When last I was a fisherman

I'd watch the storms rise up from the sea

And see it as a sign to me

That the sea was still my mistress and teasing me for love

When last I was a fisherman I'd watch the whale fish blow

And rise up from the darkest deep real slow

And see it as a sign to me

That she was still my mistress and teasing me for love

I never knew why she loved me

I never tried for her favor

I wouldn't have known how

I wouldn't have known how

And I didn't have the know how

To heel and toe her, heel and toe her

I only knew that she was my mistress

And teasing me for love

When last I was a fisherman I lay along the sea wall

My body pressed against the blue of her occupation elsewhere

She was busy with the other boats

But I knew she'd turn her belly back to me when she was free

When last I was a fisherman I'd stand against the sea

My skiff adrift in ecstasy the mast a-singing, the salt a-stinging

I'd see it as a sign to me

That she was still my mistress and just teasing me for love

I never knew why she loved me

When last I was a fisherman I lay awake one night

Her cooing and raving nearby and I waited in youthful eagerness

For the dawn's first hint of light for my mistress to come

For she to come to me I knew she was coming

I could feel her coming

And I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited

'Til I raised my voice unto the night and only heard a baby's cry

I never knew why she loved me