White Squall

(album: From Fresh Water - 1984)

Now it's just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the 'So'
And wonder when they'll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

The kid was so damned eager. It was all so big and new
You never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do
And evenings on the mess deck he was always first to sing
And show us pictures of the girl he'd wed in spring

But I told that kid a hundred times "Don't take the Lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted"
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall

Now it's a thing that us oldtimers know. In a sultry summer calm
There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb
And a fifteen thousand tonner can be thrown upon her beam
While the gale takes all before it with a scream

The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky
From where I stood I swear I could see tears fall from his eyes
So I hadn't the heart to tell him that he should be on a line
Even on a night so warm and fine

When it struck, he sat up with a start; I roared to him, "Get down!"
But for all that he could hear, I could as well not made a sound
So, I clung there to the stanchions, and I felt my face go pale
As he crawled hand over hand along the rail

I could feel her keeling over with the fury of the blow
I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow
Then, like some great dog she shook herself and roared upright again
Far overside, I heard him call my name

So it's just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the 'So'
And wonder when they'll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

But I tell these kids a hundred times "Don't take the Lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted"
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall