A sailor's song

There once was a sailor. A hardened man, skin burnt brown from long days on deck on the open sea. Big tattoo on his forearm, a gold tooth, sharp eyes always focusing on the horizon.

If you meet him for the first time, you might want to keep your distance as he seems threatening. Full of muscles, chin set and a hard stare on his face. But if you dare to get close you might be surprised when his eyes suddenly lit up and his mouth forms a big grin. Completely out of tune he starts singing a sailor’s song, mocking himself and his comrades. Laughing about himself and giving you an entirely different feeling. Warm and comforted, happy as if there was not a worry in the world.

This man might teach you a lot. And it’s worth listening to his stories. He does not only make fun of the sailors; he also knows some deep truths about life. You can see in his eyes that he’s been through a lot. He learned his lessons. And he knows how to take life as it comes and how to always turn it into something beautiful.

So, let’s have a glass of wine and listen to the deep baritone of his voice as he sings his song:

“As a young lad I went to sea,

Leaving my mum to worry

Being born in a time of war

I wanted to go real far.

//

I jumped on a boat

No money no coat

But gaining so much more

Than I’ve expected before.

//

We sailed to the Americas

Saw its beauty and its scars

Made friends and enemies

And were gone with a breeze.

//

I’ve been arrested in Louisiana,

A secret I tried to keep forever.

I’ve found happiness in Brazil

And still didn’t know how to feel.

//

I was loving this life

But was missing a wife

So I kept on going

On a lonely exploring.

//

Asia, Africa, Europe

Once around the globe

Exploration and danger

Adventure and bonfire.

//

I’ve seen it all and never got enough

And sometimes it got a bit rough

I fell in love with our earth’s beauty

But also understood its elements’ fury.

//

Storms and fights

Sleepless nights

Seeing the world is a gift

But I needed a shift.

//

Found myself a lovely wife

Who was going to change my life

A sealing stone on my heart

Into new adventures we depart.

//

Forming a big family

Becoming a dad happily

Wanting to show them a lot

My believes being all I got.

//

Of adventures and a free mind

Of just drifting with the wind

Of spiritual self-discovery

And living without luxury.

//

But afraid of letting them go

Towards this painful sorrow

Of a constant longing for more

Pulling you away from shore.

//

Loving them did I dearly

And amazed was I fiercely

I hope I did them justice

For I myself was just apprentice.

//

But life went on and on

Just as the waves are there and gone

We made happy memories

And my mind is now at ease.

//

For I’ve been a sailor all along,

And in this life, I belong

Living and loving my family

But always looking out at sea.

//

I can sing you this song

Of times long gone

Of exotic places far away

But still, my lovely family, I will stay.”