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
Mark Knopfler – The trawlersman song