Oysterband - The Story lyrics

When the wind is high, the whitecaps curl The waters run with an oily swirl The skipper says, "I love this world It's the only one we'll see; If your luck is in, you can see the fish Though they swim as deep as your deepest wish" The sound of his voice was feverish And he gave the wheel to me Who writes the story? I don't know any more Maybe nothing's what it seems Spare me the glory, just get me safe on shore And I'll only put to sea in my dreams The sky grew dark and it blew a squall We saw the weather-gla** fall and fall Then a wave rose up like a mountain wall We stared up at the sea; With a mortgaged boat and a stack of debt Maybe more than your feet get wet He looked, he shrugged, and he cut the net He set his fortune free Who writes the story? I don't know any more And maybe nothing's what it seems Spare me the glory, just get me safe on shore And I'll only put to sea in my dreams The skipper yelled, "We can haul and bail We can fight like hell but we always fail" To the beast with the green and glittering scales Rolling loose below; The wave came on and we couldn't hide We spun half-round and began to slide Maybe that's when the skipper went over the side We never saw him go Love, are you glory? I don't know any more And maybe nothing's what it seems Out of the story, just bring me safe to shore And I'll only put to sea Who writes the story? I don't know any more And maybe nothing's what it seems Spare me the glory, just get me safe on shore And I'll only put to sea in my dreams The ship's hull rang with a single crash We shot to the top like a trumpet blast Then the sea grew calm as a looking-gla** ... I hid my face and cried