It can break your heart to watch the sun
Strike gold along this shore
Where the little boats still bump and spin
As they did long years before.
The harbor lights burn dim tonight
They've closed these boats all down.
The men all stand in silence
On the corners of the town.
They stand and smoke by empty stores.
They watch the cars roll by.
They stair into the distance
With hard and angry eyes.
So it's farewell to the harbor.
It's farewell to the fields.
Farewell to deep salt water
That swells beneath your keel.
What's gone is lost forever.
I pray someday we're here
And that we'll meet again some brighter day,
Next turn of the wheel.
The houses here look much the same
Well, perhaps a bit more worn
And the shingles gleam like silver
As they did when we were born
And the sent of pine, and moss, and vine...
Yes, and rose and bay leaf too
Still spice the warm and fragrant air
As they did back in our youth
So it's farewell to the harbor.
Oh, it's farewell to the fields.
Farewell to deep salt water
That swells beneath your keel.
What's gone is lost forever.
I pray someday we're here
And that we'll meet again some brighter day,
Next turn of the wheel.
I dipped my hand into the sea.
I raised it to my mouth.
The sun-warmed breeze stirred the air
As it blew up from the south.
And the air was sweet with blossoms
And the sea was salt with tears
And the sun danced on the water.
I was swept back through the years.
I climbed the hill and I paused for breath,
Yes, and one last backward glance.
Down by the green-as-emeralds hill
The fragile corn flowers dance
I stood once more and I crossed the ridge
Of that dear and familiar hill
And the beating of the waves was lost
Like heart forever stilled.
So it's farewell to the harbor.
It's farewell to the fields.
Farewell to deep salt water
That swells beneath your keel.
What's gone is lost forever.
I pray someday we're here
And that we'll meet again some brighter day,
Next turn of the wheel.