White Squall

Verse 1 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 ‘Soo’ And wonder when they’ll turn again and pitch us to the rail And whirl off one more youngster in the gale Verse 2 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 Chorus 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 Verse 3 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 Verse 4 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 Chorus 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 Verse 5 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 Verse 6 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 Chorus 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 Verse 7 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 ‘Soo’ And wonder when they’ll turn again and pitch us to the rail And whirl off one more youngster in the gale Chorus 2 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