There were ten men hauling on the lee fore brace In the rain and the driving hail, With them mile-long greybeards charging by And a thundering Cape Horn gale; So dark it was, you could not see Your hand before your face; So cold it was, your fingers froze, Stiff as they gripped the brace. Bridge: "Oh, Christ," says Dan, "for a night in port And a good old fiddler's tune, And just one whiff of them drinks a-gain In a Callao saloon."

There were ten men hauling on the lee fore brace
When the big sea broke on board;
She shipped it green, a foaming flood,
Fore and aft it poured;
The ship she staggered, then lay still,
So deep, so dead, lay she;
Why we thought she'd never rise again
From such a weight of sea.

There were ten men hauling on the lee fore brace,
Seven when she rose at last;
The rest were lost to the pitch-black night,
To the sea and the ice-cold blast;
And one we knew as Dago Pete.
And one as Lars the Dane,
And the last was a lad whose like on earth
I shall not find again.

And I'll stand me watch, heave and haul,
And reef and furl with the rest;
For the winds and the seas go on the same,
Though they've took and drowned the best;
And there ain't no use to curse the Lord;
There ain't no sense to moan;
For a man must live his life the same,
And keep his grief his own.

Bridge (2X):
So I'll drink me drink, and I'll sing me song,
And none will know but me,
That a lump of me heart went down with Dan,
That night in the Cape Horn sea.

There was ten men haulin' on the lee fore brace
In the rain an' the drivin' hail,
And the mile-long greybeards chargin' by,
An' a thunderin' Cape Horn gale.

(That dark it was, you scarce could see
Your hand before your face;
That cold it was, our fingers froze
Stiff as they gripped the brace.)

An' "Christ!" says Dan, "for a night in port
An' a Dago fiddler's tune,
An' just one whiff o' the drinks again
In a Callao saloon!"

There was ten men haulin' on the lee fore brace
When the big sea broke aboard;
Like a stream in spate, a foaming flood
Right fore an' aft it poured.

The ship, she staggered an' lay still -
So deep, so dead lay she,
You'd think she could not rise again
From such a weight of sea.

There was ten men haulin' on the lee fore brace…
Seven when she rose at last;
The rest was gone to the pitch-dark night,
An' the sea an' the ice-cold blast.

An' one of them was Dago Pete,
An' one was Lars, the Dane,
An' the third was the lad whose like on earth
I shall not find again.

An' I'll heave an' haul an' stand my wheel,
An' reef an' furl wi' the rest...
For winds an' seas go on the same,
When they've took an' drowned the best.

An' it ain't no use to curse the Lord,
Nor it ain't no sense to moan,
For a man must live his life the same,
An' keep his grief his own

An' I'll drink my drink an' I'll sing my song,
An' nobody'll know but me
A lump o' my heart went down with Dan
That night in the wild Horn sea!