Sailors Lament

Ian Millard

When the wind is calm and the sky overcast

You can hear the ghosts of times a past

They moan and they whisper of yester-year

Be kind to their spirit and lend them an ear

For their lives as sailors were hard and tough

Their appearance dishevelled, one could say quite rough

But they knew what direction they needed to go

When the wind picked up speed and started to blow

Whispers lost in the wind

Dreams and hopes lost to their sins

We can only imagine the life that they led

Walk a league in their shoes, it's not one to tread

Their stories untold and lost to the storms

Their souls crying out in ghostly forms

They once had a life sailing to distant shores

Their lives on the edge as they ate through the stores

Well Johnny he liked sneaking a drink in the hull

And Jimmy round his neck he wore a skull

They all liked to drink Splice the Mainbrace me mates!

All drank too much, rum by the case

Whispers lost in the wind

Dreams and hopes lost to their sins

We can only imagine the life that they led

Walk a league in their shoes, it's not one to tread

So when you look to the sea do pause

Imagine the crew adrift with their oars

With their courage and grit rowing with glee

Their life on the sea, one that is free

Raise your glasses and toast to them all

But do it in haste as here comes the squall

It'll confuse and sink you and knock you off course

It's deadly and cruel, it's that kind of force

Whispers lost in the wind

Dreams and hopes lost to their sins

We can only imagine the life that they led

Walk a league in their shoes, it's not one to tread

Whispers lost in the wind

Dreams and hopes lost to their sins

We can only imagine the life that they led

Walk a league in their shoes, it's not one to tread