VERSE: C Am G F Well it's just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do C F Am G But to watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the 'Soo', C Am Em F Wonder when they'll turn again and pitch us to the rail C G F Whirl off one more youngster in the gale.
C Am G F The kid was so damned eager. It was all so big and new. C F Am G Never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do. C Am Em F And evenings on the mess deck he was always first to sing, C G C Show us pictures of the girl he'd wed in spring.
CHORUS G F C But I told that kid a hundred times "Don't take the Lakes for granted. F C Am G They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted." C Dsus2 Em F But tonight a red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall, Am G F And her lover's gone into a white squall.
C Am G F It's a thing that us oldtimers know. In a sultry summer calm C F Am G There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb. C Am Em F And a fifteen thousand tonner can be thrown upon her beam C G F While the gale takes all before it with a scream.
C Am G F The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky. C F Am G From where I stood I swear I could see tears fall from his eyes. C Am Em F So I hadn't the heart to tell him that he should be on a line, C G C Even on a night so warm and fine.
REPEAT CHORUS
C Am G F And I could feel her keeling over with the fury of the blow. C F Am G And I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow. C Am Em F Then, like some great dog she shook herself and roared upright again. C G C Far overside, I heard him call my name.