{title: White Squall}
{artist: Stan Rogers}
{album: From Fresh Water (1984, posthumous) — Stan's Great Lakes album, released after his death in the Air Canada Flight 797 fire (June 1983)}
{key: D (capo recommended)}
{tempo: 95}
{difficulty: advanced}
{phase: 4}
{strand: CR}
{feel: ballad}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: solo}
{lead_demand: showpiece}
{harmony: M,H,B}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: gtr,conc}
{set_role: showcase}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: CA}
{copyright: copyrighted}
{tags: canadiana,chorus,copyrighted,forecastle,great-lakes,harmony,shanty,showpiece,stan-rogers,tragedy}
{credit: Stan Rogers — 'White Squall' (From Fresh Water, 1984). (c) Fogarty's Cove Music. Chord skeleton only — for full lyrics see the Stan Rogers Songbook (Ariel Rogers, ed.) or stanrogers.net.}

{c: THE showpiece. Stan Rogers' Great Lakes tragedy — a young man swept overboard during a white squall on Lake Erie. Huge emotional payoff. Stan's brother Garnet Rogers (his fiddler) said this was the song Stan was proudest of. Earn it — don't perform this until the band has the chops to honour it.}
{c: Five chords (D, A, G, Bm, Em). Mid-tempo 4/4, around 95 BPM. Capo on the 2nd or 4th fret depending on lead voice.}
{c: CHORD SKELETON ONLY. Copyrighted lyrics.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Verse / Verse / Chorus / Verse / Verse / Chorus / Bridge / Chorus / Final chorus. The "Wherever you are tonight, I wish you fair winds and a following sea" chorus is the emotional centre — the whole song builds to it and the final chorus has to land with full weight.}

{start_of_verse}
{c: VERSE: lead carries the narrative; band sparse and supportive.}
[D] / / / | [Bm] / / / | [G] / / / | [A] / / /
[D] / / / | [Bm] / / / | [G] / [A] / | [D] / / /
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
{c: CHORUS: "But you know it's a Lakeman's life..." Three-part harmony, building each chorus.}
[G] / / / | [D] / / / | [Bm] / / / | [A] / / /
[G] / / / | [D] / / / | [G] / [A] / | [D] / / /
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== PERFORMANCE NOTES =====}
{c: This is a SHOWPIECE — the song that defines the band's serious side. Save it for the second half of a major set.}
{c: The dynamic arc is critical: verse 1 quiet, chorus 1 medium, verses 2-3 quiet again, choruses build, final chorus roof. If every verse and chorus sounds the same, the song fails.}
{c: The audience should be SILENT through the verses and let the choruses wash over them. Don't ask for participation.}
{c: After the final chorus, hold the silence before any next song. Let the room breathe.}

{c: ===== REFERENCE RECORDINGS =====}
{c: Stan Rogers — 'White Squall' (From Fresh Water, 1984, posthumous). The definitive studio version, with Garnet Rogers' fiddle.}
{c: Garnet Rogers — recorded the song multiple times after Stan's death.}
{c: Many Canadian folk acts have covered it — The Rankin Family, Tannahill Weavers, others.}
{c: The Stan Rogers Songbook (Ariel Rogers, ed.).}