外婆的澎湖湾 - Who is the Captain?

Question

The song 外婆的澎湖湾 seems fairly well known and I heard it a number of times. It's a modern folk style song about growing up in Penghu, an island some way off the West Coast of Taiwan.

I feel there might be a political intention, in that it's a reminder that family relations join both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

The last line seems mostly what you would expect in a song about a tropical island (except maybe the cactuses):

阳光, 沙滩, 海浪, 仙人掌
还有一位老船长.

Sunlight - Beaches - Waves - Cacti
And an old captain.

But who is the captain?

Complete lyrics are below.

晚风轻拂澎湖湾 白浪逐沙滩
没有椰林缀斜阳 只是一片海蓝蓝
坐在门前的矮墙上 一遍遍怀想
也是黄昏的沙滩上 有著脚印两对半

那是外婆柱著杖将我手轻轻挽
踩著薄暮 走向余晖 暖暖的澎湖湾
一个脚印是笑语一串 消磨许多时光
直到夜色吞没我俩在回家的路上

澎湖湾 澎湖湾 外婆的澎湖湾
有我许多的童年幻想
阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌
还有一位老船长

Answer 1

Although many (western) folk songs have political implications, not this one.

外婆的澎湖湾 is a folk song (composed by 葉佳修) that describes the living scenes on 澎湖. Due to the island's oceanic weather and the rockery land that prohibited the growing of most corps/plants, fishing is the primary means to make a living. Thus, here comes the "old captain", a familiar and emotionally indispensable figure on the island. He can be any fishing-boat captain who has grown old.

Answer 2

To understand the last few lines, you can't ignore this:

有我许多的童年幻想 - I have many childhood fantasies

Below are some of those fantasies

阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌

还有一位老船长

The last line seems mostly what you would expect in a song about a tropical island

These Childhood fantasies were about a tropical island

Who is the Captain?

An imaginary character in his fantasies

Answer 3

The song《外婆的澎湖灣》, composed by 葉佳修 and sung by 潘安邦, was popular ever since its release. It tells the story of 潘安邦 himself, who lived in the Penghu islands (澎湖列島) with his grandmother when he was young. The last line,

还有一位老船长

contains a certain degree of ambiguity. Although it's not possible to determine who exactly is the old captain, there's a very plausible possibility: the captain is 外婆老公, which is 外公 (grandfather). Some reasons to support the claim:

1. The Penghu islands (澎湖列島) is surrounded by ocean, and due to its mainly reef, rock, sand, and basalt land composition, many plants and crops cannot be grown there. As a result, maritime industries like fishing and ferrying flourished in that area. Thus, it is plausible to assume that 潘安邦's grandfather is also a fisherman or other boats' or ships' captain.

2. In two above sentences, namely

   一个脚印是笑语一串 消磨许多时光

   and

   直到夜色吞没我俩在回家的路上

   extremely subtly implies that his grandmother is waiting for someone, most likely her husband.

3. In these two lines immediately before the last line,

   有我许多的童年幻想

   阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌

   "幻想" can either be interpreted as fantasy, or as a poetic way of saying "記憶" (memory). If the former, it might imply that 潘安邦's grandfather is always out at sea, working as a captain, and seldom came home. The grandfather may be absent to such an extent that he dreamt/fantasized about him coming home one day. If the latter, then it means that his grandfather came home and is not absent, and 潘安邦 had many fond memories of the past, probably playing on the beach and in the near-shore ocean, with his grandparents and sunlight shining down (and probably with cacti?! These are to match the second to last sentence).

In summary, although it's not entirely possible to determine who the captain is, there's a high chance it's 潘安邦's grandfather.

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Reference: Some folks over at baidu also have the same guess as me: 外婆的澎湖湾里谁是船长.

Answer 4

Who is the 老船长?

I would argue that he was just another wizen old boat captain whom the author had fond childhood memories of.

If he was indeed 潘安邦's grandfather, then he would not lump a specific memory of his grandfather, (a close relative), together with randomly remembered items like 阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌, just as he did not refer to his grandmother as "一位老太婆", but specifically as 外婆 in the line, 那是外婆柱著杖将我手轻轻挽, which means that there was interpersonal interaction between the author and his grandma, but none with his grandpa who was mentioned only once right at the end of the song together with non-personal objects -- 阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌.

Thus the 老船长 was a fondly remembered old boat captain who happened to ferry the author to his grandma's island.

So, what did the author fondly remembered, 有我许多的童年幻想, about his grandma's island?:-

阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌

还有一位老船长,

which means the 老船长 was someone he remembered, (like 阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌), not someone he knew.

Finally, the author would not refer to his grandpa as impersonally as "还有一位", "and also / besides an...." as though he is part of the island landscape, included in the category of things remembered, like 阳光 沙滩 海浪 仙人掌 which he would be if he was just an old boat captain and not the author's grandpa.