The captain and the lady

There was a captain, and there was a lady
There was a ship, of wood and of steel
And there were the years that they sailed her together
her at the lookout, and him at the wheel

For gold and a fine house to Kate they meant nothing
He was fisherman, who couldn't stay still
So they came together and they called to the shipwrights
To build them a vessel to go where they willed

Sail away, sail away, from the Capes to the North
With a cargo and crew so fine
This was the dream of their time

O sing me boys, sing me boys
We'll weigh in the anchor, and haul out the sails
Sing me boys, O sing
We'll sail on past daybreak in a good southern gale

One morning the sun rose pale yellow
The sky was a bleeding blood red
All hands on deck, now, there's a vast wind a'brewin'
That'll bring down the heavens, and wake up the dead

The storm came and struck like a hammer
And with it came fever that sent Kate below
And just like the fires that burned in the rigging
They burned in the lady who lay down below

By midnight the see it had raged and gone silent
By sunrise her shroud had been sewn
And at sunset the sea took her home

O sing me boys, sing me boys
We'll weigh in the anchor, and haul out the sails
Sing me boys, O sing
We'll sail on past daybreak in a good southern gale

And so sailed the captain alone from the lady
The crew mourned her loss, as one of their own
'Til one night a storm caught them hard upon harbor
and threatened to dash them apart on the stone

In the darkness the crew could see nothing
And the captain was helpless, he steered all alone
The sudden to starboard there stood a figure
Guiding the ship into harbor and home

And so came the lady, she came back to the captain
to chart him a course that was true
and he brought the ship safely on through

O sing me boys, sing me boys
We'll weigh in the anchor, and haul out the sails
Sing me boys, O sing
We'll sail on past daybreak in a good southern gale

And in the years after when the weather was fine
The captain dreamed softly, alone in his years
But when the sky darrkened, when the sea rose up swiftly
Between him and danger the lady appeared

And then one October, at the first touch of winter
The captain made harbor, put the crew all ashore
The ship needs a rest boys, come back in the springtime
And together we'll sail the big waters once more

Alone then he sailed from the harbor
Out past the marker, and into the wind
And into the arms of the lady who beckoned
It was there on the rocks that he found her again

Now sing me boys, sing me boys
We'll weigh in the anchor, and haul the sails up above
Sing me boys, O sing
We'll sing of the captain and the one that he loved

O sing me boys, sing me boys
We'll weigh in the anchor, and haul out the sails
Sing me boys, O sing
We'll sail on past daybreak in a good southern gale
We'll sail on past daybreak in a good southern gale
We'll sail on past daybreak...