Down by the seacoast at Fishermen’s Cove
We haul up the bright nets and empty our load
And if luck’s on our side, we fill up the hold
Then sail for the night lights of town
chorus:
And it’s way-way-way sail away
The sea is our mother, our life, and our pay
In all sorts of weather we fish in the bay
And it’s way-way sail away
I was just thirteen years when my father took me
For my very first trip with his mates on the sea
We ate hard dry biscuits and drank off our tea
The gulls overhead all the while
chorus: repeats
Our wives and our children are glad when we’re home
Safe from the hurricane, safe from the storms
But we don’t linger long for the sea we must roam
So once more we sail in the dawn
chorus: repeats
Now that I’m older, grizzled and grey
A pipe in my mouth, my hair in the spray
I’ll pull my own weight, yes I’ll live life that way
Until the sea calls me home
chorus: repeats
……………………
Song arose from 2 Halifax trips in the 1980s. It was praised by Rita MacNeil.