So They Said Good-Bye

So she said good-bye with a tear in her eye,
And a smile pasted on her lips;
For no one should know how it hurts her so
That her Dan was off to his ship;
For he loves the sea, even more than she,
And it calls him back from the shore;
So she said good-bye with a tear in her eye,
As he's off to sea once more.

So he said good-bye with a tear in his eye,
And a smile pasted on his lips;
For she wants him to go, to earn some more dough,
So he's off to that damned old ship;
For he wants his wife to have a good life,
An' there's no work left on the shore;
So he said good-bye with a tear in his eye,
As he's off to sea once more.

As Dan walked along, he was singing forlorn,
"Now, boys, I'm outward bound!
When your money's all gone, it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down."
Then he met an old friend by the Mermaid Inn,
Who dragged him in for a round –
But he still made the boat, though barely afloat,
And in his bunk was soon sleeping sound.

Then early next morn, it was just getting dawn,
Sally awoke an' she cried;
"I'll be damned if I'll stay an' keep house all day
While Dan's off sailing the tide."
So in his ol' striped shirt, her face cover'd with dirt,
And a pair of his patched dungarees,
Out the doorway she sped, to the old pierhead,
Found his ship before she could leave.

With one mighty leap she crashed in a heap,
'Long the deck she rolled to a rest;
When she could breath ag'in, she said with a grin,
"I's been sent by Paddy West!"
The Mate with dispatch he led her aft,
An' the ship's book she quickly signed,
Then she joined the deck crew, as there was work to do,
Castin' loose the mooring lines.

So they warped her out, with a song and a shout,
Loosed the sails to the winds that blow;
Then the Mate sent her down, with a kick and a frown,
To roust out the next watch below;
Then Dan opened his eyes with bleary surprise,
In the watch-lamp's eerie glow,
As his new shipmate said, with a toss of her head,
"It's time to roll an' go!"

So they said good-bye, with no tears in their eyes
But with big smiles on their lips,
To the fading shore an' the breakers roar,
An' were off on a wide world trip;
They'll sing the old songs as their ship rolls along,
And all things will be fine,
An' they'll mind that day when they sailed away,
An' left their dull cares behind.