I assume the giants refer to large cargo ships that could run over a fishing boat and not notice it. This could easily happen if the fishing boat captain fell asleep.
But the 5th verse is where I really think the guy might be dead
Tell his wife he is trolling Atlantis? The sunken lost city? Still has his hands on the wheel? Why doesn’t he tell her himself, after all if he is alive he will be home in a week or so.
Sounds like he is dead and gone to me.
Am I right or am I all wet here?
Agreed. He sings most of the song in present tense.
A “down easter” is a small lobster fishing boat. And the song is about how difficult it’s become to work in the local waters, and he has to go further away to even have a chance at making a living; i.e. even to far-off places like Atlantis.
BTW, Billy Joel owned/owns(?) a “down easter” called Alexa. And named his daughter (born sometime in the 1980’s) after it (well, her). He just opened a motorcycle shop in Oyster Bay, which he name drops in his songs too.
The boat Billy owns is called Alexa Ray. And it was named after his daughter. Of course.
And I always took “Tell my wife that I still have my hands on the wheel” to be like, “Tell my wife I’m being safe and following the rules, and everything is fine.” I definitely don’t think he’s dead, especially since it’s not like Billy’s writing style to do that.
“…trolling Atlantis” just means that he’s having to fish further out and deeper, coming home more rarely, and going out to sea more frequently for a smaller haul. The entire song is a lament about how difficult it is to maintain the lifestyle of the fisherman: *Now I drive my Downeaster “Alexa”
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers
And there’s no luck in swordfishing here.
I was a bayman like my father was before
Can’t make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me*
Not dead, just having to “work my fingers to the bone” to make ends meet. As ** Corbomite** notes, Joel owns a lobster boat (and a couple of other converted fishing vessels) and at one time after he stopped recording retreated to them in a near hermit-like existence.
“Giants” = bigger fish further out and down, to make up for no longer being able to fish closer to home
“Trolling Atlantis” = having to go farther and farther away, and use more extreme measures, and spend less and less time at home with the family
Although I take that as the literal meaning, “Giants” always makes me picture whales or rare obscure sealife, and combined with “Atlantis” does make it seem like he’s gone so far off the map that he’s entering some mystical sea realm
I always thought it sounded like he was going off to commit suicide in despair, but that might just have been the mournful tone of the song. However, the fact that it’s all in the present tense and that he refers to people who depend on him puts the kibosh on that idea to some extent.
The crazy thing is the song was mentioned in the thread about accordions so I just assumed this was a new thread (didn’t click link in OP because I thought it was that one).
I also love the song. While it is about a very specific and waning profession, it is a great anthem for the working class and a good song in general.
I’ve always found it somewhat depressing/ironic that the narrarator makes no connection that he is trying to fish species which were overfished by people exactly like him, and the fact that he can’t find any fish. The mean ol’ gubmint told him he can’t sell no stripers, BECAUSE THEY WERE ALMOST GONE MORON.
