Lyrics

They’ve got salt water in the blood
Perhaps a curse but always loved
Providing for their family on the sea
For generations known to fish
Who know the life and know the risks
All coming from the same community

Where brotherhood is like a wife
And tragedy cuts like a knife
With bills to pay, you’ve got to give your all
You’ll face the gale to reach the banks
You’ll hide your fears, you’ll walk the plank
You’ve got to sell your soul for one last haul.

Chorus:
That’s the life of the fisherman
It’s the choice they’ve made
Work at being richer men
Make the catch and then get paid.

Long (?) schooners in their day
Prayed for their return to the quay
All healthy with a hearty catch of cod
For when the winds of August blew
Atlantic’s graveyard warned the crew
They could not venture closer to their God

But modern day technology
Can feign invincibility
To think you’re free and clear against a squall
A nor’easter is on the rise
Amid the dark and stormy skies
The place is good and you need one last haul.

Chorus

While seasoned men return to shore
The fear (?) and wrath of nature’s roar
While winter brings rough seas, ten metre waves
The skipper of the Miss Ally
Fought hard his battle with the sea
But took his boat and crew to Neptune’s grave
The capsized hull was all they saved

When hope soon fades to misery
Tears flow fresh and tears flow free
A fog of sadness hovers o’er the town
We’ve had this scene around before
In many ports that dot our shores
Crushing sorrow knowing young men drowned.

They rest deep in the sea they loved
While families in the world above
Who never see their loved ones ‘neath the pall
Men whose hearts are filled with pain
Must chart their course and fish again
They’ll set their gear and hope for one last haul

Chorus x2

They’ve got salt water in the blood
Perhaps a curse but always loved

Lyrics transcribed by Heather Sparling from the youtube video.