The Sailor
Mickey Newbury
Well my Daddy was a sailor
A sailor just like me
His wife was like my mother
His love was the silver sea
He was just another sailor
Off to find the world
He was just another sailor
All his cloth unfurled
Singin’ la den da den day-o
The water is deep and its wide
The ship went down, and the Captain drowned
Do no good to cry
Turnin’ at the gang plank
He looked me in the eye
He said learn to read the truth son
That lies between the lines
But I never met a stranger
Til I’d known him for a time
And I’d rather have a penny
Than a nickel in the brine
Oh my Daddy was a sailor
The salt is in my blood
And here I am in Nashville
Bow deep in this mud
Singin’ la den da den day-o
Am I too far out to sea
Will I sink with him
Or swim with them
Across this briney deep