Tom Robinson Band - Castaway lyrics
As a child, I was terrified of the mighty ocean When I heard the distant urging of the brine Though I cried at night as I tried to fight the emotion That bitter cup of tears was truly mine But when I came to taste the spray on the waterfront I lost my fear and shrugged away my shame And I stowed away on a trans-atlantic freighter With the tempest raging in my every vein A man may spend his life afloat, a man may live ashore I'll cast away and take my chance at sea There were stormy days and roaring nights a-plenty In the salty fellowship of boys and men They were tough and true, they were gla**y eyed and reckless With a blazing thirst, I drank and drank again We crossed the line, explored the depths of danger Exceeding every fantasy and dream No landsman with his stifling horizons Could ever guess the wonders we had seen A man may spend his life afloat, a man may live ashore I'll cast away and take my chance at sea I've braved the waves in an open boat and I know these waters well I'll man your lifeboat any time you need Way, castaway from the restless aching Way, castaway, gonna leave it all behind Way, far away where the waves are breaking Way, far away where the ocean meets the sky Well a ship must tack and a man must follow his compa** On an unknown shore I foundered in the sand Met a salty girl with a sailor's gait and her eyes were a greeny blue And she knew the ropes like the back of her sunburned hand We danced a hornpipe on the beach to the sound of the seething swell We drank and sank exhausted on the strand Till I slipped my anchor, quit my ship and became a castaway To savor the embrace of her native land A man may spend his life afloat, a man may live ashore A man may marry and still put out to sea We brave the waves in our open boat and we know these waters well We'll man your lifeboat any time you need Way, castaway from the restless aching Way, castaway, gonna leave it all behind Way, far away where the waves are breaking Way, far away, where the ocean meets the sky