Lock-Keeper - Intellectual

[Verse 1]

You say, "Well-met again, Lock-keeper!

We're laden even deeper than the time before

Oriental oils and tea brought down from Singapore."

As we wait for my lock to cycle

I say, "My wife has just given me a son."

"A son!" you cry, "Is that all that you've done?"

She wears bougainvilla blossoms

You pluck 'em from her hair and toss 'em in the tide

Sweep her in your arms and carry her inside

Her sighs catch on your shoulder;

Her moonlit eyes grow bold and wiser through her tears

And I say, "How could you stand to leave her for a year?"

"Then come with me" you say, "to where the Southern Cross

Rides high upon your shoulder."

"Come with me!" you cry

"Each day you tend this lock, you're one day older

While your blood grows colder."

But that anchor chain's a fetter

And with it you are tethered to the foam

And I wouldn't trade your life for one hour of home

Sure I'm stuck here on the Seaway

While you compensate for leeway through the Trades;

And you shoot the stars to see the miles you've made

And you laugh at hearts you've riven

But which of these has given us more love or life

You, your tropic maids, or me, my wife

"Then come with me" you say, "to where the Southern Cross

Rides high upon your shoulder."

"Ah come with me!" you cry

"Each day you tend this lock, you're one day older

While your blood grows colder."

But that anchor chain's a fetter

And with it you are tethered to the foam

And I wouldn't trade your life for one hour of home

Ah your anchor chain's a fetter

And with it you are tethered to the foam

And I wouldn't trade your whole life for one hour of home