Deception Pass Blues

Set up on a grassy bluff at Bowman’s Bay State Park, the band looked out across the water flowing through Deception Pass under the two spans of the bridge. The breeze off the water swept hair across their faces and threatened to tip the music stands over. A crowd was gathering on that sunny Sunday to hear the Dunton Sister’s Bluegrass Band play through their repertoire of music and debut the new song, Deception Pass Blues. Besides the noise of the wind in their microphones, the Navy EA-6B Prowlers could be heard and seen departing Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, honing their skills in readiness for their next call to a conflict somewhere in the world.

Sitting on a log at Bowman’s Bay,
Believing that today would be the day,
That I’ve waited for so long just to hear him say, “Be my wife”.

And the sun was so warm, and the waves were bright,
As they rolled to the shore in the morning light.
The current was running in the pass so strong,
That it looked like a river and it flowed with a song

And the sky was filled with the Navy’s roar.
My eyes saw beauty, but my mind thought war.
And the sea bird’s cry makes me wish that I was with you.
Deception Pass Blues

A military family, he traveled all around.
Saw all the bases and lived in every town.
And now he is a pilot, to emulate his dad.
A member of a squadron at Whidbey N.A.S.

I met him at a party at Bowman’s Bay.
He asked me on our first date, a year ago today.
It’s here he said he’d meet me, but he’s so late,
And he told me there was something that he really had to say.

And the sky was filled with the Navy’s roar.
My eyes saw beauty, but my mind thought war.
And the sea bird’s cry makes me wish that I was with you.
Deception Pass Blues

I hear footsteps behind me and then I turn to see,
A Navy man in uniform walking down toward me.
Respectfully he asks my name with envelope in hand.
Handing me the message he said, “Sorry about this ma’am.”

The note was very simple. There wasn’t much to say.
“It’s three a.m., I’m on the run. The squadron’s called away.
To rendezvous aboard a ship somewhere out at sea.
Sorry that I stood you up. Will you wait for me?”

Sitting on a log at Bowman’s Bay
The sun is going down, it’s the end of the day.
So, I head back up the trail with his message in my hand,
And I pray that God will watch him, cuz I really love that man.

And the sky was filled with the Navy’s roar.
My eyes saw beauty, but my mind thought war.
And the sea bird’s cry makes me wish that I was with you.

Deception Pass Blues.

© 1999, Marty Mitchell. Written for the Dunton Sisters Bluegrass Band.

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