Castaway

(album: Having It Both Ways - 1996)

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 glassy 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 compass
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