Written by Robbie Smith
I yearned to feel the ocean’s roll
I was always the seafaring kind
But too many storms have taken their toll
And all that remains on my mind
Is dry land, dry land
It’s been seven fortnights since we raised the sail
All hands – dry land
We’ve slipped from the grip of a force seven gale to dry land
I don’t know how we held our course
With the roaring forties surrounding us
And when, avast, they snapped the mast
Why, we thought that Glory had found us
Dry land, dry land –
It’s as welcome a sound as a sailor can hear
All hands dry land
There’s somebody waiting for you at the pier
Now, there comes a time when the sea’s ancient rhymes
No longer ring true
When the ship’s glass climbs and the bell buoy chimes
Out it’s welcome for you
Some thirst for gold, for gemstones rare
Some hunger for freedom wherever they roam
But no thirst known could e’er compare
To the thirst I’m feeling for you, for home
Dry land, dry land – with hardships astern and our eyes to the bow
All hands dry land – we’ve never known the skipper to smile
But he’s smilin’ now at dry land, dry land –
Safe back on the tides where once we were cast
All hands dry land
The storm clouds are past and from oceans vast at last… dry land