Blow High, Blow Low

I often watch the pelicans fly

Effortless in their peaceful glide

Ugly on land

But beautiful in flight

And I dream of journeying far away

Away from the shackles of women today

Away from my fathers' shame

And my mother's grave

I saw my escape in a sailor called Jim

Naive to believe if I married him

I'd be free to live however I like

But every night he would drink

(Every night)

Rage and use his fists

(Every night)

I'd close my eyes and see

The pelicans fly

Blow high, blow low

I've been a ship with no sails to go

And I've been hauling an anchor

Bound to the deep below

Blow high, blow low

I had a dream of a ship my own

One day I'd haul up the anchor

And head for the great unknown

A woman in the eighteenth century

Is an anchored ship looking out to sea?

No soul

She's a vessel for all his needs

And there I was moored to the shore

Waiting on him and his drunken war

Firing on me till I'd wreck

On the ocean floor

But I steadied myself inside

Held together by bits of twine

I stashed my dreams

Out of sight

And every night he would drink

Rage and use his fists

I'd close my eyes and see

The pelicans fly

Blow high, blow low

I've been a ship with no sails to go

And I've been hauling an anchor

Bound to the deep below

Blow high, blow low

I had a dream of a ship my own

One day I'd haul up the anchor

And head for the great unknown