When I was just a boy I dreamt
I'd run away to sea
And sign aboard some merchant ship
And sail across the ocean
When I became a man I put
My childhood things away
And gave up all the dreams I had
Of sailing on the ocean
So long, so long
I wave goodbye to my old friend the sea
It's winter time and you know
I'm not what I used to be
Sometimes I feel so far away
From all the ones I love
The storm that raged along this coast
Keep every ship from sailing
And who would brave
A voyage in the January gales
The boy who ran away to sea
Can make the winter crossing
Come on, come on
He cried, come with me
To the other shore
But I've been gone too long to make
The crossing anymore