[Verse 1]
Three weeks out
And the nights grow long
The engine hums the same old song
Black water running past the rail
Cold rain beating against the sail
The other men have gone below
There’s nowhere else tonight to go
So I take your picture from my coat
And for a while
I’m not on this boat
[Verse 2]
Your photograph curls at either end
I’ve read your letter again and again
There’s coffee staining half a line
Where you wrote your name alongside mine
You said the roses bloomed this year
You wished that I could see them here
I close my eyes
The ocean goes
And suddenly
I can smell those roses
[Chorus]
I’m escaping to you
When the long night falls
Back through the harbour
Back through our walls
Back to the kitchen
The old kettle too
While everyone sleeps
I’m escaping to you
[Verse 3]
I’ve watched Gibraltar burn at night
Seen Cape Town wake in morning light
I’ve stood beneath a foreign moon
And heard a dockside fiddle tune
I’ve seen enough for any man
Of distant seas and foreign lands
But every wonder
I’ve sailed through
Would have meant twice as much
Beside you
[Verse 4]
The young lads talk of going ashore
Of girls they’ve never seen before
They laugh at me
And call me old
I let them laugh
And brave the cold
Because somewhere beyond this endless foam
A hallway light is burning home
And there’s one journey
I always make
When night comes down
And I’m still awake
[Bridge]
One day this ship
Will turn around
One day my feet
Will touch home ground
No miles of water
No ocean view
No need to dream
My way to you
[Final Chorus]
I’ll be coming to you
When the long voyage ends
Past the harbour wall
And the river bend
I’ll open our door
Like I always do
And never again
Need escaping…
Lyrics Michael Forty
Voice Michael Forty