Landlubbers Lullaby

(Verse 1)

(Call) I traded the spray for a patch of dry ground

(Response) To find me a wife in the town

(Call) I put on a waistcoat and polished my shoes

(Response) And swapped out the rum for the blues

(Call) I courted a girl with a ribbon so red

(Response) But she wanted a house and a bed

(Call) She didn't want salt or a man on the go

(Response) She wanted the garden to grow!

(Chorus)

Oh, it’s harder to catch a good woman on shore

Than a whale in a gale or a prize-ship of war!

The knots on the rigging are easy to tie

But a wedding-ring knot is a lonesome goodbye.

You can navigate stars and the deep rolling sea

But a lady’s a map that’s a mystery to me!

(Verse 2)

(Call) I met with a widow from over the hill

(Response) She looked for a man with a bill

(Call) She didn't want yarns about cannons and smoke

(Response) She only wanted my poke

(Call) I told her of gold in the Spanish Main sun

(Response) She told me the dishes weren't done

(Call) I spoke of the turtles in Tortuga Bay

(Response) She asked for my weekly-earned pay!

(Chorus)

Oh, it’s harder to catch a good woman on shore

Than a whale in a gale or a prize-ship of war!

The knots on the rigging are easy to tie

But a wedding-ring knot is a lonesome goodbye.

You can navigate stars and the deep rolling sea

But a lady’s a map that’s a mystery to me!

(Verse 3)

(Call) My back is a-breaking from hauling the plow

(Response) I’d rather be hauling the bow

(Call) I miss the old smell of the tar and the rope

(Response) And the girl with the lavender soap

(Call) She says that I smell like a bucket of bait

(Response) And I’m always a-coming home late

(Call) So it’s back to the harbor and back to the crew

(Response) I’m done with the courting, I’m through!

(Chorus)

Oh, it’s harder to catch a good woman on shore

Than a whale in a gale or a prize-ship of war!

The knots on the rigging are easy to tie

But a wedding-ring knot is a lonesome goodbye.

You can navigate stars and the deep rolling sea

But a lady’s a map that’s a mystery to me!

(Outro)

(Call) Pull the anchor

(Response) Let it ride

(Call) Leave the lady

(Response) With the tide

(Call) Better the ocean

(Response) Than a wife

(Call) That’s the end

(Response) Of the quiet life