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You can see the squares of canvas dancing over the horizon,
You can hear the chanty wailing to the heaving of the men;
You can feel the seas up to your knees and you know the sea is risin',
And you know the clipper's day has come again.
To the men on high the bos'n's cry commands a killing strain,
Till every mother's son begins to pray;
With a hearty shout she comes about and she heads into the rain,
And the ship has never seen a better day.
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open water,
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main;
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters,
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again.
Wooden beams and human dreams are all that make her go,
And the magic of the wind upon her sails;
We'd rather fight the weather than the fishes down below,
God help us if the rigging ever fails.
As the timber creaks the captain speaks above the vessel's groans,
Till every soul on board can hear the call;
It's nothing but the singing of the ship inside her bones,
And this is when she likes it best of all.
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open water,
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main;
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters,
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again.
Where the current goes the clipper's nose is plowing fields of green,
Where fortune takes the crews we wish them well;
Where men could be when lost at sea is somewhere in between,
The regions of a heaven and a hell.
Well they're sailing eastern harbors and the California shore,
If you set your mind to see them then you can;
As you count each mast go sailing past you, prouder than before,
Then you'll know the clipper's day has come again.
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open water,
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main;
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters,
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again.
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open water,
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main;
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters,
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again.
Recorded by Schooner Fare (Day Of The Clipper, 1978; Alive, 1983; Classic Schooner Fare, 1989).
See more songs by Schooner Fare.
The YouTube video above features a variant by McGinty (Sea Songs, trk#3, 2000, Rocky Coast Music Inc, Halifax, Nova Scotia).
