or "bono" type.. he did it for he charity, not for the face..

  15. R.... F....

    so tired of the silly folk song comments about H, cause all the know are Flowers or Taxi or Little Boy.. he was / is so much more.. Corey, Tanner, Better, Annie, Titanic, Rock, and on and on...

  16. c.... ....

    Dirty Dirty ladies!!!!

  17. P.... ....

    I saw Harry Play this song LIVE..at Avery Fischer Hall in NYC..and I was blown away sine it was NOT part of his usual set..that was the only time I ever heard him play it live and I have never found any video of the song...I was told there is one klnown video of the song from a concert in Long Island...but ...where is it...

    P.... ....

    Piggy-218 I heard him sing this song in Central Park when tickets were $3.00 to get in about 3 rows back. Love Harry Chapin especially Dogtown.

  18. R.... P....

    one of the best songs i've ever heard in my life.

  19. D.... R....

    I just saw a show about gloucester. On the edge of the harbor somebody put up a nice statue of glousester women waiting for the ships to arrive. I didn't see any dogs! lol

  20. D.... F....

    What a great storyteller and great song.

  21. M.... D....

    This song, Sniper and Bummer are Harry's best, I think.