A sea shanty, call-and-response work song, in the voice of Elias the shantyman. The crewman's raw idea: "slow lander, fish on, bring it in, watch it splash, watch it slish, lead it round like a pet on a leash, reaching for his gaff and it's only a pink, we are all watching and waiting, he's a slow lander can't bring it in he's a two-hander, put the fish in the bin, oh it got away, oh well other fish in the sea, too bad for me but for him he's free." Elias turns it into a hauling song — the crew on the rope, the call and the response, the whole room pulling together. Warm tavern acoustics, accordion, fiddle, handclaps, stomping. The slow lander is not the joke — he's the reason the work has a rhythm. Every hand is needed. Upbeat, joyful, anthemic work-song energy.
