When the luggers sailed away From the port of Roebuck Bay on the B19 was the diver Nakamura Not yet twenty-one From the Land of the Rising Sun His homeland was the isle of Okinawa.
To deepest holes of the Lacepede sholes To fill the pearling master's goals on the B19 went brave young Nakamura His quest for the shining pearl As strong as his love for the island girl He'd marry when he’d returned to Okinawa.
Chorus : But it's goodbye now, farewell Say goodbye, to Okinawa For today, we'll bury you In West Australia You will never see the smile Of the girl who waits upon the isle Goodbye, goodbye, Nakamura.
From the west came a sudden squall Then mercury began to fall Forty fathoms deep was, Nakamura The storm began to rage Set sail, no time to waste They dragged him up, the boy from Okinawa
The agony’s in his eyes An old Malay man cries He knows the bends have got young Nakamura Helplessly they cursed As the diver's lungs near burst And he died on the deck the boy from Okinawa.
Chorus : So it's goodbye now, farewell Say goodbye, to Okinawa For today, we'll bury you In West Australia You will never see the smile Of the girl who waits upon the isle Goodbye, goodbye, Nakamura.
To the cemetery in Broome With heavy hearts, all deep in gloom They carried their friend, the diver, Nakamura Headstones face the West A thousand divers lie at rest And among them lies the boy from Okinawa.
Chorus So it's goodbye now, farewell Say goodbye, to Nakamura For today, we'll bury him In West Australia He will never see the smile Of the girl who waits upon the isle Goodbye, goodbye, Nakamura. He will never see the smile Of the girl who waits upon the isle Goodbye, goodbye, Nakamura.