(4) The Trawlerman's Song (5:02)

[shangri la 1]

The Trawlerman's Song (Mark Knopfler) (5:02)

LYRICS

We're taking on water diesel and stores
Laying up awhile before I'm back on board
They're patching her up to go fishing again

They're welding her rudder scrubbing her keel
Scars on her belly need time to heal
In the dock with the trawler men

I know all the people there's nobody new
Soon we'll be leaving with the same old crew
On the green water the tumbling sea

They ain't running like the good old days
Time's just slipping down the old slipways
In the dock so dear to me

Dark is the night
I need a guiding light to keep me
From foundering on the rocks

My only prayer
Is just to see you there at the end
Of my wandering back in the dock

I could use a layoff getting my strength back
But there's a loan to pay off and a few skip jack
So it's a turnaround back in the southerly wind

Pirates coming in to steal our gold
You can count yourself lucky with a profit in the hold
In the dock when we come in

Dark is the night
I need a guiding light to keep me
From foundering on the rocks

My only prayer
Is just to see you there at the end
Of my wandering
Back in the dock

Song lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

CHORDS
Shangri la album - Foma
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/mark_knopfler/shangri-la_album_crd.htm

 

[happy to be here]

A comfortable sounding song that I enjoy.  It reminds me of Crystal Ship by The Doors, the last verse, except in reverse.  In Crystal Ship, the last verse is intended to be metaphorical of the tour leaving out on the road – on the front end of the tour - and the singer being immersed in the rock lifestyle of girls and thrills (pills) but looking forward to returning to his girlfriend.  In Trawlerman’s Song, the singer is back in port – on the back end of the tour - and restoring himself before going back on tour and doing the business of the music industry.  While restoring himself the song underscores the eventuality of going back out on the “waters” and hoping his relationship hold together - looking forward (hoping?) to seeing his girl when he returns.  Of course, I could be all wrong. 

“The crystal ship is being filled
A thousand girls, a thousand thrills
A million ways to spend your time
When we get back, I'll drop a line”

“My only prayer
Is just to see you there at the end
Of my wandering
Back in the dock”