The Band of Brothers: MP3s/Lyrics

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)
• MP3 play whole song, lo-fi (modem)

Note from Michael: The idea for "Big Fight In Canal Town" came from a newspaper article by Edwin N. Harris about a brawl at my grandfather's hotel (The Stephany Hotel in Pittsford, NY) in 1940. I had thought for years that the story would make a good song and I finally came up with an angle that I thought would work - by imagining how the brawl would be embellished by those who passed the story around town the next day.

Instrumentation: Michael Scott Smith: lead vocal and guitar; Alan Fox: bass and harmony vocal; Jamie Stevens: 5-string banjo and harmony vocal; Henry Robin: 12-string guitar and harmony vocal; Bruce Bailey, guitar.

Hey there neighbor, did you hear the news? There was a big fight last night, a terrible to-do.

It happened at the hotel, down by the canal. There must have been a hundred, all pitchin' Hell.

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

I heard it all started, because of a girl. Two canalers got to sparring, caught in the whirl.

One said the other was in the wrong. The other said, "You're mistaken, you're the lying one.".

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

Well, Al the bartender told Jimmy Valentine, "You'd better take cover, they're laying it on the line."

Y'know these canalers, when they get full of drink. There'll be no stopping 'em, 'til one of them sinks.

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

Punches started flying, fists hitting flesh. The girl got knocked down with a rip in her dress.

Like a match touching gasoline, the combustion rolled. The room began burning with men out of control.

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

A call for the police went out on the line - as the battle moved out to Main St. under the moonlight.

A couple of cops on patrol pulled up, but it didn't take a fool to tell - that two men against a hundred would be like ringing their own death bell.

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

One of the cops said to the bartender, "It sure is a Hell of a fight. Those canalers will trade fists for hours, if the mood suits them right."

"I guess it's the price we gotta pay for progress to hit this town. Let's hope that in the meantime they don't burn it to the ground."

When the brawl was over, when the fightin' was through, there was a dead man floating in the water - nobody knew.

Eventually it quieted down to the sound of a dull roar. Most of 'em went to sleep it off - most of 'em pretty sore.

The cops arrested one or two - just to make it right. Al the bartender locked up and turned off the lights.

The brawl was now over, the fightin' was through, but that dead man in the water - nobody knew.