I lie awake at night, bereft of all respite As memory takes its flight to the days of yore I was just a lad, the ship was all I had And I was more than glad to leave my life ashore Crew: my closest friends We sailed to the ocean's ends Oh, but to see again the waves surrounding me But the years have hasted, and my body wasted From adventure tasted Life at sea The ocean beckons, and I must act So before death calls, I'm going back Back to the sea, where my heart remains Back to the grave of my father, the blood in my veins The salt in the air, I long for the taste And the mist and the wind on my face Back to the sea! Many nights by the lantern lights, with a round of pints We would tell tales of drifting isles, the Triton's daughter's wiles And of Blackbeard's guile When the pirates sailed of cursed waters Of the ocean's daughter And of Spain's armada, who became as prey Now, my friends entombed, in earthly graves inhumed And though my own death looms, I will not share their fate The ocean beckons, and I must act So before death calls, I'm going back Back to the sea, where my heart remains Back to the grave of my father, the blood in my veins The salt in the air, I long for the taste And the mist and the wind on my face Back to the sea, where legends are born And where in the wake of the storms, sailors' widows do mourn Just one final time to gaze on the surf 'Fore my spirit departs from this earth Back to the sea! Twenty years ashore, a life that I abhor --- currents --- The oceans darken --- Our blessed ocean martyrs will feed the sharks Back to the sea, where my heart remains Back to the grave of my father, the blood in my veins The salt in the air, I long for the taste And the mist and the wind on my face Back to the sea, where legends are born And where in the wake of the storms, sailors' widows do mourn One final time to gaze on the surf 'Fore my spirit departs from this earth Back to the sea I'm going back to the sea Back to the sea Back to the sea