Dover Lights

Waiting for morning on the ferry boat deck 5 miles out of Calais

Tired and cold and wet to the skin watching the waves and the spray

Ten years have gone by like the roll of the tide since I signed for the

merchant marine

Now all I want is dry land and a home in a country that I've rarely seen

Home, hurry home

To valleys green

And cliffs so tall and so white

Home, hurry home

I can see the lights of Dover through the night

Teachers of England instructed me well, strength comes from iron and fire

Freedom was won from the barrel of a gun, law comes from palace and spire

I carried the wealth of this land 'cross the sea till the ships and the cargoes

grew slack

Now many Jack Tar is washed up in a bar and many ships will never come back

The ship's bar is closed, there's a gang of fifteen talking of flags and of

blood

Drunken with fighting the face of John Bull stands for violence, England and God

Did I dream of a homeland so distantly remembered

Of warmth, work, welfare, peace for all?