32 men on a Great Lakes boat Quit the pier at Thunder Bay 28,000 tons of coal On a cold November day 800 feet and 10 more long 80 feet across The steel mills of Detroit Our destination through the frost
At 2 AM on the 2nd Waves were runnin' up to 40 feet Winds were blowing 60 miles Our engines crankin' heat At 3:13 we took a wave Our wheelhouse left behind The radar slipped beneath the waves And we were runnin' blind Hear me call across the waves If I don't come home tonight I will make it home some day
CHORUS:
(Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie (Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie (Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
A captain name of Phillips Seekin' shelter from the storm Turned us south of Bête Grise Bay By way of Keewenaw point But the wind was blowing at such a rate We ended up driftin' north A wave broke over a knife of rock Six Fathom Shoal
Mackenzie she was cut in half The stern she ram the baow The men were calling metalljunk Flames burned out of hell Stern keept runnig on lights of blades Not one man would be found Captain's last transmission read 32 men down 32 men down
Hear me call across the waves If I don't come home tonight I will make it home someday
(Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie (Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie (Steel boats and iron men) 32 down on the Robert Mackenzie Down Down Down Down Down Down Down Down
And they call across the waves If I don't come home tonight I will make it home someday
Yes, I call across the waves If i don´t come home tonight I will make it home some day