WOMAN OF LABRADOR

Purchase music by Silver Wolf Band at Fred's Records

Person list

Words and tune:

  • Andy Vine

Locations associated with this song:

Background Info:

Written by Andy Vine of Vancouver in the 1970s. In 1997, Vine said, "I was working in St. John's and I rented a room in an old section of the downtown. The house had a fireplace, so I bought some coal and settled in to read a book – Woman of Labrador by Elizabeth Goudie. I felt the spirit of the land and the people come into me, and the song just came out. At first I was shy about singing it. The song is so simple I was afraid I would be laughed at. But it has become my most popular song. Some songs just cannot not be written!
Dr. Philip Hiscock, Sing Around this One...Songs of Newfoundland & Labrador –Volume 2
© Vinland Music. Reproduced with permission

Lyrics:

WOMAN OF LABRADOR – By Andy Vine

Woman of Labrador, children 'round your cabin door,
Wondering when your daddy will be coming home;
He's gone on the trapping lines, seems like such a long, long time
Since he waved his last farewell, and left you alone.

Woman of Labrador, turn your mind to daily chores,
Hunting and catching fish to feed your family;
At night when they're all in bed, you go outside and raise your head,
Watch the northern lights go dancing high over the sea.

Daughter of Labrador, those days are here no more,
You wonder if your babies will ever understand
The hardships that you endured when everyone you knew was poor,
Sharing everything you had and living off the land.

Woman of Labrador, children 'round your cabin door,
Wondering when your daddy will be coming home;
He's gone on the trapping lines, seems like such a long, long time
Since he waved his last farewell, and left you alone.
Andy Vine, published in Sing Around this One...Songs of Newfoundland & Labrador –Volume 2
© Vinland Music. Reproduced with permission.

See lyrics on a page by themselves